Province demands Twitter user remove post using government wheat sheaf logo

The Saskatchewan government demanded that a man remove a tweet he had posted that used a government logo, saying it was in violation of copyright, but a copyright and trademark lawyer says the tweet was legal.

The Saskatchewan government's newest slogan is "growth that works for everyone." It is featured on ads, billboards and on government and MLA social media channels.

Iain MacDonald posted an image of the government's slogan and logo, but with the line "who donates to the Sask. Party" added at the bottom.

At first glance the parody looks similar to the official ad. The government took exception.

Its tone-deaf response to Mr. MacDonald's innocuous, satirical tweet lacks not only a basis in copyright law, but also a sense of humour.- Copyright lawyer Graham Hood

On Monday, the official government of Saskatchewan Twitter account sent MacDonald a direct message.

"Attention Iain, the stylized wheat sheaf logos you have used in this post are copyrighted by the Government of Saskatchewan. We have not and do not give you permission to use these symbols. We are demanding that you cease and desist, and remove them."

MacDonald took the post down.

"I was taken aback, actually," MacDonald said. "I didn't think too hard about it. I thought maybe that's fair, their logo, I took off the logo and and I made a revised version."

He decided to share the message from the government with his followers.

"I knew that people would be interested, so I posted a screenshot of the message from the government's Twitter account. And that's when it all blew up. And my phone really hasn't stopped since then."

MacDonald said the response has prompted copycat posts from others and put the spotlight on something that may have been ignored otherwise.

"I don't think anything would have happened had the government Twitter account not responded in that way. That was the thing that made it go crazy. They were asking to cease and desist and that is the thing that drove everyone wild. So it was the exact opposite effect of, I think, what they hoped for."

MacDonald said he had been posting the original meme in the replies to tweets by Premier Scott Moe.

He said he takes exception to the claim "growth that works for everyone."

"If growth works that well, then why is health care in such a bad place? Why are the people in hallways and we don't have enough doctors and why are the schools overcrowded?"

MacDonald said the government's logo and colours closely resemble that of the Saskatchewan Party, causing confusion.

"I think there's kind of an overlapping grey area and I think governments in power obviously use that to stay in power. It's like, 'we are the thing that's making all this happen,' when in fact they're not."

Government says use of logo requires permission

In a statement to CBC, the government said the issue was the use of its trademark.

"The Government of Saskatchewan's stylized wheat sheaf symbol is an official trademarked logo of the province, and is protected by copyright law. As such, it requires permission to be used in any materials," a statement from SaskBuilds and procurement said.

"When unauthorized use of the symbol is brought to the government's attention, it is assessed by officials and legal counsel to protect the integrity of the symbol, and the Government of Saskatchewan's brand."

The Saskatchewan Party caucus has billboards and ads featuring the "growth that works for everyone" slogan, but it does not include the government wheat sheaf logo.

Opposition MLA Meara Conway, who is a lawyer, said the government is picking a bad fight.

"I think it's very silly that the government is prioritizing this. Of course citizens can make fun of their government. That's part of a democracy. So they're wrong on the law and and they're wrong in terms of their priorities. I was shocked to see that they're expending resources actually, you know, trying to take these people on."

Copyright and trademark lawyer says tweet within the law

A lawyer who specializes in trademark and copyright law said MacDonald's tweet does not put him in legal jeopardy.

"I was surprised to see the provincial government go after him in the first place. This tweet is clearly satirical in nature,"  said Graham Hood of Smart and Biggar LLP in Toronto.

"[MacDonald] is exercising his freedom of expression and furthermore, our Copyright Act explicitly provides for what's known as a fair dealing exception for parody and satire. Our Copyright Act makes explicitly clear that fair dealing for the purpose of parody or satire does not infringe copyright," Hood said.

He said he was not sure why the government would commit resources to ask for the tweet to be removed.

"Like any brand owner, the provincial government should take all necessary and reasonable steps to protect its intellectual property rights, and always be on the lookout for the misappropriation or misuse of its marks and works," Hood said. 

"However, its tone-deaf response to Mr. MacDonald's innocuous, satirical tweet lacks not only a basis in copyright law, but also a sense of humour."