Orphan Works Hackathon: Final Report of the Concepts, Process and Insights

Introduction As the first collaboration of its kind, in February 2016, IP Osgoode and The Copyright and International Trade Policy Branch of the Department of Canadian Heritage, came together to organize the “Orphan Works Licensing Portal Hackathon”, a multi-day hackathon to develop options for a new online system to process licensing of Canadian orphan works […]

The Deal of the Century: An Interview with Ed Fast, Former Canadian Trade Minister - Part 2

Edward D. Fast is a Member of Parliament, former Trade Minister, and Canada’s representative throughout much of the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations. This is part 2 of the interview, in which we discuss specifics of the agreement, particularly issues in IP. Part 1 can be found here.

The Deal of the Century: An Interview with Ed Fast, Former Canadian Trade Minister

The Deal of the Century: An Interview with Ed Fast, Former Canadian Trade Minister The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is the largest trade agreement ever, made between 12 nations comprising 40% of the world’s economy. In an article written by Barack Obama, who championed the agreement, he claims the TPP will “write the rules of the […]

Compliance with EU Data Protection Regulation

The re-posting of this analysis is part of a cross-posting collaboration with MediaLaws: Law and Policy of the Media in a Comparative Perspective. Introduction By means of an innovative and modern directive (Directive 95/46/EC – the “Data Protection Directive”), in 1995, the European Community adopted its first data protection legislation aimed at providing common legal […]

Regulating Speech In Cyberspace: Dr. Emily Laidlaw on Corporate Social Responsibility

From Facebook Groups dedicated to rape jokes to death threats on Twitter, the Internet can seem like a free speech free-for-all. Anyone can say anything, because who is going to stop them? In her presentation, Regulating Speech in Cyberspace, University of Calgary Professor, Dr. Emily Laidlaw answers that question.

The Right to Be Forgotten, A “Bad Solution to a Very Real Problem”

Jonathan Zittrain[1] calls the right to be forgotten a “ bad solution to a very real problem.” This article sets out to answer two questions. Firstly, what is the problem that the right to be forgotten is trying to solve? Secondly, why is the right to be forgotten a bad solution to this problem?

The Undue Reliance on Physical Objects in the Regulation of Information Products

Featured here is a summary of Pascale Chapdelaine’s article recently published in the Journal of Technology Law & Policy, that is now available at SSRN. The presence of a physical object (a book , DVD, a CD) plays a determinant role in how information products (e.g., commercial copies of computer programs, books, musical recordings, video […]

Tariffbusters: Does the CBC v SODRAC decision debunk the "Mandatory Tariff Theory

Introduction to the panel After two exciting and lively debates on the principle of technological neutrality (see Sebastian Beck-Watt’s coverage here) and reproduction rights (see Paul Blizzard’s coverage here), IP Osgoode’s Unpack SODRAC symposium turned to a new panel to ‘unpack’ the paragraphs of CBC v SODRAC [SODRAC] concerning the mandatory (or not) nature of tariffs […]

Shifting technological neutrality into reverse: UNPACK SODRAC

Should all copies be treated the same way for the purposes of Copyright? If the CBC’s internal content management system creates incidental copies of audio works during the creation or broadcast of a television program or movie, does it enage the owner's Copyright under s 3(1)(d) of the Copyright Act [the "Act"]? What incentives do Canada’s […]

Embracing failure: IPOsgoode's Orphan Works Hackathon.

Fail early. Fail often. For lawyers and law students, failure is anathemal; but, in the context of design, failure is a valuable learning tool. For three days starting February 3rd, innovators, law students, and stakeholders in the creative industries descended on Osgoode for IPOsgoode's second annual hackathon.