PROPOSED $50M CLASS ACTION FILED AGAINST TERANET INC. BY ONTARIO LAND
SURVEYORS CLAIMING DRAWINGS, MAPS ET AL. FILED IN ONTARIO LAND REGISTRY
OFFICES WERE SOLD BY TERANET WITHOUT CONSENT OF THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS

TORONTO AND VANCOUVER, Nov. 15 /CNW/ - A proposed Class Action was filed in Ontario Superior Court of Justice today on behalf of all land surveyors in Ontario who are the holders of copyrights in drawings, maps, charts and plans registered, deposited or filed in the Ontario Land Registry Offices, and which were copied by the Defendant, assembled in its data base and/or sold by the Defendant without the consent of the Plaintiff. The Claim seeks $50M in general damages, an injunction to prevent future use of copyrighted material without permission, and other damages.

The Plaintiff, Keatley Surveying Ltd., claims that the Defendant breached the Federal Copyright Act after the Plaintiff registered and deposited a large number of works in the provincial Land Registration Office for the District of Manitoulin and elsewhere in Ontario. The Plaintiff alleges that the Defendant, as a  third-party supplier to the Provincial Government, made unauthorized copies of the Plaintiff's Works, assembled them in a database along with unauthorized copies of drawings, maps, charts and plans created by other land surveyors in Ontario and similarly registered, deposited or filed in Ontario Land Registry Offices. The Plaintiff further claims that the Defendant sold unauthorized copies of the surveyors' works to members of the public for a fee, collected money from the sale of the unauthorized copies and retained the entire purchase proceeds.

No part of the process of registering, depositing or filing copyrighted works in the Provincial Registry Offices derogates from the federally mandated copyrights in such works.

At no time has the Defendant notified the Plaintiff or other Class members that copies of their respective Surveyors' Works have been sold for a profit.  Further, at no point has the Defendant sought to obtain the consent of the Plaintiff or other Class members to sell copies of their respective Surveyors' Works to members of the public.

It is the Plaintiff's assertion that the Defendant's business model is based on selling unauthorized copies of the Surveyors' Works for a profit in breach of the clear provisions of the Copyright Act.

The Federal Copyright Act provides automatic protection for the creator of drawings, maps, charts and plans and as such the sole right to produce or reproduce the work; publish the work; produce or reproduce and translation of the work and the sole right to communicate the work to the public by telecommunication.

Plaintiff and the proposed class are represented by William O'Hara of Gardiner Roberts LLP and by Ward K. Branch and Luciana P. Brasil of Branch MacMaster LLP.

For further information:

William O'Hara, Gardiner Roberts LLP
[phone]
[email protected]

or

Luciana P. Brasil, Branch, MacMaster LLP
604-654-2960.
[email protected]