Infringement

(Gift) Carded in the US Court of Appeals

Gift cards are everywhere. They are in envelopes as gifts for your friends on their birthdays. They are in your own wallet for your favourite stores. Gift cards are also in the United States Court of Appeals.

Can Apple Unlock a Benefit to the Smartphone Patent Wars?

There have been many high profile court cases of patent infringement in the past year, culminating in a headline-topping $1 billion award for Apple against Samsung. Even with massive awards like this, at the end of the day, has the patent system produced a net benefit for Apple and the smartphone industry as a whole?

Law, Culture, Critique

On May 10, 2013, York University’s Osgoode Hall Law School Graduate Law Student Association (GLSA) held a two day Graduate Student Law Conference at the Oakham House at Ryerson University in downtown Toronto.

Strike Three, Viacom

If at first you don’t succeed, Viacom, try try again?  On April 18, 2013, Judge Louise Stanton of the 2nd Circuit District Court effectively wrote the last chapter in the epic one billion dollar copyright battle between Viacom and YouTube.

About the Boundaries of Fairness in Fair Use

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.

Game of Thones - Piracy is Coming

TorrentFreak has reported that the first episode of HBO’s Game of Thrones season three broke historic download records, with more than a million as of April 1st, 2013. Canada ranked fourth internationally in terms of the highest number of TorrentFreak S3E1 downloads, representing 7.4% of total downloads at the time of reporting.

AEREO, Cable, What's The Difference?

The world of copyright law is constantly evolving and adapting to changes and innovations.  No case better captures this ongoing evolution than the recent American decision of WNET, THIRTEEN, FOX TELEVISION STATIONS, INC. v. AEREO, INC.

Innovative Distinctions between Make and Repair

An intermediate bulk container (IBC) was the subject of an ongoing patent suit between exclusive UK licensee of the patent, Schütz (U.K.) Limited (Schütz), and Werit UK Limited (Werit). IBC’s are bulk liquid shipping containers with wire frames surrounding a plastic container in order to improve structural stability. IBCs are designed this way in order to […]

The copyright claws come out in EU catwalk photo battle

Tout arrive en France, especially for folks following recent intellectual property news. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) released a key judgment in January in a case that pitted copyright against freedom of expression.

How Music Can Help You, And You Can Help Music – An Interview With Graham Henderson

I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Graham Henderson, President of Music Canada, who will be inducted into the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame on Thursday, March 21 as part of Canadian Music Week 2013. In addition to representing record labels such as Sony, Universal and Warner, Music Canada’s role is to […]