One night, you could listen to Sergei Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf” with your friends, remix it with another tune and then pen a bestselling book titled Peter and the Wolf and Zombies. That would all change in 1994 with the signing of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act, a trade agreement that restored the copyright […]
“A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away”, the Imperial Stormtroopers— menacing soldiers of the Galactic Empire clad in all-white helmet and armour—were no longer servants of the evil Palpatine and Darth Vader; instead, they had become the potential trophy of an epic quest initiated by George Lucas, the creator of the Star […]
In The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy taps her ruby red slippers three times to go home. What if the ruby colour found themselves on a pair of five-inch wedged heels? If the Wicked Witch of the West could get her hands on that pair, would she then hold the power to transport herself to Kansas […]
On February 3, Juliane Kokott, the German Advocate General at the European Court of Justice ("ECJ"), published her opinion in a watershed case that could significantly impact on entertainment companies who have, until now, guarded exclusive rights to broadcasting live sports events – most notably, "football" (or "soccer"). Though non-binding, Kokott's official advice to the […]
iTunes, Amazon.com, Puretracks.com, Rogers Music Store, Sympatico Music Store. For those music lovers who legally download music, these various websites are but a few examples of online sources for mp3 and AAC downloads. As part of the digital consumer experience and convenience of online shopping, previews of songs are provided: 30 second clips that allow […]
The pirated DVDs? The fake Coach purse? The imitation I-Pod? Hide them. Burn them. Throw them away. Courts have brought the full wrath of law on those dealing in counterfeit goods in the form on substantial damage awards. Starting with Microsoft Corp v. 9038-3746 Quebec Inc., 2006 FC 1509, all the way to the most […]
Over the last decade or so, the lines separating the fields of telecommunications and broadcasting have become harder and harder to distinguish. This convergence has lead to difficulties in determining the applicability of laws to activities enabled by new technologies. On September 18, the Supreme Court of Canada ("SCC") refused leave to appeal in Canadian […]
With the Christmas shopping season in full swing, I thought I would take today to consider how a fairly new technological trend in e-book readers might be impacted by the Supreme Court of Canada's ("SCC") decision in Théberge v Galerie d’Art du Petit Champlain inc., [2002] 2 SCR 336 [Théberge]. On November 19, Amazon.com released their wireless e-book […]
Update: We have heard that some people are not able to view the above video. If that is the case, please follow the below link to launch the video in Windows Media Player. Link to video This lecture assesses how the Supreme Court is interpreting Canada’s intellectual property laws and how its decisions may affect […]
When the Euro-Excellence v. Kraft Canada, 2007 SCC 37 decision on parallel importing came down back on July 26, it provoked a wide array of blogger commentary from across the internet. On July 31, I posted about the plurality decision written by Rothstein J., which criticized Bastarache J.'s concurring opinion for restricting copyright protection only […]