IP Intensive: A trip behind the scenes of one of Canada’s largest entertainment companies, Cineplex

It is four o’clock on November 20th, and I’ve been travelling around the office to say my goodbyes. It doesn’t take long to do the travelling, but the goodbyes take a while. There’s only nine members of the legal department in all at Cineplex, but for a multi-billion dollar corporation, they do the work of […]

Small Claims Court Makes Some Big Decisions about Fair Dealing and TPMs

In the recently released decision 1395804 Ontario Limited c.o.b. Blacklock’s Reporter v Canadian Vintners Association, the Ottawa small claims court ruled in an interesting way on fair dealing that might have some far-reaching implications if nothing overrules it. Reading a strict interpretation of CCH and the Copyright Act, deputy judge Lyon Gilbert reached the conclusion […]

After Swift Shakes it Off with Spotify, US Copyright Office Promises to Shake it Up

The US Copyright Office has published a report that, at the very least, promises to reopen the debate surrounding rights of remuneration for performers and makers of sound recordings. This followed huge publicity generated in the United States about artist remuneration rates for webcasting, which in turn was sparked by pop pixie Taylor Swift’s pronouncement that her […]

IP Osgoode Speaks Series featuring Justice Marshall Rothstein - Generalist Judges, Technical Expertise, and the Standard of Review

On November 24th, 2014, the IP Osgoode Speaks Series concluded a busy term with the visit of the Honourable Mr. Justice Marshall Rothstein of the Supreme Court of Canada, to discuss the nexus between specialist technical expertise and the generalism of judges of courts of appeal, as well as comment on the peculiar direction for […]

Grooveshark Fails to Navigate DMCA Safe Harbor

The recently announced decision of the United States District Court in Manhattan, UMG v. Escape Media Group (Grooveshark), serves to further elucidate the terms on which service providers can expect legal protection if their users are found to be uploading infringing content. More importantly, it gives us an excellent example of the differences between the US […]