The Federal Court of Canada recently ordered Afterlife Networks Inc. (“Afterlife”) to pay $20 million in damages to grieving families for the unauthorized reproduction of over one million obituaries and a commensurate number of accompanying photographs.
In Dawn Thomson v. Afterlife Network Inc., 2019 FC 545, the representative applicant instituted a class action against Afterlife, alleging it had infringed the class members’ copyright and moral rights. Afterlife operated a website that reproduced obituaries and photographs from the websites of Canadian funeral homes and newspapers. Afterlife did not obtain permission for the reproductions and asserted ownership in the copyright of its online content. Profits were generated through third-party advertisements and options to purchase virtual candles and flowers, which appeared next to the obituaries.
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