The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board V. IMS Incorporated c.o.b. as REstats, T-900-20
2021-04-07
Read full decision. Summary prepared by Alan Macek:
As set out in the prayer for relief, TRREB is asserting claims ... related to the alleged breach of its copyright in the TRREB MLS system; for breach of some further unspecified proprietary rights (or simply those related to copyright), breach of confidentiality and the Rules and Policies (terms and conditions) governing access to the MLS system, a breach of the technological protection provisions governing access to the TRREB MLS system, and TRREB’s privacy rights under PIPEDA. ... The Federal Court of Appeal, in 2017 FCA 236 found that copyright does not exist in the content of the TRREB MLS system. ... I am not persuaded as TRREB submits that because the FCA case was for a different purpose, the issue should be re-litigated. Either there is copyright, or there is not. ... This leaves PIPEDA as the remaining body of federal law in issue, as pleaded in the Statement of Claim. In that regard, there is no independent cause of action for breach of the statute. ... In light of the above, the motion will be granted in its entirety and with costs to the Defendant.