Funding for higher education has always been a touchy topic for politicians. While few dispute that an educated population is beneficial for society, it is often less clear who should foot the bill for this benefit. Of course, a large part of the cost is tuition, but more and more, the costs of textbooks are […]
Wendy Gordon is the Philip S. Beck Professor of Law, Boston University School of Law, and is currently serving as the Bacon-Kilkenny Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law at Fordham University School of Law. Now that Apple is removing DRM from its itunes songs, newspapers are trumpeting the move in ways like this: “COPY AN ITUNES […]
Sanjukta Tole is an Osgoode Hall alumnus and practiced with the IP group of a large Vancouver law firm. In 2008, Louis Vuitton Malletier S.A. and Louis Vuitton Canada Inc. (collectively “LV”), the famous luxury goods maker, made headlines when it was awarded damages of over $1,000,000, the highest amount ever awarded in a counterfeit […]
Carys Craig is an Associate Professor at Osgoode Hall Law School. In copyright law, the term “public domain” is commonly used to describe the sphere in which contents are free from copyright protection. The typical example is that of a work whose protection has expired, or one that fails to meet the minimum requirements. Such […]
Chris Castle is Managing Partner of Christian L. Castle Attorneys, a law firm specializing in music industry issues, content based technologies and public policy. Ever encounter people who think that illegal downloading can be solved by “turning off” the Internet? That makes about as much sense as “voluntary collective licensing” or “ISP licensing” (used interchangeably). […]
On Thursday, December 11, as part of the IP Osgoode Speaks series, Jason J. Kee, the Director of Policy & Legal Affairs for the Entertainment Software Association of Canada (ESAC) gave a talk on intellectual property issues in the computer and video gaming industry. The event, held downtown Toronto at Ogilvy Renault’s office, provided lawyers […]
Recently in Bangladesh, filmmaker, Ahsanullah Moni partially unveiled his copy of the Taj Mahal. He has reportedly spent close to 58 million (USD), importing granite and marble from Italy, and diamonds from Belgium. He even sent architects to India to copy and measure the dimensions of the original Taj. His reasons? He says Bangladeshis “could not […]
On December 4, the renowned guitarist Joe Satriani filed a copyright lawsuit against the British rock group Coldplay. Satriani argued that a substantial part of his original instrumental piece, ‘If I could Fly’, was reproduced in the band’s hit, ‘Viva La Vida’. Coldplay faced a similar allegation earlier this year. The young Brooklyn band, Creaky […]
As we move forward into a world of greater complexity filled with rapidly developing inventions and innovations, product owners and manufacturers are modifying their supply-chain models to complement the changing global economy. This post will discuss how both the high-tech and intangible intellectual works sectors are re-thinking their distribution models and suggest how these changes […]
While parody is a well-established defence to copyright infringement in the U.S, a recent B.C. Supreme Court decision says that this is not the case in Canada. On November 24, in a judgment on a motion to strike portions of the Statement of Defence, the B.C. Supreme Court Master ruled that parody could not be […]