Chapter 13 Shared Writing: Rains v. Molea, 2013

There is a minimum of 140 characters required to post and earn points. If submitted, your response can be viewed by your classmates and instructor, and you can participate in the class discussion.

This exercise is based on End-of-Chapter case Rains v. Molea, 2013 ONSC 5016 (CanLII).

Rains is a Canadian artist who has created a series of images that depict crumpled paper in various guises. Molea is also a Canadian artist who, quite independently, also created a series of works depicting crumpled paper in various forms. Rains claimed that he has copyright in the whole (the series of crumpled paper works he has created) and that Molea was in violation of that copyright.

What do you think? Does Rain have a copyright in the series or only in each individual work? Would it affect your answer to know that Rains claims that his series, consisting of over 200 works, is a reflection of Greek and Roman architecture; that the series is entitled the classical series; and that each work features crumpled paper against a dark background? Also, each work is titled with a reference to a specific Mediterranean location. On the other hand, Molea produced his work, The Molea crumpled paper works, as a process of using simple material to create drama by contrasting light, shadow, and volume.