CBC and Copyright
Scott Tribe pointed out on his blog today that the CBC has implemented new copyright policies on its online news properties. As boingboing explains, the CBC has signed up with iCopyright, an American service which…
Intellectual Property
With Parliament Suspended, Harper Proceeds with Secretive Treaty Negotiations
I’m very glad to see that the NDP is taking notice of the Harper government’s participation in the ongoing Anti-Counterfeiting Treaty Agreement (ACTA) negotiations. Despite a lack of transparency and public consultation, some controversial details…
New Bob Marley Brand “House of Marley,†Heirs Take Steps To Protect Father’s Legacy
First posted on Commercial Law International on Jan 7, 2010. “Old pirates, yes they rob I.†The opening words to Redemption Song are as hard hitting now as they were when first bellowed by the…
Do CRU emails show FOIA wrong-doing?
There’s been a lot of hype in the past few days about a batch of emails that were either hacked or leaked from the University of East Anglia’s Climate Research Unit (CRU). In the view…
Privacy and .ca
For years, if you registered a .ca domain, anyone could see your name, address and email in online “whois†databases. In 2008, the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) restricted access to this information. Internet law…
McProperty
McFalafel owner to fight for his prefix McDonald’s lawyers badgered McFalafel owner until he caved in. He wants to fight back when he can afford the legal fees. Nicole Baute writes for the Star: As…
Digital locks issue not going away any time soon
People often complain that Canadian copyright law is out of date and that we need a stricter law to protect the artists. I’d just like to turn to one particularly controversial topic on copyright law…
Lawrence Lessig Remix Commentary on Copyright
Lawrence Lessig, a law professor at Stanford, recently said, If you come to the Net armed with the idea that the old system of copyright is going to work just fine here, this more than…
Legitimate-Content Bay?
I was surprised to see in numerous newspaper (here, here, etc.) that a Swedish firm called Global Gaming Factory signed an agreement to buy the Pirate Bay. For those unaware, the Pirate Bay, also based…
An Extraordinary About Face on Copyright Reform
An interesting article in the Star: Ministers finally embrace Canada’s digital future In an age where powerful lobby groups are advocating a copyright regime that looks much more like tyranny than sound public policy, here…
The Post-Mortem Legal Battles of Michael Jackson
When the king (of pop or otherwise) dies, all the courtiers usually start scheming on how to get pieces of his estate. Brian Oxman, the family’s lawyer, said, We will have to see how that…
Copyright Law, Freedom of Expression and Canwest v. Horizon
In a previous post I erroneously stated that the appeal of Canwest Mediaworks Publications v. Horizon Publications had been dropped.  As it turns out, the appeal is pending; the game is on. Those who wish…