Jehovah's Witnesses v Cdn site!

by Atlantis 3 Replies latest jw friends

  • Atlantis
    Atlantis
  • sf
    sf

    Just in case some may not or will not open weblinks for whatever reason:

    Michael Geist

    p2p news / p2pnet:- The Watch Tower Society, used by the Jehovah's Witnesses to promote religious worship, has sued a Canadian website for posting religious works online. The statement of claim (TIFF format) argues both copyright infringement (for the materials posted online) as well as trademark infringement (for the use of the domain watchtower.ca).

    A quick review of the site suggests that the creator is very aware of Canadian copyright law as it features dozens of quotations but only limited full-text. Moreover, the full-text that does appear on the site seems to be older works that are now in the public domain. The site provides a full disclaimer and features a copyright notice that the materials are for private study and research purposes.

    The Statement of Claim outlines six reasons why the Society believes the content on the site should not be treated as fair dealing. These include (i) alleged trademark infringement with the domain name; (ii) alleged misleading conduct with use of trademarked terms in the meta-tags; (iii) the reproduction of thousands of pages of materials; (iv) the reproduction of dozens of articles; (v) the absence of restrictions on the use of the site; and (vi) the creation of a search engine to search materials on the site.

    It is difficult to speculate whether this case will proceed to trial, but, if it does, it would provide an interesting opportunity to see how the principles articulated by the Supreme Court of Canada with respect to user rights are treated in the online environment.

    In breaking down the fair dealing argument, it is difficult to see how the trademark complaints are relevant to the analysis. Similarly, the absence of restrictions on the site and the availability of a search engine don't provide compelling reasons to lose a user right. The remaining two issues, which amount to claims of too much copying, will likely be the bigger questions and they turn on a legal analysis of evidence yet to be presented. A cursory review suggests that much of the content would be viewed as fair dealing since there are a large number of limited length quotations that would benefit from the SCC's liberal interpretation of fair dealing.

    One side note: there should be no surprise that a claim was not launched under CIRA' s CDRP since this is clearly not a case of cybersquatting.

    Despite claims that the site is being used to embarrass the religion, the CDRP would likely treat this site as a good faith (no pun intended) use of the domain.

    Michael Geist[Geist is the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa. He can be reached by email at mgeist[at]uottawa.ca and is on-line at michaelgeist.ca.]

    Something you think we should know? tips[at]p2pnet.net

    (Friday 16th September 2005)

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    Comments:
  • talesin
    talesin

    hehe, I was just gonna btt this, after reading it.

    Liked this comment,,,

    It seems to me the legal implications of a suit like this could have significant impact on web-freedom in Canada.

    The Quotes site is run by just one man in his spare time. One could say he provides a public service by offering an alternate view of a very large, corporate-run religion.

    It would be a shame if this lawsuit were settled before court simply because the little guy can't afford a long, protracted battle with the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. Would there be interest within the legal community in Canada, to provide some pro-bono work, in the interest of free speech?
  • Atlantis
    Atlantis

    Thank you sf!

    Cheers!

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