Billy Barnes is a JD candidate at the University of Toronto. Last Friday, Google filed a revised settlement agreement for the class action law suit regarding its Google Book Search service. The settlement addresses many complaints directed at the original proposed settlement in October 2008. The two most important of these are the handling of […]
Tony Pak is a J.D. candidate at Osgoode Hall and is taking the Intellectual Property Theory course. In Neil Netanel’s recent book titled, “Copyright’s Paradox”, he advocates for a copyright system that puts freedom of expression at the forefront. He argues that copyright has been thought of as a property right despite the fact that […]
Ren Bucholz is a JD candidate at Osgoode Hall and is taking the Intellectual Property Theory course. Copyright holders, like musicians, have a knack for riffing on ideas from the past. Consider the many variations of the copyright infringement lawsuit. Every year brings more examples of a rights-holder who hears some element of their song, […]
Virgil Cojocaru is a JD candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. Professor Emir Aly Crowne-Mohammed and Yonatan Rozenszajn argue in their article, DRM Roll Please: Is Digital Rights Management Legislation Unconstitutional in Canada? that the Digital Rights Management (DRM) Provisions in Bill C-61 are ultra vires (Latin for "beyond the powers") of Parliament’s power under […]
Jonathan MacKenzie is an LLM candidate at Osgoode Hall and is taking the Intellectual Property Theory course. Since its first significant formal uses - in the 1896 decision of Singer v. June and the United States' 1909 Copyright Act - the term "public domain" has become a key component of the North American IP legal regime. […]
Peter Waldkirch is a second year LL.B. student at the University of Ottawa. The copyright infringement lawsuit centering around the iconic Obama “Hope” image recently took a strange turn. On one side is the controversial artist Shepard Fairey, who produced the famous poster; on the other is the Associated Press, who claims ownership of the […]
Brandon Evenson is a 2010 JD Candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. He holds a degree in Computer Engineering from Queen’s University. Prior to attending Osgoode, Mr. Evenson consulted for some of the world’s leading technology firms in the area of contract risk and licensing compliance. Last Thursday, IP Osgoode hosted Chris Castle, managing partner […]
Daniel Kennedy is a JD Candidate at Osgoode Hall and is taking the Intellectual Property Theory course. Like many words, “authorship” takes on distinct meaning in the realm of copyright law. However, it may be difficult to divorce historical values associated with the term even when it is used in the legal realm. In his article, “Copyright and […]
Alex Gloor is a JD Candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. At first glance, the century old doctrine of first-sale seems simple enough. However, as with many other IP doctrines, the digital world has thrown a wrench in this otherwise well-understood principle (see this post on a similar topic). In the case of Vernor v. […]
Stuart Freen is a JD candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. Last Wednesday the Centre for Innovation Law & Policy and IP Osgoode jointly welcomed William Patry to speak at University of Toronto’s Flavelle House. A prolific copyright scholar, former US government policy advisor and current Senior Copyright Counsel to Google, Patry spoke for about […]