Intellectual Property Law Commons^™

Denaturalizing Transparency In Drug Regulation, Matthew Herder

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

In the arena of pharmaceutical drug regulation, transparency is the favoured focus of many current policy initiatives. Transparency is predominantly understood in terms of information disclosure. Requirements to register clinical trials, publish summary results, share clinical trial data, and disclose physician-industry relationships as well as rationales behind regulatory decision making are each predicated upon this idea that imparting information will both inform and deter unwanted behaviours. In this paper, I argue that understanding transparency qua disclosure has clear limitations and suggest transparency can and should serve an additional function - namely, of enabling standard setting through a more participatory, public …

Remuneration Of Authors And Performers For The Use Of Their Works And The Fixations Of Their Performances, Europe Economics, Lucie Guibault, Olivia Salamanca, Directorate-General For Communications Networks, Content And Technology (European Commission)

Reports & Public Policy Documents

This study analyses the current situation regarding the level of remuneration paid to authors and performers in the music and audio-visual sectors. We compare, from both a legal and economic perspective, the existing national systems of remuneration for authors and performers and identify the relative advantages and disadvantages of those systems for them. We also explore the need to harmonise mechanisms affecting the remuneration of authors and performers, and to identify which ones are the best suited to achieve this. Their potential impact on distribution models and on the functioning of the Internal Market is also examined. Finally, the study …

An Introduction To The Intellectual Property Law Implications Of 3d Printing, Michael Rimock

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

Put simply, 3D printing allows people to print physical objects that are scanned, downloaded, or created digitally. There are an astonishing number of uses, benefits, and advantages associated with 3D printing. However, as with any new technology with so much potential, 3D printing presents a number of threats and challenges to many who benefit from the way manufacturing currently operates. While 3D printers will likely have a tremendous economic and socio- cultural impact, the following will provide an overview of some of its implications relating to intellectual property law. I will begin by briefly discussing the history of 3D printing …

Signing Your Next Deal With Your Twitter @Username: The Legal Uses Of Identity-Based Cryptography, Jillian Friedman

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

This article will look at the legal framework for electronic signatures under Canadian law and through the UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Signatures and evaluate the potential use of identity-based cryptography as a type of electronic signature. While most jurisdictions permit electronic signatures to replace their handwritten predecessors, the criteria of validity for an electronic signature range from liberal to restrictive. Public key infrastructure (PKI) cryptography schemes are considered to meet the juridical conditions of a legal signature under more rigorous legislation that requires an electronic signature to possess certain security attributes. In common law jurisdictions, digital signature schemes such …

"Records Management Law" - A Necessary Major Field Of The Practice Of Law, Ken Chasse

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

‘‘Records management law” will be a necessary area of specialization because: (1) electronic records are now produced by most commercial, communication, transmission of data, and social, formal, and semi-formal interactions; (2) therefore they are the foundation of many kinds of legislation; (3) records are the most frequently used kind of evidence in legal proceedings; and, (4) electronic records are as important to daily living as are motor vehicles, and will become more important. But the legal infrastructure of statutes, guidelines, and case law that controls the use of electronic records as evidence is very inadequate because it ignores these facts: …

Technological Neutrality Explained & Applied To Cbc V. Sodrac, Cameron J. Hutchison

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

This article explores technological neutrality in the factual context of CBC v. SODRAC, heard before the Supreme Court of Canada in March of 2015 with decision pending at the time of publication. After outlining the history of the case in the first part, this article concludes with an application of the principle of technological neutrality, as non-interference, to the case. The only result coherent with the Supreme Court’s prior case law is to not treat non-usable or dormant incidental copies as reproductions under the Act. The status of permanent copies that serve a useful and identifiable purpose, e.g. archived copies, …

Rethinking Online Privacy In Canada: Commentary On Voltage Pictures V. John And Jane Doe, Ngozi Okidegbe

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

This article examines the Voltage decision, with the view that the bona fide standard safeguards intellectual property rights at the cost of online privacy rights and will proceed in three parts. Part I provides a brief contextualization of the issues. Part II is an analysis of the Voltage decision. Part III examines how the bona fide standard is a relatively low threshold. This article concludes by considering the possibility of shifting to a higher standard for disclosure, as well as a possible solution for the effect that a higher standard could have on copyright owners.

