Copyright cases typically reach the Supreme Court of Canada (the
Court) only once every few years, ensuring that each case is carefully
parsed and analyzed. On 12 July 2012, the Court issued rulings on five
copyright cases in a single day, an unprecedented tally that shook the
very foundations of copyright law in Canada. In fact, with the decisions
coming just weeks after the Canadian government passed long-awaited
copyright reform legislation, Canadian copyright law experienced a
seismic shift that will take years to sort out.
Not surprisingly, the immediate coverage of the Court’s decisions,
which were quickly dubbed the “copyright pentalogy,” focused on the
specific outcomes for the litigants, including wins for Bell and computer
giant Apple (no fees for song previews on services such as iTunes),1
the entertainment software industry (no additional payment for music
included in downloaded video games),2 and the education community
(copying materials for instructional purposes may qualify as fair dealing)