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 […]
On July 12, 2012, in a unanimous 9-0 decision, the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed the appeal launched by Re:Sound, rejecting an application for Tariffs on soundtracks accompanying cinematographic works. The SCC held that a sound recording accompanied by a video is precluded from collecting the s.19 remuneration right.
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 […]
Entertainment Software Association of Canada v SOCAN was one of two 5-4 split decisions of the copyright pentalogy decisions released on July 12. Online media and software producers and distributors won a major victory. The Supreme Court ruled that the “communication to the public by telecommunication” right does not apply to downloads of a musical […]
In June, Google, Inc. received some welcome news in France after the lawsuits instigated by the French Publishers Association (Syndicat national de l’édition) and the French Author’s Association (Société des gens de lettres) were withdrawn following a successfully agreed upon “framework” settlement. Google wrote on its European Public Policy blog that the new arrangement gives […]
The United States Court of Appeals has handed down a ruling that tries to clarify the overlap of First Amendment protected artistic expression and unregistered and registered trade-marks.
Without a background in horse racing, I feel comfortable expressing today as a “Fivefecta”. Since Monday’s announcement that the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) would release judgments in five critically important copyright appeals heard on December 6 and 7, 2011, there has been a growing excitement in the Copyright community. The decisions from these appeals, […]
This morning at 9:45am, the Supreme Court of Canada rendered it's judgements in five major copyright cases. These judgements will shape Canada's copyright law for many years to come. The cases are: Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada v. Bell Canada, 2012 SCC 36 (July 12, 2012) Rogers Communications Inc. v. Society […]
On June 13th 2012, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), revealed the applications for new generic Top-Level Domain names (gTLD) in a press release and conference. In his opening address, President and Chief Executive Officer of ICANN Rod Beckstrom stated that the “internet is about to change forever”, and that the gTLD […]
Apparently, $60 Million. The trademark battle between Apple Inc. and Shenzhen Proview Technology (which I previously covered here) has come to an end. The value of the name “iPad” in China is now known, even before the tablet can be stocked on store shelves in the Mainland. A few days ago, the Guangdong Higher People’s […]