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CRISTIN SCHMITZ OTTAWA

A novel “mass copyright infringement” class action, which contends that lawyers enjoy copyright in the court documents they create, has been given the green light to proceed.

At press time, defendant
Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd.
had yet to announce whether it
would seek leave to appeal to
Ontario’s Divisional Court.

Superior Court Justice Paul Perell’s Feb. 21 decision certifies a $51-million-plus national class action, but leaves a number of potentially contentious issues to be determined on an individual, rather than a class basis.

The class action, which breaks
new ground in Canada, was
launched in 2010 by prominent
Toronto immigration lawyer Lorne
Waldman. He alleges that Thom-
son’s Westlaw Litigator service
infringed his copyright and moral
rights, and those of other lawyers,
by reproducing in various down-
loadable formats, and making
available for a fee online, more than
100,000 pleadings, court motions,
affidavits and facta the defendant
has copied from court files across
Canada. There are 12,000 to

13,000 lawyers’ names, and about 6,500 firm names, on the court documents in Litigator (see also: “$51-million class action takes on commercial legal database,” The Lawyers Weekly, June 18, 2010).

Thomson Reuters, which says it has invested substantially in Litigator (including paying more than $1-million to courts for file access fees and photocopying

See Copyright Page 8

THE LAWYERS WEEKLY

Vol. 22, No. 27 NEWS FOR THE LEGAL PROFESSION December 6, 2002

PAGE 9

Holes in
corporate
veil seen

CRISTIN SCHMITZ OTTAWA

In discharging their duty to uphold the rule of law, judges should “creatively and courageously” apply the common law to help enforce corporate social responsibility abroad, says former Supreme Court of Canada justice Ian Binnie.

Binnie called on the judiciary to rise to the challenge of finding creative solutions to address structural problems created by globalization, especially the lack of civil forums and remedies to deal with widespread allegations that mining and other international companies are abetting human rights abuses carried out by the governments of the foreign countries where they do business.

“There are huge problems facing our legal system at the moment, in the environment, in the commercial world, in labour problems, and so on and so forth, and globalization has vastly aggravated the problem of finding a useful remedy,” he said in the fourth annual Coxford Lecture, titled “Judging the Judges: May they boldly go where Justice Ivan Rand went before.”

DONALEE MOULTON

Public sentiment is clear: Francesco Schettino should have gone down with the ship—or at the very least, he should have remained on board.

Instead, the 52-year-old cap-
tain of the Costa Concordia cruise
liner that struck rocks and sank
Jan. 13 off Giglio Island in Italy
scrambled into a lifeboat, leaving
approximately 4,200 passengers
and crew to fend for themselves.
Thirty two people died in the tra-
gedy.

But the law does not necessar-
ily mirror public sentiment. And
while Italian maritime law varies
from that of Canadian legisla-
tion — unlike Canada, aban-
doning ship is a criminal offence
in Italy—Schettino could face
manslaughter, shipwreck and
abandonment charges, with
reports indicating prosecutors
could seek total jail time of 2,697
years.

In this country, the Canada Shipping Act spells out what captains must do to legally perform their duties. Section 109 of the act specifically requires that the person at the helm “take all reasonable steps to ensure the safety of the vessel and of persons who are on board or are loading or

Choppy legal water ahead

See Ship Page 23 See Solutions Page 23

THE LAWYERS WEEKLY

VOL. 22, NO. 27 NEWS FOR THE LEGAL PROFESSION DECEMBER 6, 2002

VOL. 22, NO. 27 NEWS FOR THE LEGAL PROFESSION DECEMBER 6,

Hard look at incentives for charitable giving

PAGE 14

DIFFICULT PEOPLE

It takes skill to play their game

2002

PAGE 20

A captain does not have to go down with the ship, but ‘reasonable steps’ must be taken to ensure the safety of people and the vessel, says Vancouver maritime lawyer Gary Wharton, in reference to the Costa Concordia cruise liner tragedy. Wharton is seen above at the West Vancouver Yacht Club, where he is the commodore.

ALISTAIR EAGLE FOR THE LAWYERS WEEKLY

THE RIGHT FIT

Being the best producer doesn’t mean being the best leader

PAGE 21

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