The Author:
James Gannon is a lawyer at the firm McCarthy Tétrault. The views expressed here are his own.
Bill C-11, “Digital Locks”, and Copyright Reform: What Kind of Business Models Do We Want to Encourage?
Posted by on February 1, 2012
Many arguments over the merits of various copyright reform policies often devolve into a debate over competing “business models”. Copyright reform opponents and abolitionists often argue that amendments to copyright law “preserve outdated business models“, while supporters of progressive reforms argue that they are in fact required to protect emerging models of digital product distribution. [...]
Ontario Court of Appeal awards damages for invasion of personal privacy
Posted by on January 19, 2012
In my view, it is appropriate for this court to confirm the existence of a right of action for intrusion upon seclusion. Recognition of such a cause of action would amount to an incremental step that is consistent with the role of this court to develop the common law in a manner consistent with the [...]
Canadian Hosting Provider Cites Weak Copyright Law to Attract Pirate Websites
Posted by on January 4, 2012
There has been a lot of press lately in the U.S. about their proposed IP enforcement law, the Stop Online Piracy Act (“SOPA”). As I previously noted, when creator groups were asked which websites they intended to target with SOPA’s site-blocking provisions, the groups were clear that legitimate online businesses would be unaffected by the [...]
Why the “digital lock” rules in Bill C-11 will not have any impact on fair dealing in the education community
Posted by on December 12, 2011
Technological protection measures (or “TPMs”) are technologies that protect digital media and control how consumers can use digital products that they purchase. For instance, when you buy e-books from Kobo’s online book store, a TPM controls how that e-book can be copied. The TPM allows you to make copies of the e-book between devices that [...]
Canadian BitTorrent Sites Dominate Rogue Website Lists in SOPA Submissions
Posted by on November 17, 2011
Yesterday, hearings began in the United States House of Representatives on H.R. 3261, the “Stop Online Piracy Act” (SOPA). Witnesses from the U.S. Library of Congress, Pfizer, the MPAA, MasterCard and the AFL-CIO all voiced support for the Act, which would give judges injunction-granting powers against ISPs to block rogue piracy websites similar to the [...]
5 Steps to Understanding Bill C-11 and “Digital Locks”
Posted by on November 2, 2011
Let’s clear up some of the confusion about copyright law and “digital locks”. If you’ve been reading the press lately on the federal government’s latest attempt to reform Canadian copyright law, then it’s likely you’ve read about the government’s proposed legal protection for “digital locks”. And if you’ve been wondering exactly what a “digital lock” [...]
CMA Confirms Canadian Government to Revisit Anti-Spam Regulations
Posted by on October 24, 2011
In their Friday newsletter to members, the Canadian Marketing Association confirmed that the regulations to the Canadian Anti-Spam Law (formerly known at Bill C-27, the ECPA, and FISA) will be revisited: Earlier today, CMA confirmed that the federal government will be undertaking further consultations with stakeholder groups as part of the process for developing detailed [...]
Hadopi Issues 18 Month Report
Posted by on October 18, 2011
Hadopi, the French independent government authority in charge of administering France’s graduated response law (often referred to also as “Hadopi”) has issued an 18 month report outlining the progress of the organization’s mission of educating French Internet users and diverting them to legal sources of online digital content. Both a long and short version of [...]
Bill C-11 and statutory damages: a guide for Canadian copyright law
Posted by on October 6, 2011
Aside from the issue of TPMs or “digital locks”, another aspect of Bill C-11 (and formerly Bill C-32) that is often misunderstood in media reporting and by the general public is the issue of statutory damages. News reports, such as a highly flawed piece that ran in the Montreal Gazette, have been quoting a figure [...]
Bill C-11, Digital Locks and TPMs: A comprehensive guide for Canadian copyright law
Posted by on September 30, 2011
Once again, it seems that the issue of TPMs (or “digital locks”) has become one of the main focus point of the new copyright bill, Bill C-11. And, once again, the reporting on the TPM provisions of Bill C-11, which like the remainder of the Bill remains unchanged from last year’s Bill C-32, is replete [...]
