Law Commons^™

Swimming Upstream: Negotiating Music Licenses For Interactive Streaming In The United States And Canada. How Copyrights Holders Can Participate In New Media And Still Protect Their Rights., Daniela Paola Oliva

Daniela Oliva

This article compares the music licensing process for interactive streaming in Canada and the United States. Unbeknownst to many, the process of acquiring a music license for interactive streaming in Canada and the United States is similar.

The unique portion of this article discusses the reasons why Canada may not have been the primary destination for interactive streaming companies. The article also discusses the benefits and windfalls of interactive streaming. Ultimately, copyright holders have the ability to negotiate with interactive streaming companies to attempt to receive a fair licensing rate. This article emphasizes that copyright holders should familiarize themselves with …

Primitive Accumulation And Enclosure Of The Commons: Genetically Engineered Seeds And Canadian Jurisprudence, Wilhelm Peekhaus

Wilhelm Peekhaus

This paper juxtaposes the legal decisions made in the case of Percy Schmeiser, who was sued by Monsanto for patent infringement, against the attempt by the Organic Agriculture Protection Fund to obtain class certification in its efforts to sue Monsanto and Bayer for genetic contamination of organic canola. Together these two cases establish an unacceptable incongruity at common law between the rights enjoyed by intellectual property owners and any corresponding duties that might attach to their inventions. I suggest that Marx’s concept of primitive accumulation offers a suitable theoretical register for apprehending contemporary erosions of the commons through the enclosure …

Voter Equality & Other Canadian Values: Finding The Right Balance, Sujit Choudhry, Matthew Mendelsohn

Sujit Choudhry

Representation by population (rep-by-pop) was one of the principal forces behind the creation of Canada and is a key pillar of democracy. The principle that all votes have equal weight reflects the democratic norm that all citizens should have an equal say in who will be elected, who will raise issues in Parliament and who will have the right to use the legitimate power of the state to make decisions on our behalf. Although some deviations from the norm of voter equality are acceptable, they should be grounded in principles that are widely accepted and viewed as legitimate. Canada’s federal …

Property On The Borderline: A Comparative Analysis Of The Legal Status Of Animals In Canada And The United States, Maneesha D. Deckha

Maneesha D Deckha

This Article reviews recent animal-related law reform in the United States in the areas of criminal, tort, family, and estate laws, and juxtaposes these developments with the current state of similar areas of law in Canada. While neither country may be described as “animal-friendly,” the article suggests that the United States is far more willing to challenge the traditional classification of animals as property at least where companion animals are concerned. Canada, in contrast, has remained essentially conservative, failing to engage with the posthumanist questions revisiting animals’ legal status as property that have begun to emerge in American jurisprudence. The …

Sprawl In Canada And The United States (Powerpoint), Michael E. Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

PowerPoints for a speech explaining that sprawl in Canada is (1) less extensive than in the USA and (2) caused partially by government regulation.

The Impact Of Regionally Differentiated Entitlement To Ei On Charter-Protected Canadians, Sujit Choudhry, Michael Pal

Sujit Choudhry

Under Canada’s Employment Insurance (EI) program, access to unemployment benefits varies according to the regional unemployment rate. Previous studies have shown that this regime works to the disadvantage of certain provinces and urban areas. In this paper we measure the impact of the variable regional entrance requirements on specific minority workers, including visible minorities, linguistic minorities, recent immigrants, and naturalized citizens. We find that over the period 2000-2010, the regional variation in access to EI results in certain minority workers being required to work modestly more hours to qualify for EI than the average worker. Though the findings with regard …