Law Commons^™

How Restrictive Terms And Technologies Backfired On Sony Bmg , Jeremy F. De Beer

Jeremy de Beer

This short paper addresses the issue of restrictive contractual terms and digital rights management technologies in the music industry, using the recent controversy surrounding Sony BMG Music as a case study. The issues are discussed mainly from a Canadian perspective. Part I provides an overview of the factual and technical background to this story. Part II contains an analysis of the legal consequences of Sony BMG's actions, and offers some insights as to the policy implications for consumer protection, contract and copyright laws.

The Role Of Levies In Canada's Digital Music Market , Jeremy F. De Beer

Jeremy de Beer

Parties not directly involved in the use of copyright-protected music have increasingly become the targets of established or proposed schemes to provide revenues for the music industry. It has been suggested that rather than obtaining payments directly from consumers or distributors of digital music in exchange for licenses to use or transmit that music, levies should be imposed on the goods and services of third parties, such as recording media, digital devices and/or Internet access. This paper considers whether levies are an appropriate way to deal with the challenges and opportunities that are arising in Canada's digital music market.

Traditional …

Constitutional Jurisdiction Over Paracopyright Laws , Jeremy F. De Beer

Jeremy de Beer

This paper considers whether the Government of Canada's proposed legislation addressing technological protection measures and rights management information would be constitutionally valid federal law and examines the provinces' role in the debate over these copyright reforms. The Constitution allocates exclusive legislative responsibility for various matters to either the federal or provincial governments. The constitutionality of the proposed provisions turns on their pith and substance, which seems to involve technological and contractual controls over terms of distribution of digital materials. For a list of reasons, qualifications on the legal effects, intended to tether the legislation to existing copyright doctrine, may not …

Employee Privacy: The Need For Comprehensive Protection , Jeremy F. De Beer

Jeremy de Beer

Society has begun to pay more attention to privacy. This is especially true in the context of the employment relationship, where a power imbalance creates a greater need for privacy protection. Although some steps have been taken, Canadian lawmakers have fallen short in their efforts to safeguard the privacy of all employees. Employees are presently protected by a piecemeal scheme of legislative, common law and market-based mechanisms, which leaves a substantial gap in the Canadian privacy framework. The only tenable solution is for each province to enact laws that address privacy in the employment context, using recently enacted federal legislation …

Canadian Copyright Law In Cyberspace: An Examination Of The Copyright Act In The Context Of The Internet , Jeremy F. De Beer

Jeremy de Beer

This paper considers the application of Canada's Copyright Act to various online activities. I advocate for an evolutionary rather than revolutionary approach to digitial copyright reform.