At first, a request for royalties by the estate of Nazi propagandist Goebbels was considered a joke by counsel for Random House. But the publisher now finds itself in the middle of a legal controversy after releasing a biography about the notorious World War 2 Nazi, which largely draws from Goebbels’s diaries.
With the Pan Am and Parapan Am Games (the “Games”) upon us, IP enthusiasts are eagerly debating the issues surrounding the Games with respect to – well, IP law. One of the many debates permeating conversations is whether athletes can protect sports moves as intellectual property. For example, can a swimmer copyright a secret way of pulling their arms through water? […]
It’s Toronto’s time to shine! This past October, Governor General David Johnston officially declared 2015 to be the “Year of Sport in Canada” and Toronto’s hosting of the Pan American Games is clearly one of the reasons why. The major sporting event is a fantastic opportunity for the city’s economic development. In fact, the Ontario […]
The prince of appropriation strikes again! Visual artist Richard Prince caused a major uproar in the art world with his latest exhibition, New Portraits. The series of photographs, which features enlarged screenshots of Instagram posts made by different users, has been the object of controversy after it was reportedly found that Prince never asked for […]
What does it mean to be “substantial”? No, this is not the kind of question that requires a long reflective look in the mirror (unless that’s your thing…I’m more of the “stare into a sunset pensively” type), but it is the kind of question the Copyright Board recently tried to answer in its May 23rd decision: Access […]
The times they are a hopefully changing for the Copyright Board of Canada. Over a year ago, Justice William Vancise stepped down after serving his maximum two terms as chair. On June 3rd, the Board issued a press release stating that Industry Minister James Moore had finally announced the appointment of Justice Robert A. Blair as Chair, effective immediately. […]
Ugly break-ups are nothing new, but selfies, sexting and social media have opened a new avenue for exes to punish each other. When one ex keeps nude or sexually explicit photos of the other and publishes them to the internet or to their mutual contacts on social media, they create “revenge porn.”
On the heels of oral arguments heard before the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) in CBC v SODRAC, the Toronto Intellectual Property Group hosted a fascinating event centered on the principle of technological neutrality from ESA v SOCAN, and how it might be interpreted by the SCC when the case is decided.
Featured here is a summary of Pascale Chapdelaine’s paper recently published in the Buffalo Intellectual Property Law Journal and now available here. Whether copyright is property continues to ignite passionate debate, more than 300 years after the entry into force of the Statute of Anne. At the heart of the controversy lie various conceptions of […]
In the words of Taylor Swift, Joss Whedon is probably singing: “Are we out of the woods yet?” On April 13th, author Peter Gallagher (no, not the actor known for playing a cool dad on The O.C.) hit Whedon – director and producer of The Avengers and Buffy the Vampire Slayer – with a massive copyright […]