Monday’s Mix
Each Monday we present brief excerpts of recent posts from five of Canada’s award-winning legal blogs chosen at random* from more than 80 recent Clawbie winners. In this way we hope to promote their work, with their permission, to as wide an audience as possible.
This week the randomly selected blogs are 1. Michael Geist 2. Hull & Hull Blog 3. Condo Adviser 4. Off the Shelf 5. Excess Copyright
Digital policy has been the source of seemingly never-ending frustration for years in Canada. The government chose to prioritize two flawed bills on online streaming and online news, both of which sparked considerable opposition, lengthy delays, and ultimately delivered few actual benefits (Bill C-11 faces at least another year of hearings at the CRTC, Bill C-18 is a disaster that has left many media companies worse off). Its 2021 consultation on online harms was so badly received that it was quickly shelved and has required nearly three years to recover. …
Hull & Hull Blog
Estate Freezes and Equalization – A Unilateral Marriage Contract?
I have recently noticed a potential new trend in the overlap between trust and family law which I thought was worth mentioning, being the use of an estate freeze immediately prior to marriage as a form of imposing a “unilateral marriage contract” to insulate assets against the equalization of net family property on the breakdown of marriage. The concept of an “estate freeze” itself is not new as a potential tax planning strategy (I have previously blogged about estate freezes more generally here). What does appear to be a new trend however is the intentional use of an estate freeze not only for the potential tax benefits, but also for insulating the individual against equalization claims even when no marriage contract is signed. …
Condo Adviser
Smoking in condos does not always amount to nuisance
While lots of condos have become smoke free, many either don’t regulate smoking or have granted legacy rights to existing smokers. The result is that, when owners complain about smoke in their units, both sides rely on their nose to argue that the other side is wrong about the degree of nuisance. In a recent case, the CAT ruled on whether a “sniff test” constituted an adequate investigation into a smoke complaint. …
Off the Shelf
Osgoode Digital Commons: Readership Snapshot
January 2024 The Osgoode Digital Commons received 71,090 full-text downloads and 16 new submissions, bringing the total works in the repository to 19,074. Osgoode Hall Law School of York University scholarship was read by 2,347 institutions across 183 countries. …
Excess Copyright
Access Copyright Adds To Its Lengthy Litany Of Litigation Losses
It is easy to lose track of how many major decisions that Access Copyright has LOST in the last twenty years, which include three straight losses in the Supreme Court of Canada (CCH in 2004, Alberta in 2012, and York in 2021) and now a very notable Federal Court decision that is likely to be upheld in any appeal. The latest is the landmark ruling by Justice Aylen of the Federal Court in Province of Alberta et al v. Access Copyright 2024 FC 292, rendered February 22, 3035. …
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*Randomness here is created by Random.org and its list randomizing function.
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