The renowned Toronto Film Festival (TIFF), at which potential Oscar-bait is shown, has had to back-track its cancellation of an Israeli film after first claiming that (this is true) copyright infringement:
After two days of intense controversy, the Toronto International Film Festival has not only reversed its decision to disinvite an October 7 documentary, but has made it an official festival selection.
(Sidebar: what an about-face!)
Earlier this week, the festival outraged the filmmakers and Jewish groups when it rescinded an invitation for The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue to screen at this year’s festival, which kicks off Sept. 4.
The festival backtracked late Thursday evening, issuing a joint statement from Cameron Bailey, TIFF’s CEO and Barry Avrich, the filmmaker.
“(The film) will be an official TIFF selection at the festival this year, where we believe it will contribute to the vital conversations that film is meant to inspire,” the festival said.
Like trying to save one's family from the group of butchers whose footage was found inconvenient and distasteful by the crowd that won't admit what the latter did on October 7th.
Now, about that copyright issue:
Credit to the organizers of the Toronto International Film Festival.
While it’s become commonplace for Canada’s political and law enforcement classes to capitulate to the tantrums of the nation’s anti-Israel mob, TIFF has earned itself extra points for creativity. ...
In what surely must be a global first, TIFF refused to screen a film to avoid the risk of terrorists traveling more than 9,000 kilometres to assert their copyrights in a foreign court.
The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue is a documentary directed by veteran filmmaker Barry Avrich. The film tells the story of retired Israel Defense Forces General Noam Tibon, who travelled from Tel Aviv to Kibbutz Nahal Oz to rescue his son and two granddaughters from the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, 2023. Along the way, he saved victims fleeing the Nova music festival and wounded IDF soldiers.
Festival organizers were worried about security at the film’s screenings. ...
(Sidebar: oh, is THAT what they told everyone.)
Putting aside obvious defences to a claim of copyright infringement, such as fair dealing, there is serious doubt as to whether Gazans have standing under Canada’s Copyright Act.
In 2014, the United Nations announced the State of Palestine, which doesn’t currently exist, had become signatory to multiple human rights treaties.
(Sidebar: and it never will be.)
Nothing prevented it from also becoming signatory to an international copyright agreement like, for example, the Berne Convention. Foreign authors acquire rights under Canadian copyright laws solely via copyright treaties, absent which, they have no rights to assert in a Canadian court.
Moreover, there is a strong likelihood that many of the terrorists who participated in the massacre have since been killed in the war with Israel. So whatever rights they might have had transfer via Gaza’s laws of wills and estates. Good luck chasing down those heirs for a film clip license.
Using facts and logic, one destroyed the argument of copyright, itself a sub-text for cowardice and anti-semitism.
It might have been easier for the organisers of the film festival to outrightly state that they didn't want visceral footage of the Hamas massacres to be shown.
It would be ugly to hear but it IS what people think.
Appalling.
Also:
A Montreal lawyer has filed a hate crime complaint after he and his wife, both Jewish, were confronted by a demonstrator at a Palestinian rally calling out “Heil, heil, heil” at them during their visit to Halifax.
This is Canada now.
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