User-Generated Content Under Canadian Copyright Law

User-Generated Content Under Canadian Copyright Law Featuring Professor Victor Nabhan Genest Global Faculty Thursday October 10, 2013, 9:30am to 5:00pm Osgoode Hall Law School, York University

When Eagles & Dragons Hunt Pirates: US and China Join Forces to Crack Down on Counterfeiting

The United States and China have joined forces in a combined operation to crack down on counterfeit goods, seizing more than 243,000 counterfeit electronic products, including popular consumer items made by Apple, Samsung, Dr. Dre and Blackberry.

SickKids in Court – Are Public-Private Research Collaborations a Hindrance or a Driver of the Innovative Process?

A recent lawsuit filed by Myriad Genetics involving the alleged infringement of their controversial breast cancer screening tool has included the prestigious Toronto SickKids hospital as a co-plaintiff. This lawsuit has been a source of criticism for the hospital and has reinvigorated the debate on the merits of public-private research collaborations in health care innovation.

The Context of the Supreme Court’s Copyright Cases

In the summer of 2012, the Supreme Court of Canada created history by simultaneously releasing five copyright judgments: Entertainment Software Association v Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada [ESA],[1] Rogers Communications Inc. v Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada [Rogers],[2] Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada […]

EA Loses Battle to Put Athlete’s Likeness in Video Game

In a victory for athletes specifically, and proponents of personality rights generally, the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal has ruled against Electronic Arts (EA) in its use of former college quarterback Sam Keller’s likeness in the NCAA Football video game series. This news has costly implications for EA.

Royal(ty) Pains: The Expansion Woes of Online Music Streaming Services

Online music streaming services have had a difficult year despite their increasing popularity. The problems services are experiencing south of the border may have an effect on how and when these services enter the Canadian market.

Canadian Objection to proposed .mls domain .rejected

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has rejected the Legal Rights Objection (LRO) of the Canadian Real Estate Association of Ottawa to the registration of the generic Top Level Domain (gTLD) .mls by Afilias Limited. While the WIPO Panel acknowledged that while the Association possesses a valid legal right to the term “MLS”, they found it was […]

Patent Trolls or Patent Heroes? – The Increasing Pressure on Patent Assertion Entities

On July 13, 2013, the New York Times published an article on Erich Spangenberg’s business enterprise, IPNav, which is considered to be one of the largest Patent Assertion Entities (“P.A.E.s”) in the world. Analyzing the business model of P.A.E.s is important to understanding the legal limits of these entities.

Acknowledging Copyright’s Illegitimate Offspring: User-Generated Content and Canadian Copyright Law

Bill C-11[1] provides for a new exception to infringement for user-generated content (UGC), along with new grounds for fair dealing. These provisions, combined with a strong and clear message  from the Supreme Court of Canada’s pentalogy of copyright cases  regarding users’ rights and the copyright balance, signal a new paradigm  for copyright law in Canada—one […]

On the newly proposed Italian Regulation on Copyright Protection in Audiovisual Media Services

The re-posting of this analysis is part of a cross-posting collaboration with MediaLaws: Law and Policy of the Media in a Comparative Perspective.