Soccer Star, Wayne Rooney, Fired His Agent, but Still has to Pay the Agency Continuing Commissions

Brent Randall is a JD candidate at the University of Ottawa. Proactive Sports Management Ltd., the former agency of English soccer star Wayne Rooney, was recently granted leave to appeal a decision of the High Court regarding the payment of commissions from an image-rights agreement between Proactive and Mr. Rooney.

The Disappearing Tail: A Clue to the challenges facing Copyright

Virgil Cojocaru is a JD candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. ‘The Long Tail’, written by Chris Anderson refers to the alleged effect of online stores such as Netflix appealing to smaller niches. Individually these niches do not yield a large profit, but collectively (hence the long part) they can provide a handsome reward. Some […]

The Danger of Equating Social Networks to Nations

Three months ago I posted a response to Dan Hartrell’s article: Facebook’s grassroots earn policy voice. Dan’s article focused on the new grassroots, open approach Facebook was taking which allowed social network users to comment and vote on Facebook policies. In my response, I questioned the wisdom of having a corporation emulate a nation by […]

Does Qualcomm's Value Chain Licensing System Survive Its Settlement With Broadcom? (Part Two)

Sean O'Connor is a Professor at the University of Washington School of Law and Chair of the Law, Technology & Arts Group, specializing in intellectual property and business law involving biotechnology, cyberspace/information technology, and new media/digital arts.  Professor O'Connor is an IP Osgoode Research Affiliate. This is the second part of Professor O'Connor's feature blog […]

The reasonable expectation of the consumer in her personal use of musical recordings: how much weight does it have in the balance?

Pascale Chapdelaine is a Ph.D. candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School and a member of IP Osgoode. Pascale's thesis focuses on the interaction between consumer law and copyright law.  What is the consumer entitled to do with musical recordings for her own personal use? Asking this question may appear to some, including consumers, as looking […]

International rights holders take note: First Amicus Brief to be Filed Opposing Google Books Settlement

Chris Castle is Managing Partner of Christian L. Castle Attorneys, Los Angeles and San Francisco. As Kate Lacey correctly notes in her post, the Google Books settlement creates what is essentially a single purpose private compulsory licensing regime benefiting only Google-assuming the settlement is approved at the upcoming fairness hearing for which the filing deadline […]

The Hazards of Mass Licensed Internet Digital Content For Film and Television Reuse

Tony Duarte (B.A., LL.B.) practices exclusively in the area of entertainment law and is an Adjunct Faculty member of Osgoode Hall Law School. Perhaps one of the most problematic rights clearance transactions for a producer of film or television production is the licensing of existing photos, film/video clips, or music to the producer for reuse […]

Guidelines for processing personal data across borders: liability for transferring organizations

In response to the growing concerns of illicit use of personal information and corresponding adverse consequences such as identity theft, financial disclosures and private health information revelation, the Office of Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) released a document entitled “Guidelines for Processing Personal Data Across Borders” on January 27, 2009. This document provides guidelines explaining […]

In Which Tom Brown Gets Googled, or why the Google Books settlement is a bridge too far

Chris Castle is Managing Partner of Christian L. Castle Attorneys, Los Angeles and San Francisco.  Google has reached a settlement of the "Google Books" case brought by the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers against Google and several of Google's library business partners in the Google Books enterprise.  (The 300-page settlement agreement has […]