Archive for the ‘Copyright’ category

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

ASCAP case highlights differences in Canadian and US copyright law (updated)

October 4th, 2011

The influential US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled in ASCAP v RealNetworks that a download of a musical work is not a public performance under the US Copyright Act. According to the Court downloads of musical works are not musical performances that are contemporaneously perceived by the listener.

“They are simply transfers of electronic files containing digital copies from an on-line server to a local hard drive. The downloaded songs are not performed in any perceptible manner during the transfers; the user must take some further action to play the songs after they are downloaded. Because the electronic download itself involves no recitation, rendering, or playing of the musical work encoded in the digital transmission, we hold that such a download is not a performance of that work, as defined by § 101.”

This is a preview of ASCAP case highlights differences in Canadian and US copyright law (updated). Read full post.

3 comments »

Posted in Copyright, communication to the public, public perofmance

Tags:

Some observations on Bill C-11: The Copyright Modernization Act

October 3rd, 2011

Last Thursday the Government of Canada introduced into the House of Commons Bill C-11, an Act to Amend the Copyright Act. In a press release describing the Bill, Heritage Minister James Moore and Industry Minister Christian Paradis, stated that the Bill will ensure that Canada’s copyright laws “are modern, flexible, and in line with current international standards” and will “protect and help create jobs, promote innovation, and attract new investment to Canada.”

This is a preview of Some observations on Bill C-11: The Copyright Modernization Act. Read full post.

6 comments »

Posted in Copyright, Fair Dealing, Fair Use, Graduated Response, ISP Liability, ISP exceptions, Piracy, TPMs, Three Strikes, WIPO Treaties, c-32, copyright reform, fair dealing for education, geist, p2p piracy, statutory damages, wct, wppt

Tags:

Canada signs ACTA

September 30th, 2011

Earlier today, Ed Fast, the Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway, signed the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. The press release announcing the signing stated the following:

“Counterfeit and pirated goods are an increasingly global problem that requires a globally coordinated solution,” said Minister Fast. “We all have an interest in combatting counterfeiting and piracy because these activities cost billions of dollars each year in revenue and trade losses, which translates into higher prices, lost income and lost jobs for people employed in a range of industries—from film and pharmaceuticals to electronics. Counterfeit goods also pose a real threat to the health and safety of people because the producers of goods such as drugs and auto parts evade the rigorous rules, standards and guidelines that are in place to protect consumers.”

This is a preview of Canada signs ACTA. Read full post.

No comments »

Posted in ACTA, Copyright, Counterfeiting, ISP Liability, Piracy, TPMs, p2p piracy

Tags:

Copyright and privacy bills to be introduced in House of Commons

September 27th, 2011

The Government will likely introduce new Bills to amend the Copyright Act and the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) within the next few days. The Parliament of Canada Notice Paper for Wednesday September 28, 2011 provides notice that the Minister of Industry and Minister of State (Agriculture) will introduce a Bill entitled “An Act to Amend the Copyright Act” and a Bill entitled “An Act to Amend the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act”.  The actual notices are dated September 27, 2011, which means that the Bills could be introduced as early as this Thursday.

Permanent link to this post

No comments »

Posted in Copyright, Piracy, Privacy, c-32, copyright reform

Tags:

UK Culture Secretary calls for boldness in dealing with online piracy

September 15th, 2011

UK Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt wants action to protect and encourage investment in intellectual property. In a Speech  given to the Royal Television Society on September 14, 2011 he signaled that the UK was exploring all options available to do so. This includes making it more difficult for online sites that contribute to piracy to stay online and making search engines take reasonable steps to make it harder to access sites that a court has deemed contain unlawful content or promote unlawful distribution of content.

This is a preview of UK Culture Secretary calls for boldness in dealing with online piracy. Read full post.

No comments »

Posted in Copyright, Digital Britain, c-32, copyright reform

Tags:

What’s next for copyright reform in Canada? (updated)

September 10th, 2011

July 21, 2011 was the first annual general meeting of Music Canada (formerly CRIA). Not surpisingly, an important focus of the meeting was copyright reform. This issue was highlighted by the presence of Minister Moore, the Heritage Minister, a strong supporter of the creative industries, and Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister Dean Del Mastro, also an important player in the copyright reform process. They both gave strong indications of what’s next for copyright reform.

MP Dean Del Mastro led off by introducing Minister Moore. In doing so, he noted the importance of the cultural sector to Canadians pointing out the tremendous opportunities available to Canadians. He also noted that “no one understands the dynamics of the cultural industries better than Minister Moore”.

This is a preview of What’s next for copyright reform in Canada? (updated). Read full post.

3 comments »

Posted in Copyright, c-32, copyright reform

Tags:

Website terms, copyright used to shut down real estate data scraping in Century 21 v Rogers

September 8th, 2011

You can always tell when you are about to read a good case by its opening paragraph. The decision of the BC Supreme Court in Century 21 Canada Limited Partnership v. Rogers Communications Inc., 2011 BCSC 1196  doesn’t disappoint. It begins as follows:

The ability of the law to adapt is part of its strength. Technological innovation tests that resilience. This case considers that ability as claims for breach of contract, trespass to chattels and copyright infringement meet the Internet.  At the root of this lawsuit is the legitimacy of indexing publically accessible websites.

This is a preview of Website terms, copyright used to shut down real estate data scraping in Century 21 v Rogers. Read full post.

No comments »

Posted in Copyright, Fair Dealing, Reproduction, contracts, implied licenses, shrink wrap license, web wrap agreement

Tags:

Indirect theories of copyright liability

September 7th, 2011

Here is a copy of the presentation I gave at Osgoode’s inaugural IP Intensive Program. The slides deal with theories of indirect infringement in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom, and with the safe harbours that also govern the behaviour of Internet

Dan Glover Indirect theories of copyright liability
View more presentations from bsookman
Permanent link to this post

No comments »

Posted in Copyright, authorization, c-32, copyright reform, enablement

Technological change and copyright

September 6th, 2011

I gave a talk earlier today at Osgoode to the students enrolled in Osgoode’s IP Intensive Program. The topic focused on the impacts of technological change on copyright. My slides are set out below.

Sookman osgoode technology_focus_internet_and_it.ppt

View more presentations from bsookman
Permanent link to this post

No comments »

Posted in Copyright, Fair Dealing, Reproduction, Robertson case, authorization, communication to the public, conflicts of law, copyright reform, fair dealing for education, iiNet case, storage lockers

Tags:

Are music storage lockers legal in the US?

August 24th, 2011

Earlier this week, a US District Court released an import decision on the legality of music lockers services under US law. In the Capital Records , Inc v MP3Tunes, LLC, 2011 WL 3667335 (S.D.N.Y., Aug 22, 2011) case, the court ruled that MP3Tunes was liable for contributory infringement by providing storage locker services to its users when it knew that they had unlawfully downloaded copyright protected materials into the lockers. MP3Tunes was found liable because it allowed users to continue to store and access songs listed in valid copyright takedown notices. In the summary judgment motions ruled on, the court also held that MP3Tunes was not liable for allowing users to continue to store and access songs it was not required to remove under the DMCA.

This is a preview of Are music storage lockers legal in the US?. Read full post.

No comments »

Posted in Copyright, Piracy, Reproduction, p2p piracy, storage lockers

Tags: