Law Commons^™

Technologies Of Servitude Understanding Firmware Tpms As Interests In Personal Property, Anthony D. Rosborough

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

Widespread computerization and embedded system design has facilitated the pervasive and latent implementation of technological protection measures (‘‘TPMs”) to restrict device firmware access. Often referred to as ‘‘digital locks,” these restrictions impose a whole host of limitations on how owners use and manage the increasing number of products and devices in which they are incorporated. In many cases, TPM restrictions can prevent activities with social, environmental, and economical benefits, including repair, repurposing, and interoperability. In response, governments around the world are now revisiting and scrutinizing their TPM anti-circumvention laws within copyright and competition policy. Beyond these perspectives, this article looks …

Book Review: William F. Patry, How To Fix Copyright, Graham Reynolds

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

In How to Fix Copyright, William F. Patry, one of America’s leading experts on copyright, calls for a “top-to-bottom, systemic overhaul” of copyright laws. For a Canadian readership in the midst of our own process of copyright reform, such a call to action is both timely and relevant.

Canada's Current Position With Respect To Sound Marks Registration: A Need For Change?, Marie-Jeanne Provost

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

This paper analyses and criticizes Canada’s position on sound marks registration in order to recommend the ways in which Canadian policy-makers could further act in order to advance this area of law. The first part of this paper exposes the fundamental concepts of trade-marks as they are necessary to the comprehension of the problems surrounding the registration of sound marks. In the second part, legal considerations associated with the registration of sound marks are discussed. More specifically, the visual requirement, the issue of “use,” the concept of distinctiveness and the question of overlap with copyright are assessed. In the third …

Authorizing Copyright Infringement And The Control Requirement: A Look At P2p File-Sharing And Distribution Of New Technology In The U.K., Australia, Canada, And Singapore, Jeffrey C.J. Lee

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

The doctrine of authorizing copyright infringement has been used to deal with the marketing of new Ttechnology that might be employed by a user to infringe copyright, from the distribution of blank cassette tapes and double-cassette tape recorders to photocopiers. It is being tested yet again with the distribution of peer-to-peer file-sharing software that enables the online exchange of MP3 music and other copyrighted files. This article looks at the different positions adopted in several Commonwealth jurisdictions, and examines the policy considerations behind these positions. It looks at, in particular, the recent Australian case of Universal Music Australia Pty Ltd. …

Layered Rights: Robertson V. Thomson, Gregory R. Hagen

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

In Robertson v. Thomson Corp., the Supreme Court of Canada (‘‘ the Court ’’) considered ‘‘ whether newspaper publishers are entitled as a matter of law to republish in electronic databases freelance articles they have acquired for publication in their newspapers — without compensation to the authors and without their consent’’. Curiously, while deciding that publishers are not entitled to reproduce the individual articles without the consent of the freelancers, it also held that the publishers do have a right to reproduce the articles in a CD- ROM database ‘‘as a part of those collective works — their newspapers . …

Licenced To Thrive? Podcasting And Copyright Law In Canada, Keith Sutherland

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

This article examines podcasting and its specific characteristics to see, first, where it fits within Canada’s copyright law, and second, how the licensing regime for musical works in Canada applies to podcasting. The discussion next turns to whether or not the current licensing regime for podcasting is desirable in light of the purpose of copyright in Canada, and with a view to the various interests at stake: those of artists, in being paid, and those of society, in enabling podcasters to access material in order to produce their work. An examination of the current and proposed licensing regime and its …

The Role Of Levies In Canada's Digital Music Marketplace, Jeremy F. Debeer

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

This paper considers whether such initiatives are a desirable alternative to the current system of exclusive proprietary copyrights. My goal is not to evaluate the nuances of any particular levy scheme or proposal, but to consider the implications of the concept from a specifically Canadian perspective. Despite the generality of the analysis, many of the observations and conclusions about the viability of levy schemes relate to Canada’s actual experiences with its existing private copying levy.

The paper concludes that tariffs or levies on the products and services of third parties are not the best method to support the Canadian music …

Fragmented Copyright, Fragmented Management: Proposals To Defrag Copyright Management, Daniel Gervais, Alana Maurushat

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

The collective management of copyright in Canada was conceived as a solution to alleviate the problem of inefficiency of individual rights management. Creators could not license, collect and enforce copyright efficiently on an individual basis. Requiring users to obtain permission from individual copyright holders for the use of a work was equally inefficient. Collectives, therefore, emerged to facilitate the clearance of rights between creators and users. Even with the facilitation of collectives in the process, clearing rights remains an inherently difficult and convoluted process. This is especially so in the age of the Internet where clearing rights for multimedia products …

Collective Management Of Copyright And Neighbouring Rights In Canada: An International Perspective, Daniel J. Gervais

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

In this paper, we will compare the current Canadian framework and activities of Collective Management Organizations with the situation in a number of other major countries and suggest possible improvements to the current regime. The comparison will focus first on the general legal background for collective management and, second, on issues specific to the digital age. The paper only addresses some of the specific issues raised by the 1996 WCT and WPPT.

Don't Shoot The Messenger! A Discussion Of Isp Liability, Andrew Bernstein, Rima Ramchandani

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

In today’s world of rampant networked communica- tion, the Internet Service Provider (‘‘ISP’’) finds itself in a uniquely vulnerable position. As the conduit through which content is disseminated to a numerically and geo- graphically vast audience, the obvious legal risk to ISPs is that those who provide content will do so in a way that attracts legal liability. Like many communications prov- iders (such as publishers or broadcasters), the ISP may have to assume some responsibility for simply providing the means of transmitting content. In some cases, the ISP is more actively involved in the transmission or is know- ingly …