CanWest wins motion against maker of Sun parody 2008-11-26 11:59 ET - Street Wire by Mike Caswell CanWest MediaWorks Publications Inc. has won an early legal victory against Gordon Murray, a pro-Palestinian activist who allegedly helped create a fake version of The Vancouver Sun. A judge has ruled that portions of his statement of defence must be struck. CanWest claims that Mr. Murray breached its copyright and trademark when he helped create two fake Suns in 2002 and 2007. One of the papers had a banner that read "Seriously Zionist since 2001" and an article titled "Celebrating 40 years of Civilizing The West Bank." CanWest said the fake paper embarrassed the company and injured its business. In his defence, Mr. Murray claimed that the fake Sun was a parody and that it was freedom of expression. He also said that CanWest had a pro-Israel bias dictated from its head office, and that media ownership in British Columbia is concentrated in CanWest. The judge, Master A. Donaldson, issued a ruling against Mr. Murray on Nov. 24, 2008. He said that Mr. Murray cannot claim that the fake Sun did not infringe on the Copyright Act simply because it is a parody. It is a well-established legal rule that parodies are not exempt from copyright actions, the judge said. He also struck other parts of the defence, which stated that CanWest has a centralized editorial policy and owns most of B.C.'s newspapers. He said they did not assist Mr. Murray. CanWest's statement of claim CanWest filed a statement of claim against Mr. Murray and nine others in the Supreme Court of British Columbia on Dec. 7, 2007. In addition to Mr. Murray, it named as defendants Palestinian activist Mordecai Briemberg, political activist Carel Moiseiwitsch, publishing firm Horizon Publications Ltd., and six John and Jane Does. The suit alleged that they distributed fake versions of The Vancouver Sun in 2002 and on June 1, 2007. The fake Sun used the same general layout as the real one, including its distinctive logo. CanWest claimed that 12,000 copies of the 2007 paper were distributed in Vancouver and Victoria. They were handed out at university campuses and placed in newspaper boxes, wrapped around the real Sun, according to the suit. The defendants also published the newspaper on-line, through a website called www.vancouversun.7p.com, and announced it on a radio station using the alias Earl Zatz Handel, the suit claimed. The suit had originally stated that the defendants harboured antagonistic views toward CanWest and its principal shareholders (undoubtedly referring to the Asper family), but a later amendment removed any mention of the company's shareholders. CanWest claimed breaches of its copyright and trademark. It also said that the defendants threatened to publish another fake Sun. The suit sought an injunction preventing future publications, plus general, punitive and aggravated damages. CanWest is represented by David Church of Church & Company. Statements of defence Mr. Murray filed his statement of defence on Oct. 21, 2008. In it, he did not deny publishing the paper complained of, but said it was a parody. He said the paper was distinguishable from the genuine one because it had different editorial content, fewer pages and was not of the same reproduction quality. In addition, it contained a "bald statement to the effect that Canwest is not the publisher." Mr. Murray also said that CanWest owns and operates several newspapers in B.C., which together comprise 84 per cent of the daily paid circulation in the province. He contended that the papers have a strong pro-Israel bias, and usually portray Israelis as victims and Palestinians as terrorists. "Canwest takes the position that Israel is blameless and described the Palestinian people in one editorial as a single collective suicide bomber," his defence read. He said the bias emanates from CanWest's headquarters and its senior directors and principal shareholders. "One express purpose of the centralized editorial policy is to insulate Israel from criticism for its violations of international law," he said. Mr. Murray claimed that the lawsuit was not intended to compensate CanWest for any losses, rather it was designed to harm the defendants economically and emotionally for their pro-Palestinian views. "This lawsuit represents a perversion of civil justice and an abuse of process," he said. Mr. Murray is represented by Jason Gratl of Gratl & Company. CanWest motion CanWest filed a motion on Oct. 27, 2008, asking the court to strike portions of Mr. Murray's defence that said it was pro-Israel and dictated editorial policy from head office. It said they were "unnecessary, scandalous, frivolous or vexatious" and that they "may prejudice or embarrass the proceeding." After a one-day hearing on Oct. 28, 2008, Master Donaldson agreed. "The media ownership, centralized editorial policy and motivation allegations clearly do not go to any of the defences which the defendant has raised. Therefore, they should be struck," he ruled. He did, however, grant the Mr. Murray one concession, by ordering CanWest to produce documents tracing authorship of the layout and design of the Vancouver Sun logo and its general format. Mr. Murray had sought the documents to aid in his defence. | 
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