Judge Says Gov’t Department’s Sharing Password to Access Articles Was ‘Fair Dealing’

A Federal Court judge has ruled that a government department’s sharing of passwords to access Blacklock’s Reporter articles doesn’t infringe on Canada’s Copyright Act. The decision stemmed from the sharing of a password by Parks Canada employees to access news articles from the publication, which is a subscription-based news organization based in Ottawa. A Parks Canada manager bought a subscription to Blacklock’s Reporter and then shared the password with a limited number of employees. Court documents Court documents say the subscription was used to access articles related to Parks Canada in case corrections were needed. In his decision, Justice Yvan Roy wrote that in purchasing a subscription and acquiring the password needed to access articles produced by Blacklock’s Reporter, “Parks Canada’s use of the password in the circumstances of this case constitutes fair dealing under section 29 of the Copyright Act.”...