You recall the folks at PETA, the ones that funded the controversial shcokumentary Blackfish, well they were at it again recently, this time setting their sights on the Vancouver Aquarium. After seeing the film, the aquarium filed a lawsuit against the filmmaker over the numerous false allegations, copyright infringements and contract violations.
In the injunction, Justice Jeanne Watchuk of the B.C. Supreme Court gave the aquarium a big win when they ruled that “Vancouver Aquarium Uncovered” producers must re-edit the film because it was violating the law and stealing and manipulating materials.
Justice Watchuk granted the aquarium an injunction after it filed a notice of civil claim in February against the filmmaker and his company, Evotion Films Inc. In the lawsuit, the Vancouver Aquarium claimed filmmaker, Gary Charbonneau, violated copyright laws and stole material the facility developed as part of its conservation efforts.
Charbonneau stands by his claim the material is covered by the fair dealing provision of the Copyright Act. He said he gave proper credit and used the material to educate the public.
“In granting this order, I am mindful of the inconvenience to the defendants to excise the contentious segments,” Justice Watchuk said. “However, it is the preferred course to maintain the status quo pending trial.”
According to a statement from the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre from The Globe & Mail, the aquarium said it’s seeking to protect copyrighted materials developed to raise awareness about ocean conservation.
“We feel strongly that the conservation, research and education programs we lead need to be fairly represented and protected from those who choose to deliberately make false claims,” said the statement.
PETA has a history of pitting the public against organizations they feel are in the wrong. The radical animal rights activist organization always seems to take the aggressive approach to protest wielding misinformation as its weapon of choice, so this is a huge victory for the Vancouver Aquarium and other marine research institutions around the globe.
We certainly have to agree with this injunction. Over the years we have had the opportunity to work with many public aquariums and marine research facilities around the globe and know just how important their efforts are in uncovering key information on our oceans and the entire ecosystem.
[via Awesome Ocean]
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