British Sky v Digital Satellite Warranty: A "Made in Europe" Approach To Database Protection

Courtney Doagoo is a doctoral student at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law. On October 27, 2011, the High Court of Justice Chancery Division ruled in favour of British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC et al. (Sky) on a summary judgment against Digital Satellite Warranty Cover Limited et al. (Defendants). The Defendants were held liable […]

Prof Annemarie Bridy Asks: How Human Does An Author Need To Be?

Brent Randall is a JD candidate at the University of Ottawa. The Canadian Copyright Act does not explicitly define the term “author”, but the statute does appear to assume that the “author” will be a human. A recent paper by Professor Annemarie Bridy seeks to challenge this assumption as she argues that “all creativity is […]

Castaway Damages: Robinson Sucroë v. Robinson Curiosité

Andrew Baker is an LLB/BCL candidate at McGill University Faculty of Law. The Quebec Court of Appeal has recently ruled on the notorious Robinson Sucroë cartoon plagiarism case.  The decision has greatly reduced the remarkable damages awarded by the trial court in 2009, but upholds the finding of liability.

Could This Headline Be Copyrighted? UK CA Rules On Protection Of Headlines And Extracts

Brent Randall is a JD candidate at the University of Ottawa. England and Wales Court of Appeal ruled on July 27, 2011 that headlines are capable “of being literary works independent of the article to which they relate” and that using article extracts without the author’s permission could constitute copyright infringement of the work.

The Pruning Of Moral Rights in America: Does the Right Subsist in a Garden?

Leslie Chong is a JD candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. Chapman Kelley v. Chicago Park District is a recent decision rendered in the United States Court of Appeals (Seventh Circuit) that questioned the extent an author's moral rights may be protected in the United States. While the courts eventually held that no moral rights […]

Senatorial Pursuit – Copyright Infringement Edition

Tiffany Wong is a JD Candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School Harry Reid, the Senate Majority Leader from Nevada, is struggling in his bid for re-election against Sharron Angle, a Republican endorsed by the Tea Party Express. Alongside the usual political mudslinging, the two are also embroiled in an intellectual property battle. Angle once had […]

Bratz, Ideas, Expressions, and The American Way

Vincent Doré is a JD/MBA Candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School and Schulich School of Business. Any billion-dollar lawsuit is bound to be a highly-charged event, especially when one of the parties makes an American icon, the Barbie doll. But Barbie is not the protagonist here. Instead, we turn our focus to the fashion doll […]

Virtual Virtuosity: Or the Difficulty of Distinguishing Masterpieces from Masterworks

Roger S. Fisher, Ph.D., J.D. teaches courses at York University on law, humanities and copyright policy. He is a member of the Bar of Ontario and is currently working on a project entitled “Antigone Rests Her Case: Law, Legal Discourses and Discourse Shifting in Sophocles’ Antigone.”  The law has always had an uneasy relationship with […]

Is there Copyright in Choreography?

Virgil Cojocaru is a JD candidate at Osgoode Hall Law school. Choreography is about dance moves. It is the arrangement of dance moves, usually in patterns, accompanied by music. Are these dance moves protected by copyright? The argument out there is that they are, even when placed in games.

Freedom of Expression or Copyright: Should one take precedence over the other?

Tony Pak is a J.D. candidate at Osgoode Hall and is taking the Intellectual Property Theory course. In Neil Netanel’s recent book titled, “Copyright’s Paradox”, he advocates for a copyright system that puts freedom of expression at the forefront. He argues that copyright has been thought of as a property right despite the fact that […]