Copyright

Copyright is the exclusive legal right to produce, reproduce, publish or perform an original literary, artistic, dramatic or musical work. It is an infringement of copyright for any person to do, without the consent of the owner of the copyright, anything that only the owner of the copyright has the right to do.

December 14, 2021
Photo of office towers in Toronto's financial district.

Abuse of Process Should Only Be Invoked in the “Clearest of Cases”

Four years after the Federal Court of Appeal denied copyright protection for TRREB's real estate database, the fight to control that data continues.
June 21, 2021
Photograph of a remote control for a smart tv pictured in front of a television screen displaying a streaming service.

Access Denied: Federal Court of Appeal Affirms Use of Site-Blocking Orders

2021 FCA 100: A recent decision affirms the Federal Court's power to make site-blocking orders requiring third-party ISPs to limit access to copyright-infringing content.
May 4, 2021
Programming code overlaid on a photograph of a server room.

Ontario Court Varies Terms of Injunction to Preserve “Status Quo”

2021 ONSC 2881: In a copyright dispute over source code, an Ontario court has agreed to extend an existing injunction to cover a new software product released by LDX Inc.
July 7, 2020
Basketball player holding an orange basketball with a Nike swoosh logo in one hand

Hands Off! Nike Wins Battle Over Claw Logo Against Kawhi Leonard

An Oregon court ruled that Nike owns the Claw logo that includes a sketch of Leonard's hands that famously earned him the nickname “The Claw.”
December 2, 2019
Photo of a laptop in the dark with the keyboard illuminated by the screen

TekSavvy Appeals Canada’s First Site-Blocking Order

2019 FC 1432 - TekSavvy appeals a recent site-blocking order against an illegitimate streaming service, claiming the order contravenes freedom of expression.
November 20, 2018

USMCA, the new NAFTA: what changes we can expect in Canadian IP Law

USMCA – On September 31, 2018, Canada reached a new agreement with the USA and Mexico – here is an overview.
April 18, 2017

SCOTUS affirms that design features incorporated into clothing may be eligible for copyright protection

580 U. S. (2017) - SCOTUS affirmed a lower court's decision that designs in the cheerleading uniforms designed, made and sold by Varsity were copyrightable material under section 101 of the Copyright Act of 1976.
September 22, 2015

Making a Blurry & Illegible Copy is still Copyright Infringement

Geophysical Service Inc v Antrim Energy Inc, 2015 ABQB 482 - The Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench found copyright infringement even though the copy that was made was blurry and completely unusable.
July 5, 2015

ONSC Orders Inspection and Photographs of One-of-a-Kind Home in Copyright Infringement Case

Tan-Jen Ltd v Di Pede, 2015 ONSC 3685 - In a copyright infringement case regarding supposedly one-of-a-kind design moulds for a home's exterior, the Court allowed inspection of the property for valuation purposes and refused a request to keep the court proceedings closed from the public.
February 11, 2015

Receiving Copyrighted Material Considered a Presumptive Connecting Factor in Seismic Data Dispute

Geophysical Service Incorporated v Arcis Seismic Solutions Corp, 2015 ABQB 88 - The Court analogized misuse of confidential information to copyright infringement to decide that the jurisdiction where the copyright-infringing material was received was also significant.
January 20, 2015

SCOTUS Asks Solicitor General’s Advice on Whether to Hear Google’s Java API Copyright Case

Google, Inc v Oracle America, Inc, 14-410 - This case would put at issue whether Java’s method headers are subject to copyright protection, or whether they are excluded by Section 102(b) of the Copyright Act for being a system or method of operation.