A Pacific white-sided dolphin during a show at the Vancouver Aquarium March 5, 2015.John Lehmann/The Globe and Mail
The Vancouver Aquarium has filed a lawsuit alleging copyright infringement by a filmmaker whose documentary was critical of the facility's treatment of dolphins and beluga whales.
Gary Charbonneau's documentary "Vancouver Aquarium Uncovered" was published on YouTube and Vimeo, but he says Vimeo took down the film last week.
A notice of civil claim filed by the aquarium says Charbonneau used images and video from its official website and blog without permission.
Charbonneau says a fair-use defence would apply because he gave proper credit and used the information to educate the public about the facility.
He says the lawsuit appears to be an effort to silence his film, noting that the court document does not dispute the allegations made in his documentary.
The aquarium has published a lengthy blog post disputing many of the allegations and accusing Charbonneau of deliberately creating an inaccurate and misleading movie.