We know from Crookes v. Newton that a link “by itself” is not a publication for the purposes of defamation in Canada. But what about a right by a publisher to collect royalties when being linked to?

It seems bizarre, but newspapers in Ireland are attempting to do exactly that. In a piece titled 2012: The year Irish newspapers tried to destroy the web McGarr Solicitors state:

This year the Irish newspaper industry asserted, first tentatively and then without any equivocation, that links -just bare links like this one– belonged to them. They said that they had the right

. . . [more]

By now you have probably read, heard or seen the story that has been circulating this week about the 15 year old girl in Iceland whose name has been deemed illegal. Blaer, a 15 year-old girl whose name translates into “a light wind” in Icelandic, has been told that she will have to change her name as her name was incorrectly registered when she was born and is not on the national register of acceptable names. While the story seems absurd on the surface, there is some context that has to do with the nature of the Icelandic language and . . . [more]

The Canadian anti-spam act was passed in December of 2010 – but is still not in force. Current speculation is that it will be in force later in 2013 – or perhaps not even until 2014.

The act contemplated 2 sets of regulations that are crucial for how the act works in practice. Regulations from the CRTC are final. We have been waiting for regulations from Industry Canada. 

Industry Canada announced on Dec 24 that its regulations will be published in the Canada Gazette on January 5th 2013 for a 30 day consultation period.

Stay tuned for more detail. . . . [more]

The federal Statutes Repeal Act S.C. 2008, c. 20 sweeps up behind our legislators, killing off statutes that were passed and assented to nine years or more ago but that were never proclaimed in force. At the beginning of each year the Minister of Justice is required to lay before both houses of parliament a list of such statutes. If by the end of that year a statute on the list still has not been proclaimed in force, it is ipso facto repealed.

Last Thursday, Irving Pinsky filed a complaint with the Claims Commissioner J. Paul Vance Jr. requesting permission to sue the State of Connecticut for $100 million on behalf of a six-year old girl who survived the Sandy Hook school shooting. The young girl heard screaming and gunfire. The claim states,

As a consequence, the claimant-minor child has sustained emotional and psychological trauma and injury, the nature and extent of which are yet to be determined.

The State enjoys general immunity from actions without consent of the Commissioner.

Pinsky claims that Board of Education, Department of Education and Education Commissioner all . . . [more]

In my second post on Toronto Mayor Rob Ford in one day, the libel suit against him was just dismissed. Justice Macdonald concluded in Foulidis v. Ford,

[45] The plaintiff must prove four things on the balance of probability to prove a libel in this
case:

(1) That the defendant spoke the words in issue.
(2) That the defendant published the words in issue to one or more third parties.
(3) That the words in issue referred to the plaintiff.
(4) That the words in issue were defamatory of the plaintiff.

The plaintiff has proven the first two and

. . . [more]

The conflict of interest case against Toronto mayor Rob Ford was recently one of the most read cases on CanLII, and for good reason. Toronto residents are eager to discover whether the effects of the November 26, 2012 judgement will result in Mayor Ford vacating his office.

The case has currently been appealed. The factum of the respondent was filed earlier this week, and may be of interest. It can be viewed here.

I can only find a partial factum for the appellant, available here, but if there’s a more complete copy please email me so I can . . . [more]

Mark Twain wrote in Mark Twain, “Chapters from My Autobiography”, 598 North American Review (Sept. 7, 1906):

I wrote the rest of “The Innocents Abroad” in sixty days, and I could have added a fortnight’s labor with the pen and gotten along without the letters altogether. I was very young in those days, exceedingly young, marvellously young, younger than I am now, younger than I shall ever be again, by hundreds of years. I worked every night from eleven or twelve until broad day in the morning, and as I did two hundred thousand words in the sixty days,

. . . [more]

Last Friday the Supreme Court of Iowa upheld a summary judgement decision by the Iowa District Court which found that a dentist who terminated his assistant for being too attractive had not engaged in gender discrimination.

The plaintiff was hired in 1999 when she was only 20 years old, and the defendant conceded she was an excellent employee. The relationship was generally without incident, with exception to a few occasions when the dentist commented that he was distracted by her tight fitting uniform. The defendant acknowledged he made inappropriate comments of a sexual nature towards the plaintiff, who was also . . . [more]

Ontario’s Accessibility Standard for Customer Service came into effect on January 1, 2012 for all businesses and not-for-profits in the province with more than one employee. If an organization has more than 20 employees, an online report must be filed by December 31, 2012 to demonstrate to the government that accessibility has been achieved under the Customer Service Standard. Many organizations are now asking “what comes next?

No big surprise here, but the Federal Court decision of HomeAway.com, Inc. v. Hrdlicka  stated that:

[22] I find, therefore, that a trade-mark which appears on a computer screen website in Canada, regardless where the information may have originated from or be stored, constitutes for Trade-Marks Act purposes, use and advertising in Canada.

One of the issues was whether the appearance of the trade-mark on a website viewable in Canada that originated from the United States was “use” of that trade-mark in Canada. The site was for people wanting to rent homes, cottages or apartments for vacations, including some listed . . . [more]

A German state has declared that Facebook’s policy requiring that a user identify himself by his real name violates that state’s law allowing the use of pseudonyms and contravenes the fundamental right to freedom of expression on the Internet (see here for an Associated Press article).

The Facebook Name Policy states:

Facebook is a community where people use their real identities. We require everyone to provide their real names, so you always know who you’re connecting with.

It further explains that this helps keep the Facebook community safe. Given this concern for safety, Facebook will remove all fake accounts. . . . [more]