Michael Geist writes in the Toronto Star (!):
These postings and links were not particularly unusual – similar actions occur millions of times every day – yet soon after, Free Dominion was hit with a copyright infringement lawsuit claiming the posting and the link violated the Post and photographer’s copyright.
Last week, the Federal Court of Canada issued its ruling, dismissing both claims (…)
The decision has enormous implications for Internet users, news organizations, and free speech in Canada as it removes much of the legal uncertainty surrounding sharing information online. (…)
The court noted that fair dealing should be given a broad interpretation and that the “news reporting” category could include posts of excerpts to an online discussion forum.
The fair dealing analysis is crucial since it affirms that copying several paragraphs of an article to report on its contents is itself news reporting.
