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2024 Supreme(US)(ca5) 212

COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
Canadian Stnrd Assoc – Appellant
Versus
P.S. Knight Co – Respondent



United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit

____________ FILED August 9, 2024 No. 23-50081 Lyle W. Cayce ____________ Clerk Canadian Standards Association,

Plaintiff—Appellee,

versus P.S. Knight Company, Limited; PS Knight Americas, Incorporated; Gordon Knight,

Defendants—Appellants. ______________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas USDC No. 1:20-CV-1160 ______________________________ Before King, Willett, and Douglas, Circuit Judges. King, Circuit Judge: Our prior panel opinion, Canadian Standards Ass’n v. P.S. Knight Co., 108 F.4th 329 (5th Cir. 2024), is WITHDRAWN. The following panel opinion is SUBSTITUTED: This international copyright case considers the alleged infringement of seven of Plaintiff-Appellee’s model codes, all of which were created and copyrighted in Canada. The district court, finding that Defendants- Appellants infringed Plaintiff-Appellee’s copyrights, denied Defendants- Appellants’ motion for summary judgment, granted Plaintiff-Appellee’s Case: 23-50081 Document: 75-1 Page: 2 Date Filed: 08/09/2024

No. 23-50081

motion for summary judgment, and issued a permanent injunction against Defendants-Appellants. Because we find that the district court improperly applied the explicit and controlling holding of Veeck v. Southern Building Code Congress International, Inc., 293 F.3d 791 (5th Cir. 2002) (en banc), we REVERSE the district court’s summary judgment decisions, VACATE the district court’s grant of injunctive relief, and REMAND with instructions to grant summary judgment in favor of Defendants-Appellants and to dismiss Plaintiff-Appellee’s copyright infringement claim. I. Canadian Standards Association (“CSA”) is a Canadian not-for- profit corporation. It has developed over 3,000 voluntary standards and codes in Canada, and it holds Canadian copyright registrations in its model codes and standards. CSA sells these codes to relevant tradespeople working in industrial fields in Canada. Forty percent of CSA’s works have been incorporated by reference into different regulations or statutes in Canada. Seven of CSA’s copyrighted model codes are at issue in this case.1 All seven of these model codes have been fully incorporated by reference into at least one Canadian statute or regulation. There is no evidence to suggest that any of these seven works have been incorporated by reference into any United States federal, state, or city law, rule, or regulation. Gordon Knight is the president and sole shareholder of the Canadian company P.S. Knight Co., and the sole corporate director of the American company P.S. Knight Americas, Inc. (hereinafter, collectively, “Knight”).

_____________________ 1 Those seven model codes are the 2015, 2018, and 2021 editions of CSA’s Canadian Electrical Code; the 2015 and 2020 editions of CSA’s Propane Storage and Handling Code; and the 2015 and 2019 editions of CSA’s Oil and Gas Pipeline Systems Code.

2 Case: 23-50081 Document: 75-1 Page: 3 Date Filed: 08/09/2024

No. 23-50081

Knight is also the owner and operator of the website “Deep 6 Project,” formerly “restorecsa.com,”

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