Brian Chau is a JD candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. Where do we draw the line between commercial and non-commercial uses? Is this view the same across content creators and users? A quick background Creative commons licences are designed to help content creators (who own the copyright) communicate to their users which rights they […]
There is an interesting debate going on right now between William Patry and Ben Sheffner at the Moral Panics and the Copyright Wars blog. It centres on the verdicts in two recent high-profile p2p trafficking cases launched by RIAA against regular people (Jammie Thomas-Rasset and Joel Tenenbaum). In Thomas-Rasset's case, a jury awarded damages against […]
European Union Telecommunications Commissioner Viviane Reding is planning to overhaul Internet downloading policies in order to facilitate simple, consumer friendly, and legal access to music and films online. Her response to a recent survey, showing 60% of people between ages 16-24 as downloaders of illegal audiovisual content, is that "internet piracy appears to become more […]
For months newspaper publishers have been complaining about Google, creators of the ubiquitous search engine and the largest online ad-space sellers. Publishers have argued that online news aggregators like Google News unfairly generate tons of ad revenue for Google without compensating the papers who provide its content. In a move likely to anger European publishers, […]
Despite the ominous verdict from the Swedish court which sentenced The Pirate Bay (TPB) operators to a year in prison and a penalty of US $3.6 million for facilitating copyright infringement, TPB may soon have new life breathed into the service. Global Gaming Factory X, a Swedish software company, has offered to purchase TPB for […]
The principle of Net neutrality refers to the idea that data packets on the Internet should be moved impartially, without regard to content, destination or source. In essence, it means that all Internet traffic should be treated equally and implies that an information network such as the Internet is most efficient and useful to the public when […]
There have been criticisms of the European Parliament elections from various quarters. These criticisms range from a consistently declining voter turnout and lack of enthusiasm for the election of Members of the European Parliament to the ability of "fringe" political parties to gain a seat due to their ability to convert fanatical energy for a […]
Creative Commons ("CC") is a non-profit corporation "dedicated to making it easier for people to share and build upon the work of others, consistent with the rules of copyright." CC provides free licenses and other legal tools to mark creative work with the freedom the creator wants it to carry, so others can share, remix, […]
Virgin Media and Universal Music Group have taken the plunge into an ISP and digital music collaboration to provide customers in the UK with unlimited access to MP3 downloads and streaming of Universal label artists. Although the exact monthly fee for this service has yet to be determined, Virgin plans to provide the service for […]
Giovanni Maria Riccio is Professor of Private Comparative Law at the University of Salerno. Professor Riccio is an IP Osgoode Research Affiliate. The French Constitutional Court held that the "Creation and Internet" law - the law promoted by the Olivennes Commission and strictly supported by the President Sarkozy - is unconstitutional. This Act - whose […]