Caseway and CanLII move closer to settlement in copyright dispute
Caseway founder and CEO Alistair Vigier says his company and the Canadian Legal Information Institute (CanLII) have resolved the major issues in their dispute and agreed on a framework to move forward beyond litigation. He declined to share details at this stage, describing the approach as "the right way for AI companies and publishers to do it, instead of suing each other."
There has been no progress on the court file since the lawsuit was filed in November 2024, according to Vigier. CanLII declined to comment.
What the lawsuit alleged
CanLII, a non-profit founded by the Federation of Law Societies of Canada, operates a widely used database of court decisions, legislation, and legal commentary from Canadian courts. The group sued Caseway in the British Columbia Supreme Court, alleging the startup built its product by bulk downloading CanLII content without permission or compensation.
CanLII claimed breach of its terms of use and copyright infringement, seeking an injunction and damages. Caseway disputed the allegations, stating its system trains on public court records and "does not use any CanLII data or enhancements," only the underlying decisions.
Case reference details were not publicly provided, but proceedings were filed in the BC Supreme Court.
Why this matters for legal teams
This fight sits at the intersection of copyright and contract. Court decisions are public record, but site terms, database curation, and value-added enhancements are protected. That's where many AI data strategies can run afoul-using public material while bypassing a platform's contractual limits.
If the matter settles on a licensing or access framework, it may become a template for how AI companies and legal publishers work together: clear permissions, attribution, and technical guardrails instead of protracted litigation.
Practical takeaways for law firms and in-house counsel
- Ask vendors exactly what data they use, how they obtained it, and whether they agreed to the source's terms. Press for documentation of data provenance.
- Build contract protections: reps and warranties on lawful sourcing, compliance with terms of use, and indemnities for IP and scraping claims. Include audit rights where feasible.
- Prefer licensed feeds, official APIs, or public repositories over scraping. Even public records can trigger liability if collected in breach of a site's terms.
- Set accuracy controls. Caseway recently partnered with the University of British Columbia on a two-year project to reduce false legal outputs-your agreements should require quality benchmarks, human review for critical use, and quick remediation of errors.
- Monitor live disputes involving AI training and publisher rights in Canada. Outcomes will influence acceptable practices across legaltech and research tools.
Caseway's recent moves
Caseway launched in late 2024 with an AI assistant built to fetch, explain, and summarize Canadian case law. In July 2025, it announced an integration with AffiniPay's MyCase, which could put the tool in front of many firms using that practice management stack.
Last month, Caseway also announced a research partnership with the University of British Columbia focused on reducing false legal information from AI systems. This aligns with a growing push for safer deployment as courts flag filings with fabricated citations.
Broader context
The Caseway dispute is one of many legal actions testing AI data practices. Canadian publishers have filed claims against several AI developers, and legaltech companies are contesting database access and product differentiation in court. Expect more clarity as settlements, injunctions, and early decisions shape norms around training data and product outputs.
What to watch next
- Whether the Caseway-CanLII resolution includes licensing, access limits, attribution, or technical controls.
- How any agreement influences other publishers and AI vendors working with Canadian legal materials.
- Procurement shifts by law firms-more questions about data lineage, licensing, and safeguards before adopting AI tools.
If your legal team is formalizing AI policies and vendor diligence, you may find structured training helpful. See role-based options here: AI courses by job.
Your membership also unlocks:
