Digital Downloads
Have Europeans Become Less Exhausted After Recent Copyright Decision?
Last week, the big news in the video game blogosphere was the reported sale of the world's largest video game collection, comprising over 11,000 games, for more than $750,000 at auction. While the most salient fact of this story may be the magnitude of both the collection and the winning bid, the large numbers obscure a […]
Embracing Technology: A New Hope for Digital Distribution
On March 7th, the 16th annual Osgoode Entertainment & Sports Law Association Conference brought together students and professionals to explore emerging issues in entertainment and sports law.
Improper Motives: Federal Court Safeguards its Process Against “Copyright Trolls”
The Federal Court granted an order compelling an internet service provider (ISP) to divulge the names and addresses of some 2000 account holders implicated in alleged copyright infringement over peer-to-peer (P2P) networks. This type of order is often associated with “copyright trolls” in other jurisdictions. However, in granting the order, Prothonotary Kevin Aalto attached conditions […]
No Beer and No TV Makes Judge Levy $10M fine for Simpsons, Family Guy Streaming
Who controls the British Crown? Who keeps illegal streaming down? The Federal Court of Canada does! (May the pop-culture references commence.) The Federal Court of Canada made international news by handing down one of the harshest copyright sentences in its history, a fine of over $10M. The defendant is only 23 years old.
International Aspects of the New User-Generated Content Exception in the Copyright Act
On October 10, Osgoode Hall Law School hosted a symposium on User Generated Content under Canadian Copyright Law. The final panel of the day featured IP Osgoode Advisory Board member Barry Sookman and Prof. Joost Blom, who each gave a talk on the broader international context of the UGC exception created by recent amendments to […]
Few People Download Illegally, But Those That Do, Do It A Lot
The few, the mighty. That's one way to describe illegal downloading habits.
Running An Unsecured WiFi Network Is Still Not Negligent
Bleiberg Entertainment was unsuccessful in its argument that running a WiFi network without password protection is negligent in tort law. Bleiberg was aiming to force disclosure of ISP subscriber information to launch copyright infringement actions against those connected to the disclosed IP addresses. Not knowing if those subscribers were directly connected with the infringement, Bleiberg attempted to argue they were nonetheless […]
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 […]
The Internet Taxi: Collective Management of Copyright and the Making Available Right, after the Pentalogy
Just after the adoption of Bill C-11,[1] the Supreme Court of Canada handed down five decisions, which are now referred to as the “pentalogy”, to follow the heretofore famous trilogy.[2] The pentalogy, like its three-legged predecessor, marked a significant shift in Canadian copyright policy. The five cases dealt in one form or another with collective […]