Can the content of conversations between a famous criminal and police agents taking place in the backseat of a car be protected by copyright? This question, addressed to the Dutch courts in 2006, resurfaced in recent weeks after the decision of the Amsterdam Court of Appeals in the case Endstra Tapes.
Bleiberg Entertainment was unsuccessful in its argument that running a WiFi network without password protection is negligent in tort law. Bleiberg was aiming to force disclosure of ISP subscriber information to launch copyright infringement actions against those connected to the disclosed IP addresses. Not knowing if those subscribers were directly connected with the infringement, Bleiberg attempted to argue they were nonetheless […]
Watching a television program only to have it cut to commercial during a dramatic scene has always been a frustrating, yet accepted, experience for those of us watching primetime television - until now. The Dish Network recently released technology which allows viewers to skip through commercial breaks, much to the dismay of broadcast networks, and […]
From June 18- 28, nation states were conducting negotiations for an international treaty to secure copyright exceptions for the visually impaired and people with print disabilities. These discussions, hosted by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), may secure the ability of nation states to allow conversion of published works to braille, large print and audio […]
Embarrassing marketing gaffe or reasonable exercise of legal rights? Nintendo issues “Content ID match” claims on "Let’s Play" (LP) videos featuring their game franchises. Prolific YouTube user Zack Scott speaks out against the move.
Earlier this month, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) released its annual “Special 301 Report,” which evaluates the intellectual property rights (IPR) protection and enforcement of its trading partners. Over the last few years, Canada has been listed on the “Priority Watch List”, which is reserved for countries that have the most deficient IP protection […]
If at first you don’t succeed, Viacom, try try again? On April 18, 2013, Judge Louise Stanton of the 2nd Circuit District Court effectively wrote the last chapter in the epic one billion dollar copyright battle between Viacom and YouTube.
The re-posting of this analysis is part of a cross-posting collaboration with MediaLaws: Law and Policy of the Media in a Comparative Perspective.
TorrentFreak has reported that the first episode of HBO’s Game of Thrones season three broke historic download records, with more than a million as of April 1st, 2013. Canada ranked fourth internationally in terms of the highest number of TorrentFreak S3E1 downloads, representing 7.4% of total downloads at the time of reporting.
Bill C-56, a new and inevitably controversial piece of proposed legislation, was introduced on March 1, 2013. With the short title, Combating Counterfeit Products Act, the message seems simple, but contained within it are extensive proposals to change both the Copyright Act and the Trade-marks Act in Canada.