The recent issue of the University of Ottawa Law and Technology Journal has two articles on copyright by Canadian scholars: “The Purpose of Copyright Law in Canada,” by Ottawa’s Daniel Gervais, and “The Evolution of Originality in Canadian Copyright Law: Authorship, Reward and the Public Interest” by my colleague at Osgoode, Carys Craig. Both articles are available online in PDF format. The abstracts follow:

Gervais:
In three recent cases, the Supreme Court of Canada provided several pieces of the Canadian copyright policy puzzle. We now know that the economic purpose of copyright law is instrumentalist in

I just happened upon this fun, quick interview from last year with David Dodd, editor of The Complete Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics (Free Press: October, 2005) , chair–at the time–of the California Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Committee, and director of the San Rafael Public Library. The interview was conducted by law librarian Mary Minow from California, and was posted to collaborative blog LibraryLaw Blog.

Greatful Dead were known for allowing their devoted followers to tape their concerts. Minow asks the big question, whether the same ethic of sharing followed when Dodd went to publish Dead lyrics in hard . . . [more]

There’s an article in today’s New York Times, in the Business Section (page C3) which reveals that Xerox profits have taken a downward turn and that its share price has fallen. Given all of the concentration these days on the ‘high-tech’ end of copyright, as well as the news-making cases of alleged plagiarism that have seen authors in court (and there’s yet another case, also in today’s Times, involving the author of the improbably named “How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild and Got a Life” (page A14), its interesting to reflect on the story about Xerox and the . . . [more]

Having glanced through a number of the Theme Week articles, I haven’t yet found the practical advice I’m longing for – how can I (a lawyer who should know the law) make sure I don’t go astray when posting to SLAW?

Let me give some simple examples. I decide I want to include a link to an article I’ve recently read on another website. Is it clear that I can link to an “embedded” page rather than just to the first level page? What if I read the article on one of those new “aggregation” pages (I forget the technical . . . [more]

The following, sent to Slaw by special arrangement, is a version of the lecture delivered at the session on Publishing and the Public Interest at the 6th International Publishers Copyright Symposium, Montreal, April 24, 2006, by David Vaver, Professor of intellectual property & and information technology law, University of Oxford, and director of the Oxford Intellectual Property Research Centre, St Peter’s College.

The public image of publishers and copyright

What does the public want of publishers? As book buyers, they want ready access to cheap and varied books in their language of choice. They don’t want to be told . . . [more]

There’s a new kid on the block. Copyright isn’t just the topic of Slaw’s theme week; it’s also the succinct title of a new journal. This should go on Simon Chester’s list, but it also deserves a notice all of its own. Here’s what the journal has to say about itself:

Copyright is an open-access, peer-reviewed, non-profit journal which focuses on rapidly reviewing, publishing, and disseminating scholarly analysis and commentary in the field of intellectual property, its Internet-era implications and quantitative effects. Copyright unites fields as disparate as law, statistics, and marketing around a common theme of IP by

This just in to Slaw from William Abresch, Director, Project on Extrajudicial Executions, Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, NYU School of Law:

We’ve just launched a web site that I think Slaw’s readers would be interested in: http://www.extrajudicialexecutions.org

The site aims to make information about issues taken up by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Executions more accessible.

Two features that we are especially excited about are:

• A country-by-country guide to the Special Rapporteur’s fact-finding visits and correspondence with governments. This will be helpful to anyone researching the human rights situation in a particular country.
  http://www.extrajudicialexecutions.org/communications

Here’s what the SCC has to say about access to court records:

The relevant fees for obtaining copies of documents are $0.50 per page plus $5 for consulting a closed file. A case file is considered closed as soon as the judgment is rendered. Copies of documents are mailed within 48 hours of the receipt of the cheque.

This may be changing where factums are concerned, as noted by SLAWers, who seem to think that there are not good legal or pratical reasons to restrict access. In my opinion, the practice of allowing court recorders to control the sale of . . . [more]

Can you write three sentences?

I need help from those whose practices – or lives – have been affected – for good or ill – by the advent of the BlackBerry.

The American Bar Association’s Law Practice MagazineWhose Editorial Board I chair – full disclosure is running a feature in its next issue on the impact of the BlackBerry on the practice of law, and I’ve been asked to canvass views for a sidebar.

I’m not looking for an essay. Just the sort of flip three lines that one would expect from a BlackBerry.

I’ll need them by May Day . . . [more]

A special theme week post by guest blogger Michael Geist, who holds the Canada Research Chair of Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa.

While the timing of a new Canadian copyright reform bill remains a mystery, there is little doubt that lawyers will play an important role whenever the successor to Bill C-60 is unveiled. Copyright reform invariably unleashes a torrent of conferences, workshops, papers, blog postings, and opinion pieces prominently featuring members of the legal profession, whether as advocates, lobbyists, counsel, or independent experts.

Often missing from the process, however, is discussion about the impact . . . [more]

Since this week starts Slaw’s First Theme Week, what better way of welcoming researchers than to provide a start to a pathfinder on Copyright research. We welcome comments to add to this list so that we could at the end build a resource that could have value beyond May Day.

To get the ball rolling I offer a few modest links, which demonstrate the richness of the materials available.

Let’s start with doctrine: – Current copyright literature
Next to Genie Tyburski and the wonderful Virtual Chase – Virtual Chase Legal Research guide: Intellectual Property Law
From Slaw’s own Ted . . . [more]

Starting tomorrow, Monday April 24, we’re initiating our first theme week here at Slaw. The theme is copyright, and our hope is that many if not most of the posts made this week will explore this topic. I’m imagining that some will point to research resources on copyright that might not be common knowledge and that others will tackle issues of how copyright affects legal research, particularly as done with IT. But whatever their approach, theme week posts will sport this logo in the upper left-hand corner of the post:

At the end of the week, we’ll gather them . . . [more]