The history of the “Havana Club” brand rum is a long one. It was originally produced and sold by the Arechabala family until 1960, when the Castro government confiscated their…
Month: June 2012
Not-so-Fair Dealing: How Access Copyright is Limiting Access to Copyrighted Materials
In light of the recent Quebec student protests (see here), and the support that the protests are gaining nationwide, one might suspect that there would be a general trend towards…
The Patented Medicines Review Board and its Proposed New Regulations
On June 16, 2012, the Canada Gazette, published the proposed new regulations formalizing procedures before the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (the Board). These proposed new regulations represent an effort…
A Little Girl Talk on Copyright
Brett Gaylor’s 2008 documentary RiP!: A Manifesto is, at heart, a defence of his “favourite band”, Girl Talk. It is therefore unsurprising that it does not appear to be a…
Unmasking the Mysterious “TV Rights” to Anne of Green Gables
On June 11 2012 an article by Vinay Menon appeared in the Toronto Star titled “Anne of Green Gables to be remade for TV”. The article reports that Kate Macdonald…
China’s New Drug Patent Laws: A Bitter Pill For Big Pharma
In a bold move, China has rewritten parts of its intellectual property laws to allow for Chinese companies to make generic copies of life-saving medication still under patent. These domestically…