Luksan v. Van der Let, Or Rather, EU v. UrhG?
A recent dispute before an Austrian court has demonstrated a quirky conflict between EU and domestic law with regards to the granting of statutory exploitation rights in cinematographic works.
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Copyright
Sampling Questions Still Unsettled After Jay-Z/Kanye West Sampling Settlement
Jay-Z and Kanye West have decided to settle a sampling lawsuit brought forth by soul musician, Syl Johnson. The pair was accused of illegally sampling one of Johnson’s songs on a track entitled, “The Joy,” on their joint album, Watch the Throne. Johnson has had a history of pursuing rappers for sampling, including a $29 […]
Copyright Reform, The Irish Way
The current copyright statute in Ireland is the Copyright & Related Rights Act 2000. It was changed (a little) to bring Irish law into line with the EU Copyright Directive (2001), but not much has happened since. But following a promise in the coalition agreement after the 2011 general election, a Copyright Review Committee (chaired […]
Bill C-11: Through the Lens of Social Norms
The Copyright Modernization Act (Bill C-11) has generated much discussion on its merits and deficiencies. However, one issue that commentators have not discussed in depth is the relationship between laws and social norms. Specifically, whether any amendments to copyright law in Canada will have an effect on user behaviour given the social acceptability of copyright […]
IP Osgoode Speaker Series: Robert Levine and Dr. Brett Danaher
In celebration of Canadian Music Week, the IP Osgoode Speaker Series presented a panel discussion on “Copyright and the Music Industry” on March 22, 2012 featuring Robert Levine and Dr. Brett Danaher. Levine spoke about the current state of copyright and the public discourse surrounding it. He argued the need for more effective enforcement mechanisms […]
IP Note: Ysolde Gendreau on the Copyright Act
Professor Ysolde Gendreau from the Faculty of Law at the University of Montreal wrote an interesting opinion piece for the Montreal Gazette last week. The piece canvasses the history of the Copyright Act, and draws an analogy between the current debate and a similar reform process that took place in the 1950s. In her article, […]
The Saga Continues: Waldman v Thomson Reuters Corporation Class Action Certified
On February 21, 2012, Judge Perell of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice granted certification for a proposed class action suit under the Class Proceedings Act, 1992, S.O. 1992, c. C.6 against Thomson Reuters Canada Limited in Waldman v Thomson Reuters Corporation. The suit was launched by Mr. Lorne Waldman, an Ontario lawyer specializing in […]
Mt. Everest Skydive Footage Lands In Court
In Slater v Wimmer [2012] EWPCC 7, a cameraman claims copyright infringement after a skydiver provided some footage of what was billed as “the first tandem skydive over Mount Everest” to a Danish television show. As an aside, it turns out the skydive occurred about 20 km away from Everest and the adventure company that […]
Copyright: [Skill and/or Talent?] and Judgment
A few weeks ago, while re-reading CCH Canadian Ltd. v Law Society of Upper Canada, [2004] 1 SCR 339 [hereafter CCH], I paused on a rather peculiar detail from this well-known Supreme Court decision. Intrigued, after a brief search, I was surprised to find that no one in Canadian copyright discourse seemed to have expanded […]
A Note On Incentives, Rights, And The Public Domain In Copyright Law
Featured here is the first section of a paper by Abraham Drassinower, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Toronto. The paper was originally published in the Notre Dame Law Review. The full article can be found here. The idea that the purpose of copyright law is to provide incentives for creativity is among the most […]