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The Future of Rights: Intellectual Property, Economic Inequality and the ‘Digital Divide’

The Future of Rights: Intellectual Property, Economic Inequality and the ‘Digital Divide’

A quarter century since he helped to create it, the man widely regarded as the creator of the World Wide Web, Tim Berners-Lee, has renewed calls for a Digital Bill of Rights to help preserve the open and innovative character of his invention and to protect human rights in the so-called digital age.

Garcia v Google Inc.: Copyright Ownership, ISP Liability and the Future of Freedom of Expression

Garcia v Google Inc.: Copyright Ownership, ISP Liability and the Future of Freedom of Expression

In a stunning decision recently released by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Google was ordered to remove the now-infamous film, “Innocence of Muslims”, from YouTube. While the ruling challenges traditional understandings of copyright ownership and protected expression under US copyright law, the Court’s unprecedented opinion also has significant implications for […]

Improper Motives: Federal Court Safeguards its Process Against “Copyright Trolls”

Improper Motives: Federal Court Safeguards its Process Against “Copyright Trolls”

The Federal Court granted an order compelling an internet service provider (ISP) to divulge the names and addresses of some 2000 account holders implicated in alleged copyright infringement over peer-to-peer (P2P) networks. This type of order is often associated with “copyright trolls” in other jurisdictions. However, in granting the order, Prothonotary Kevin Aalto attached conditions […]

"CANDY" Trade-mark Proves Too Bitter for King

"CANDY" Trade-mark Proves Too Bitter for King

Video game developer King made headlines and the IPilogue last month when they applied for a trade-mark for the word CANDY in the United States. The move generated extensive commentary and negative backlash from game developers and the gaming community at large. While it is unclear if causing a news buzz was the impetus behind the application, King […]

Transplanting the Canadian UGC Exception to Hong Kong: Part 2

Transplanting the Canadian UGC Exception to Hong Kong: Part 2

In Part I of this series of blog posts, I discussed a position paper I submitted to the Hong Kong government as part of its public consultation on the treatment of parody under the copyright regime. This post continues from where the previous post left off. It discusses a forthcoming article I contributed to the Symposium on User-Generated Content under Canadian Copyright Law, which […]