| Canadian Admiral Corp. V. Rediffusion Inc. |
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Information AboutCanadian Admiral Corp. V. Rediffusion Inc. |
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| 1954 in law | |
| canadian copyright case law | |
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BACKGROUND A football game was broadcasted live from the stadium by a set of three cameras directed by a producer in a van just outside the venue. The game was not recorded in any format and was broadcasted live to viewers. Canadian Admiral has purchased the rights to the live feed from the game. Rediffusion, a cable company, captured the transmission of the broadcast and sold it to private homes and public show rooms. Canadian Admiral sued for copyright infringement. The issue was whether Canadian Admiral owned any copyright in the football game. OPINION OF THE COURT The Court held that there was no copyright in the rebroadcast of a live game. As a general rule there can be no copyright in a sports event. The games are not pre-planned and not predictable. Moreover, the live direction by the producer was an insufficient amount of planning to create any fixation. Camron J. held that " {Link without Title} or copyright to subsist in a work, it must be expressed to some extent at least in some material form, capable of identification and having a more or less permanent endurance." SEE ALSO |
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