Supreme Speculation

  
Supreme Court of Canada watchers - which now assuredly includes any and all Canadian copyright lawyers - are wondering why the Supreme Court is going to hear five (5) copyright cases, presumably in two days on December 6th and 7th, 2011.


At least three of these cases would have seemed to be unlikely choices under normal circumstances, at least in the eyes of most copyright lawyers, for the granting of leave to appeal. Moreover, for the Supreme Court to hear five (5) copyright cases in two days  is unheard of in copyright law - and is a very rare if not unique event regardless of the subject matter in this Court's history or that of any other highest court. These are not motions. They are full fledged appeals, with a multiplicity of parties and counsel in most of the cases and several interventions already permitted and more applications to intervene expected. Quite apart from the logistics of how these two days may unfold, there is much speculation about what the Supreme Court may have in mind overall.


Here's something else to speculate about. There's another potentially interesting copyright case in the pipeline that was also decided by the Federal Court of Appeal on judicial review from the Copyright Board, and for which  leave has been sought but not yet ruled upon. This inovlves SOCAN and CSI, and the issue of the territorial scope of the Copyright Act, and consideration of what constitutes the “authorization” of a reproduction of a work.This is case CMRRA-SODRAC Inc. (CSI) v. SOCAN, Sirius, Canadian Satellite Radio Inc., et al. (SCC no. 34092).  In this instance, it is now past the usual time of four months or so after the filing of the leave to appeal application that it takes the Court to rule.  And the Court just last week granted leave to appeal in the NRCC "soundtracks" case (Re:Sound v. Motion Picture Theatre Associations of Canada et al. (F.C.) (Civil) (By Leave) (34210), in which the leave application was filed more than two months later - and which almost nobody thought would would be granted.


Could it be that the Court will hear this "authorization" case as well? And during this already uniquely busy two days in December?  That would make six (6) cases in two days - and would give court watchers even more to speculate about.


And to add to all of the mystery, we may have two new Supreme Court judges by the time these cases are heard.


HK