Combining Familial Searching And Abandoned Dna: Potential Privacy Outcomes And The Future Of Canada's National Dna Data Bank, Amy Conroy

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

This article aims to respond to the government’s request by explaining the nature of that relationship and by arguing that the combined use of familial searching and analysis of abandoned DNA would present a serious risk for genetic privacy. The risk is particularly acute given that it would effectively circumvent the existing justification for the NDDB, leading to inclusion of individuals whose DNA profiles have not been uploaded directly onto the data bank. To substantiate this main argument, this article proceeds in three parts. The first describes the current Canadian law on familial searching and the ongoing interest in amending …

With Great Power Comes Little Responsibility: The Role Of Online Payment Service Providers With Regards To Websites Selling Counterfeit Goods, J. Bruce Richardson

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

This article will explain the current avenues for intellectual property rights holders to make use of existing anti-counterfeiting policies made available by financial companies dealing in electronic payments, and argue that current policies, while helpful, are not sufficient. The article will conclude by demonstrating that policy makers have options to intervene and regulate the use of online payment services, either directly through legislation or indirectly through facilitating “best practices.”

The Song Remains The Same: Preserving The First Sale Doctrine For A Secondary Market Of Digital Music, Marco Figliomeni

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

This article will explore the origins and rationale for the first sale doctrine. A review of the most recent American case law shows the court rejecting the doctrine’s applicability in a digital sphere. I suggest that in spite of the court’s rigid interpretation of the U.S. Copyright Act, formulating a digital first sale doctrine is a matter better left to lawmakers. A flourishing digital secondary market can promote competition and innovation while making content more accessible to the public, but its endorsement requires an appreciation of its adverse effect on the primary market for copyright owners. The article fast-forwards to …

Access Of Evil? Legislating Online Youth Privacy In The Information Age, Agathon Fric

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

This article seeks to address what constitutes youth online privacy, how youth conceive of their privacy, whether their privacy needs protecting, and, if so, how youth privacy should be regulated online. First, the article begins by rooting the issue of online youth privacy in the current social, technological, economic, political, and legal context, drawing on social science research to demonstrate both the threats and opportunities created by technology for youth privacy.

Second, the analysis focuses on the relative strengths and weaknesses of current federal legislation as the primary law governing the collection, use, and disclosure of youth’s personal information through …

Faustian Perspective On Digitization: Making A Deal With The Devil, Lucie Guibault

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

No abstract provided.

Faustian Perspective On Digitization: Making A Deal With The Devil, Lucie Guibault

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Digitization of library material, archives and museum collections, arts organizations repositories is progressing rapidly, and opens up new possibilities of accessing, using and re-using the knowledge embodied in cultural heritage. By giving new purpose and function to works, it enhances the value of the public domain and enriches the public sphere. However, digitization also creates the conditions for the rise of new proprietary entitlements over cultural objects. Such ‘informational monopolies’ are often justified as necessary to recoup the high costs of digitization, or as the basis to provide additional sources of income for the cultural institutions. At the same time, …

Toward A Jurisprudence Of Drug Regulation, Matthew Herder

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Efforts to foster transparency in biopharmaceutical regulation are well underway: drug manufacturers are, for example, legally required to register clinical trials and share research results in the United States and Europe. Recently, the policy conversation has shifted toward the disclosure of clinical trial data, not just trial designs and basic results. Here, I argue that clinical trial registration and disclosure of clinical trial data are necessary but insufficient. There is also a need to ensure that regulatory decisions that flow from clinical trials — whether positive (i.e. product approvals) or negative (i.e. abandoned products, product refusals, and withdrawals) — are …

Legislating Trust, John D. Gregory

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

As governments in Canada and elsewhere have considered statutes to ensure that electronic communications are legally effective, they have invariably had to face questions about the reliability of those communications. Can we trust electronic messages, documents, and signatures? Are they the same in law as if they were on paper? What conditions should be imposed in order to give us the right assurances that we can trust them? To answer these questions properly, we need to understand the nature of “trust” and the extent to which legislation can be a source of it, and what other sources should be enlisted …

