infringment

31 posts

Cox v Sony: Analyzing the Supreme Court Decision

Cox v Sony
The U.S. Supreme Court released an important decision on the scope of U.S. secondary liability for copyright infringement applied to ISPs in Cox Communications, Inc. et al. v. Sony Music Entertainment et al., 607 U.S. ——- S.Ct. —-2026 WL 815823. The syllabus of the court summarized the case and the court’s opinion are set out below. My comments on the case follows the summary of the Cox v Sony opinion of the SCOTUS.

Cox v Sony case summary

Under the Copyright Act, “[a]nyone who violates any of the exclusive rights of the copyright owner … is an infringer of the copyright.”

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ALAI Canada Copyright Year in Review
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Copyright Lawyer Insights from the ALAI 2025 Copyright Year in Review

Copyright lawyers and copyright lovers: I once again presented the “Copyright Year in Review” to ALAI Canada. 

This year had some particularly interesting caselaw developments including cases on copyright subsistence and ownership, infringement, defenses and remedies. As in prior years, there were also a few questionable holdings by courts around the country.

My 2024-2025 Copyright Year in Review presentation is available below. It has yellow colored highlights on the portions of the cases I focused on during my talk to AlAI Canada copyright lawyer members.…

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Voltage copyright infringement
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Internet account holders not liable for copyright infringement of their users: Voltage v Doe

Overview

In a proceeding before the Federal Court Voltage sought a default judgment against Internet subscribers for copyright infringement. Voltage argued that individuals who receive notices under the Copyright Act Notice and Notice Regime can be found liable for infringement as direct infringers or for authorizing infringement merely because their accounts were allegedly used to commit acts of infringement. Voltage’s motion for default judgement was dismissed by Furlanetto J. This decision was just affirmed by the Federal Court of Appeal in Voltage Holdings, LLC v.…

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Developments in computer, Internet and e-commerce law: the year in review (2018-2019)

I gave my annual presentation yesterday to the Toronto computer Lawyers’ Group on “The year in review in Computer, Internet and E-Commerce Law”. It covers the period from June 2018 to June 2019. The developments include cases from Canada, the U.S. the U.K., EU, Australia, South Africa, India and other countries.

The developments are organized into the broad topics of:

  • Privacy / Big Data / AI
  • Employee / HR
  • E-commerce / Online Agreements
  • Online Remedies / Governance / Jurisdiction
  • Copyright

The cases and other documents referred to are below.…

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Norms for copyright reform: my submission to the INDU Committee

Here is my submission to the INDU Committee conducting the s.92 review of the Copyright Act. It is based on my remarks made to the Committee when I appeared before it on December 3, 2018. My remarks to the Committee and answers to questions can be accessed on Parvu.

I am a Senior Partner in the technology law group of McCarthy Tétrault.  I have represented members of the creative industries, intermediaries and users. I also teach intellectual property law at Osgoode Hall Law School and have published books including on copyright and Internet law.…

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Website operator jailed for distributing copyright infringing copies of musical works: R v Evans

Is operating a website that provides links to torrent websites which facilitates unauthorized downloading of musical works a criminal offence? If so, can the operator of such sites expect jail time as punishment for this crime? In a recent decision of the English and Wales Court of Appeal in Evans, R. v [2017] EWCA Crim 139 (14 February 201), the accused, Mr Evans, was convicted of two offences of distributing infringing copies of musical works and was sentenced to 12 months in prison for these crimes.…

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Why crackdown on pirate set-top boxes is good for innovation: a reply to Michael Geist

Last week the Federal Court granted an interlocutory injunction restraining ITVBOX.NET, WATCHNSAVE INC, MTLFREETV.COM and others from selling set-top boxes preloaded with software. The software was specifically adapted to enable purchasers to stream and download infringing copies of programs made available by Bell, Bell Expressvu, Rogers, and Videotron on a subscription basis. The devices were advertised and promoted by prominently emphasizing these capabilities and as a way to obtain this content without paying.

The decision by Justice Tremblay-Lamer in Bell Canada v ITVBOX.NET…

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Copyright law 2014: the year in review

As the creative industries continued to grow economically in importance in 2014, so have the stakes in copyright litigation. Increasingly, the courts have been challenged to resolve complex disputes arising from new uses of works and other subject matter brought about by innovations in technology. While content is often a core and indispensable element of new and innovative services, products or offerings, frequently parties dispute whether the use requires permission and payment to rights holders or can be engaged in without permission or payment.…

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The Pirate Bay blocked in France

Blocking orders against web sites and services that engage in or enable copyright infringement are common in the European Union. BitTorrent sites like The Pirate Bay are a frequent target of such orders. See, Keeping The Pirate Bays at Bay: using blocking orders to curtail infringements; Blocking orders against ISPs legal in the EU: UPC Telekabel Wien.

There have been a recent series of such orders in the EU. In October 2014, a UK court issued a blocking order against a series of BitTorrent sites in 1967 Ltd & Ors v British Sky Broadcasting Ltd & Ors [2014] EWHC 3444 (Ch) (23 October 2014).…

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Barry Sookman
This site is about technology, copyright, artificial intelligence, and privacy law.