In the summer of 2012, the Supreme Court of Canada created history by simultaneously releasing five copyright judgments: Entertainment Software Association v Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada [ESA],[1] Rogers Communications Inc. v Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada [Rogers],[2] Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada […]
In the realm of law, neutrality is widely hailed as a fundamental principle of fairness, justice and equity; it is also, however, widely criticized as a myth that too often obscures the inevitable reality of perspective, interest or agenda. It should come as little surprise, then, that the principle of technological neutrality, recently employed by […]
In the 2012 Supreme Court of Canada copyright cases, the Court found an opportunity to redefine the law of fair dealing in Canada. While the Court acknowledged that fair dealing is a question of fact, and thereby properly adjudicated by triers of fact like the Copyright Board of Canada, the Court stepped in to revisit […]
IP Osgoode would like to thank The Honourable Justice Marshall Rothstein and The Honourable Mr. Justice Roger T. Hughes for being a part of our speaker series. They both provided thought provoking commentary on intellectual property litigation from a judicial perspective. For those who were unable to attend our speaker series events in person, analysis […]
On November 27th, 2012, IP Osgoode was pleased to welcome The Honourable Mr. Justice Marshall Rothstein of the Supreme Court of Canada to share his thoughts with respect to the 5 important copyright cases (known as the “Copyright Pentalogy”) that he took part in deciding earlier this year.
Recently Canada is engaged in national dialogue about online bullying in the wake of Amanda Todd’s suicide. One aspect being discussed is what role the law should play in protecting victims of bullying. Should new legislation be enacted, like the NDP’s proposal for a national anti-bullying strategy or should changes to the law be left […]
On November 8, 2012 the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) released its eagerly anticipated decision in the “Viagra Appeal”. In a unanimous decision written by Justice LeBel, the SCC found the patent at issue invalid for insufficient disclosure. This decision marks the end of a lengthy legal battle between Teva and Pfizer over the validity […]
One of the recent pentalogy of copyright decisions that has forever changed Canadian copyright law is Alberta (Education) v. Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (Access Copyright), 2012 SCC 37. The decision focused on the concept of fair dealing, and its application to photocopying books for educational purposes.
Sometimes called “the Apple iTunes” case, SOCAN v Bell, 2012 SCC 36 was one of the five copyright rulings released by the Supreme Court of Canada last week. The case concluded that short preview clips streamed by online music retailers qualify as fair dealing for the purpose of research under s. 29 of the Copyright […]
The much anticipated Supreme Court of Canada ruling in Rogers Communications Inc v Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada, 2012 SCC 35 (Rogers v SOCAN), culminated with a unanimous Court holding that on-demand transmissions of music streams made available by online music services constitute communications “to the public”. Consequently, the on-demand streaming of […]