ISSUE:
Whether the Law Society's dealings with the publishers' works “fair dealing(s)” under Sections 29 of the Copyright Act of Canada?
Did the Great Library authorize copyright infringement by maintaining self-service photocopiers and copies of the publishers’ works for its patrons’ use?
Are publishers’ materials “original works” protected under copyright?
RULE:
For a work to be “original” within, it must be more than a mere copy of another work. At the same time, it need not be creative, in the sense of being novel or unique. What is required to attract copyright protection in the expression of an idea is an exercise of skill and judgment. This aspect of the work is the main point of difference between identifying an original work and a copied work.
The exercise of skill and judgment required to produce the work must not be so trivial that it could be characterized as a purely mechanical process, it should include the intellectual effort of the author.