Book Review: Juries In The 21st Century, By Jacqueline Horan, Vanessa Macdonnell

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

In Juries in the 21st Century, Jacqueline Horan immerses the reader in a discussion of how jury trials operate, how they could be more effective, and how they should adapt to emerging technologies. The book makes three contributions to the existing legal literature. First, it challenges basic assumptions about how juries operate. Horan demonstrates that not all features of modern jury trials are essential or even useful. She argues convincingly that the existing features of the jury system should only be retained if they contribute positively to the process by which the jury arrives at a verdict. This leads Horan …

Near-Field Communication Technology: Regulatory And Legal Recommendations For Embracing The Nfc Revolution, Allan Richarz

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

Despite its ease and convenience, NFC technology raises a number of privacy issues. Chief among these concerns are the collection, retention, and usage of personally-identifying information contained within NFC-enabled devices by both private and public entities. Within that category, the most pressing privacy issues inherent in the collection and usage of such information relate to real-time tracking or after-the-fact habit profiling and identity theft. As well, privacy issues persist around the means used, if any, to secure and protect that information from unauthorized third parties both at the end-user and systemic database levels.

In light of these concerns, it is …

Atteinte À La Vie Privée Et Publicité Comportementale, Virginie Blanchette-Séguin

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

Le présent texte aura pour objet les questions relatives à la vie privée que soulève la publicité comportementale et le suivi des activités des individus qu’elle implique par définition. Pour ce faire, nous délimiterons d’abord le spectre du droit à la vie privée en droit québécois dans ce contexte (I.) et nous poursuivrons selon une approche plus critique en nous prononçant sur les différents arguments pouvant être soulevés quant à l’absence d’une perception humaine dans une violation potentielle du droit à la vie privée (II.)

Fan Fiction And Canadian Copyright Law: Defending Fan Narratives In The Wake Of Canada's Copyright Reforms, Rebecca Katz

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

Amateur, non-commercial writing based on contemporary copyrighted works — “fan fiction” — is a practice that is worth defending despite its unclear status vis a vis copyright law. In this article, I assess how Canadian fan authors may defend their works using Canadian copyright law. I argue that the recent copyright reforms are promising for fan and other second generation creators. The new fair dealing categories of parody and satire are positive steps, though the broad and technologically neutral non-commercial user-generated content provi-sion may be the most promising reform of all. I begin with an exploration of the benefits of …

Social Media: The Law Simply Stated, Steve Coughlan, Robert J. Currie

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

It is a challenge to simply state the law about social media, because there is no such thing as “social media law.” Rather, the law bumps up against social media in many ways. In some cases, existing law can be seamlessly applied to new technologies and means of interaction. In other cases, entirely new paradigms will likely need to be adopted to handle new challenges. Many other cases will fall somewhere in between.

Our goal in this Law Simply Stated is to provide some background on the nature of social media themselves, and then to state the basic law in …

Proof And Progress: Coping With The Law Of Evidence In A Technological Age, David M. Paciocco

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

This article outlines those rules of evidence that are most likely to be called upon to fit new technologies. It identifies some of the challenges that are presented, and identifies modest techniques or suggestions for coping. Those suggestions include taking the kind of relaxed view as to when expert evidence is being offered illustrated by the Ontario Court of Appeal in R. v. Hamilton; taking a functional approach to judicial notice; ensuring that authentication and the “best evidence” rule for electronic records are not applied in a highly technical fashion; understanding the law of hearsay and remaining familiar with …

Regulatory Issues Concerning New Media Alternatives To Television, Michael Rimock

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

This article will begin by discussing the significance of over-the-top (OTT) video services in Canada and briefly outline the CRTC’s recent efforts and findings in relation to new media trends. It will then describe the problems with the current regulatory framework and some of the proposed solutions. While some have argued that regulating OTT services like Netflix would level the playing field, I will argue that encouraging competition and decreasing some of the onerous regulations that are currently imposed on Canadian broadcasters would be the best solution since it would benefit both consumers and Canadian corporations.

