| June 2-5, 2016 June 3, 2016
The Future of International Intellectual Property
An event by the American University Washington College of Law featuring Mr. Antony Taubman, Director, Intellectual Property Division, WTO Secretariat. Visit the WCL events website for details. June 10-11, 2016
Women in IP International Forum
In Stockholm, Sweden. This year’s title is “Diversity. Are you aware of its full potential?”. Visit the Women in IP International Forum’s website for details. June 15, 2016
Uneven Bargaining Power in Licensing Negotiations
A Toronto Chapter of the LES event featuring Michael Erdle, Parimal Nathwani and Mark Penner. Visit LES events website for details.
June 17, 2016
Music Licensing: Innovations for Modern Times
The conference, which is jointly organized by the Technology Policy Institute and New York University School of Law’s Engelberg Center on Innovation Law & Policy, will take place at NYU School of Law in NYC. For more information contact annemarie.hassett@nyu.edu
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| July 1, 2016 Canada’s IP
Writing Challenge 2016
The Intellectual Property Institute of Canada (IPIC) and IP Osgoode invite submissions from law students, graduate students, and professionals. Click for details.
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| York U invention a breakthrough in rapid detection of E. coli – A new invention by York U researchers is a breakthrough in rapid detection of the deadly E. coli bacteria in water. The hydrogel-based rapid detection system reduces the time it takes to detect E. coli from a few days to just a couple of hours.
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| The IPIGRAM (2 June 2016)
Feature Posts
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| The Artificial Intelligence Revolution A few thoughts on Prof. Jean-Gabriel Castel’s talk, Fully Autonomous Artificial Super-Intelligence: Is it a threat to the human race or a blessing? How can it be controlled?
Introduction Before they died, my parents told me stories of how the world once was … They remembered a green world, vast and beautiful. Filled with laughter and hope for the future. But it’s a world I never knew… On August 29, 1997, Skynet woke up. It decided all humanity was a threat to its existence. It used our own bombs against us. Three billion people died in the nuclear fire. Survivors called it Judgement Day. – Terminator Genisys (2015, dir. Alan Taylor).
On March 22, Prof. Jean-Gabriel Castel, gave a fascinating lecture organized by the Nathanson Centre on Transnational Human Rights, Crime and Security, which challenged current perspectives about artificial intelligence (AI) and raised several well-considered reservations and concerns regarding the future. Indeed, at first blush, the AI discussion may seem more at home in a science fiction novel or Terminator film script. However, the picture that Prof. Castel paints is unambiguous: the AI future is real and imminent. Read MoreAviv Gaon is a PhD candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. His research explores the question of whether AI creation deserves to be protected by copyright law and, subsequently, to address the current legal discussion considering the standard of copyright protection.
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Wikimedia vs BUS: How to Regulate Copyright on Public Art in the Digital Age
May 31, 2016 by Aicha ToryIf you’re thinking about posting on Instagram one more selfie from your recent trip to Sweden, think again. OffeSntlig Konst, an open database where visitors can see descriptions, maps and images of public works, was recently found guilty of copyright infringement by the Supreme Court of Sweden. According to the court ruling, the platform, owned by Wikimedia Sweden, violated copyright law by giving away free access to those images without compensating the artists. Prior to the lawsuit, Wikimedia reportedly refused to negotiate a licence with Bildkonst Upphovsrät i Sverige (BUS), the lobby group that initiated this lawsuit and that normally represents artists in copyright matters.
Read more
Aicha Tohry is an IPilogue Editor and an Université de Montréal LLB holder.
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| | | QaD tlhIngan pong yab bang chut? Is Klingon protected by copyright law?
May 18, 2016 by Jacquilynne Schlesier Alec Peters may be the world’s biggest Star Trek fan. Sure, plenty of Trekkies (or Trekkers, if you prefer) have written fan fiction based on the TV series and movies. A number of fans have even created fan videos. But how many of them have raised more than a million dollars to produce a mockumentary and eventually a professional feature film based on their fan fiction? Unfortunately for Peters, in December 2015, Paramount and CBS filed a copyright infringement suit seeking damages for the existing infringements and an injunction stopping the ongoing production of the full length Star Trek: Axanar movie. An amended version of the complaint details the characters, costumes, settings, production designs and other similarities between the two Axanar films and the official Star Trek productions.
Read more Jacquilynne Schlesier is an IPilogue Editor and a JD candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School.
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RECENT POSTS
Privacy Injunctions in the Age of the Internet and Social Media: PJS v News Group Newspapers
May 31, 2016 by Barry SookmanThe reposting of this article is part of a cross-post agreement with Cyberlex.
You’re a celebrity and had a threesome. Your partner wasn’t one of them. You want the affair to remain private. You go to a court in England where your family resides and get an interim injunction. It prevents the English press from publishing the tawdry details to protect your privacy and the privacy of your family. The affair becomes widely known in other countries including the US, Canada, and Scotland. The English public finds out about it through foreign web sites. They also find the story when using search engines, even when not looking for it. The English public is incited to access websites where details about the encounter can be found by the tabloids which thrive on selling papers filled with salacious details of sexual encounters. The tabloids create a frenzy working up the public claiming they are being censored when their foreign counterparts are not, then move to set aside the injunction.
Read more Barry Sookman is an IP Osgoode Advisory Board Member and a senior partner with McCarthy Tétrault in the Toronto office.
Spokeo: Will U.S. Supreme Court’s Decision Impact Privacy Damages in Canada?
May 25, 2016 by Kirsten Thompson and Douglas Judson The re-posting of this article is part of a cross-posting agreement with CyberLex. The Spokeo decision’s requirement that there be a concrete injury in order to ground privacy damages is not just a U.S. issue. Canadian courts have been wrestling for some time with the question of what damages look like in the context of privacy breaches, especially in class actions. While not definitive or binding north of the border, Spokeo may provide insight into how future statutory privacy breach actions are framed in Canada.
Read more Kirsten Thompson is Counsel in McCarthy Tétrault’s National Technology Group. Douglas Judson is an articling student in McCarthy Tétrault’s Toronto office.
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