Court sides with filmmaker who took on Vancouver aquarium’s captivity practice
VANCOUVER — British Columbia’s Appeal Court has ruled in favour of a filmmaker whose documentary criticized the Vancouver Aquarium’s practice of keeping beluga whales and dolphins in captivity.
It said Wednesday that a lower court judge erred in ordering the filmmaker to remove 15 segments of his documentary that the aquarium claimed could cause the facility irreparable harm.
Justice Elizabeth Bennett said a B.C. Supreme Court judge accepted, “without any further analysis,” an affidavit by the aquarium’s chief financial officer and senior vice-president of business who said the derogatory use of copyrighted material could cause harm that would be impossible to calculate or repair.
“There was not a shred of evidence in support of that conclusion,” Bennett said in a written ruling, adding the affidavit did not mention any damage pertaining to loss of donations, attendance or other factors.