Implementing Technology In The Justice Sector: A Canadian Perspective, Jane Bailey, Jacquelyn Burkell

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

Despite the many technological advances that could benefit the court system, the use of computers and network technology to facilitate court procedures is still in its infancy, and court procedures largely remain attached to paper documents and to the physical presence of the parties at all stages. More and more research is focusing on the use of technology to make the legal system more efficient and to reduce excessive legal costs and delays. The goal of this exploratory research project is to examine the experience of justice sector technology implementation from the perspective of individuals involved first-hand in the implementation …

Patent-Backed Securization For Innovation And Economic Growth In The Life Sciences: A Proposal For Incremental Securities Law Reform, Grace Sweeney

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

In this section, the historical balance struck by securities law between conservatism and innovation was considered in the context of a shifting economic landscape.

In Section II, the life sciences sector will be chosen to illustrate the current barriers impeding capital flow to high-value enterprise, resulting in decreased innovation and economic growth. These include the existence of “ever greening”, non-practicing entities, patent thickets, and onerous transaction costs on upstream patent holders with limited competency.

In Section III, the tool of intangible asset finance will be introduced as a means of harnessing the value of intellectual property assets, and leveraging them …

Jacques De Werra (Ed.), Research Handbook On Intellectual Property Licensing, Lucie Guibault

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

In the laws of most jurisdictions in the world, IP licenses are an unnamed form of contract, most often of a hybride nature, for which no specific legal framework exists, save for rare exceptions. As a result, the formation, content and interpretation of IP licences call for the application of relevant norms from numerous other fields of the law, such as contract law, property law, commercial law, consumer law etc. Despite efforts of harmonisation at the international and regional levels, these related areas of the law remain to a large extent nationally determined, influenced by the legal tradition of each …

Digital Content Contracts For Consumers, Marco Loos, Chantal Mak, Lucie Guibault, Lodewijk Pessers, Natali Helberger

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

The application of consumer law to digital content contracts encounters a number of obstacles. Some of these are rather typical for digital content markets, e.g., the legal consequences of the classification of digital content as “goods” or “services”, and more importantly, the absence of general benchmarks to evaluate the conformity of digital content. Other problems, such as the limited usefulness of consumer information and the position of underage consumers, are not as such reserved to digital consumers, but they are amplified in the digital content markets. Moreover, particular attention is paid to the complex relationship between copyright law and consumer …

When Everyone Is An Orphan: Against Adopting A Us-Styled Orphan Drug Policy In Canada, Matthew Herder

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Putting aside whether diseases that affect only small numbers of people ("rare diseases") should be prioritized over diseases that are otherwise orphaned, in this paper I argue that a new approach to rare, orphan diseases is needed. The current model, first signaled by the United States’ Orphan Drug Act and subsequently emulated by several other jurisdictions, relies on a set of open-ended criteria and market-based incentives in order to define and encourage drug therapies for rare, orphan diseases. Given a) the biopharmaceutical industries’ growing interest in orphan diseases, b) progress in the sphere of personalized medicines enabling more and more …

Access To Information And Knowledge, Lucie Guibault

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

No abstract provided.

Safe To Be Open: Study On The Protection Of Research Data And Recommendations For Access And Usage, Lucie Guibault, Andreas Wiebe

Books

Openness has become a common concept in a growing number of scientific and academic fields. Expressions such as Open Access (OA) or Open Content (OC) are often employed for publications of papers and research results, or are contained as conditions in tenders issued by a number of funding agencies. More recently the concept of Open Data (OD) is of growing interest in some fields, particularly those that produce large amounts of data – which are not usually protected by standard legal tools such as copyright. However, a thorough understanding of the meaning of Openness – especially its legal implications – …

Agriculture Under Threat - A Crisis Of Confidence? The Solution: Redefine Adventitious Presence Maximum Levels From Zero To Zero++, Mark Perry, Ramesh Karky

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

The issue of Adventitious Presence (AP) of genes, those that are not “naturally” present in food and crops but rather have been placed there using recombinant deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) technology, has become a hot issue for producers and consumers. It can also be a major problem for exporters. Part of this problem is the reality that zero presence is now impossible to guarantee in some crops and products. Pressure has arisen to establish a Low Level Presence (LLP) threshold, one that is above zero, to be determined at an international level. This would allow crops to be imported and exported …