VANCOUVER – Adbusters Media Foundation, the publisher of Adbusters magazine, has won its appeal in its case against the CBC and the Global Television Network.
Adbusters sued the two media companies after they allegedly refused to sell airtime to Adbusters for its “socially minded public service spots”, with “little to no explanation as to why these citizen-produced messages are being censored”, its press release said.
According to Adbusters, it brought its case against the CBC and Global because it believes “that the Canadian Charter grants every Canadian the right to access the public airwaves; to walk into their local TV stations and purchase 30-seconds of airtime under the same rules and conditions as advertising agencies do.”
In February, 2008, the B.C. Supreme Court rejected Adbusters’ claim that refusing to air the ads was a violation of the right to freedom of expression. Citing the previous ruling on CBC, the Judge ruled that the charter did not apply to private corporations.
But in a unanimous decision on April 3, the B.C. Court of Appeal overturned the ruling, meaning Adbusters can now take its case against the media conglomerates back to the B.C. Supreme Court.
"This is a great day for Adbusters," says Kalle Lasn, editor and co-founder of the magazine, in the release. "After 20 years of legal struggle, the courts have finally given us permission to take on the media corporations and hold them up to public scrutiny."
