Leave to Appeal Granted in SOCAN iTunes "Previews" case

Good news from on high, legally speaking:

GRANTED WITH COSTS / ACCORDÉE AVEC DÉPENS

Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada v. Bell Canada et al. (F.C.) (Civil) (By Leave) (33800)

(The application for leave to appeal is granted with costs in the cause. /

La demande d’autorisation d’appel est accordée avec dépens suivant l’issue de la cause.)

Coram: LeBel / Deschamps / Charron

This augurs well for leave to appeal also being granted in the CMEC K-12 case, in which the application was filed a few weeks later. 

If the Supreme Court proceeds in its usual prompt manner, we will likely have a judgment in the CMEC K-12 leave application in late January or February.

The CMEC K-12 case at first sight is much more obviously relevant on its facts than the previews case to the the current Access Copyright tariff applications underway at the Copyright Board. However, if perchance the Court decides to hear only the "previews" case and not the K-12 case, the outcome could still have a profound effect on the AC applications depending on the result and the reasoning.  


I've been predicting that both these cases would be heard by the Court - since both involve important fair dealing issues and present a situation in which the Federal Court of Appeal has seriously contradicted itself not only on the substance of fair dealing but on standard of review as well.

HK