http://business.financialpost.com/2012/07/12/scc-gives-wide-interpretation-to-fair-dealing-in-copyright-saga/ . . . [more]

While lawyers and academics will surely be allocating a significant amount of short term resources to analyzing the SCC’s pentology of copyright decisions issued this morning, a quick look demonstrates a vindication of fair dealing, online innovation, technical neutrality and general common sense.

In brief and lacking any nuance, the Court’s decision in Entertainment Software Association v. SOCAN, 2012 SCC 34 seems to imply some interesting developments in copyright law:

Online distribution of video games should not be impeded with additional tariffs for musical works embedded in the games simply because the games are sold ‘by means of telecommunications’. The . . . [more]

A recent US Court of Appeals decision has caused some concern in banking circles. Here is a blog description with a link to the case, Patco Construction v People’s Bank. Essentially the court held that the business customer’s losses from online fraud had been caused by negligent security practices at the bank, so the bank was liable for them.

As the blog entry (by a noted electronic security expert) points out, while consumers have traditionally been protected in dealings with their banks (so the banks have devised a number of security measures to protect against loss), business clients have . . . [more]

This post isn’t about anything legal, but it’s summer, and this is an interesting story. (Or at least I find it interesting – I should disclose that I’m on the board of Orchestra London.)

Christine Newland, principle cellist of Orchestra London, borrowed in 1976 to buy a cello for $12,000. According to an online inflation calculator, that’s about $48,000 in today’s money. She knew it was a special instrument at the time, but had no idea how special until recently. Turns out that it was made in 1730, and is a twin – made from the same tree – . . . [more]

The course reader, that photocopied bundle of readings for a course, and now its more recent iteration, the digital e-reserves, have proven to be hot spots for “fair use” legal entanglements with copyright law in the United States. In the 1990s, the big cases were Basic Books Inc. v. Kinko’s Graphic Corporation (1991) and Princeton University Press v. Michigan Document Service (1996) which put an end to royalty-free photocopying for class use of copyrighted materials, for, the courts rule, the course readers were being sold for a profit and were competing against the original books (with 5-30% of the . . . [more]

As was SCOTUS last week, the Supreme Court of Canada is a focus of some attention this week, with an historic appeal yesterday that might nullify an election and tomorrow’s release of a pentad of copyright-related decisions which will say a lot about fair dealing. None of this is of the server-crashing magnitude and political impact of the SCOTUS Affordable Care Act decision, but it does highlight what works well with the SCC and its judges:

This is one of those weeks where I beam in admiration for our highest court, and its judges. I am in awe of the . . . [more]

The UK government has a new website in beta aimed at improving citizen access to official services and information. Gov.uk hopes to be “simpler, clearer, faster,” as its tagline says.

By the look of things, the site succeeds. The design is plain and appealing. (I’d dump the set of scrolling options. It could be that they’re aiming to give viewers something engaging to do; but I think that a simple list of half a dozen FAQs would work better.)

As is often the case on the internet, there’s no top level entry for “Law.” (There is one for Crime and . . . [more]

When certain aspects of life become accepted practice, part of the texture of everyday life, one tends to forget that they are there at all. They become part of the wallpaper. One forgets that putting them in place involved massive effort, and that things may not always be the same. To stretch my metaphor to the breaking point, someone might come in and paint over the wallpaper. It is important not to take for granted those things which we should cherish. Access to information is just such a phenomenon. The point was brought home to me this year.

Each spring . . . [more]

I just set up my desk in the main part of my library to give a presentation. It has me thinking about where I work. There has been some discussion this spring about the law library as a service vs a place or space. For examples, see:

• For each library, a librarian. Preferably in it.
• “Climbing the Value Ladder: Rethinking the Law Library on the Road to 2020” Discussed by Jordan Furlong Keynote Speaker at PLL Summit
• The 3 Foot Radius of the Law Library

Today, I have a projector and portable screen attached to a virtual machine with a . . . [more]

Today’s going to be an interesting day at the Supreme Court: they’re hearing argument in the Election Act appeal (Ted Opitz, et al. v. Borys Wrzesnewskyj, et al.), the first such direct appeal brought to this court. Factums are available here; and this is the link to the webcast. If you’re too pressed for time to wade through factums or watch the hearing live, you might like to follow Ottawa law prof Carissima Mathen’s tweets from the courtroom instead.

[Remember: when you need to get to the Supreme Court website and can’t recall the official URL, just . . . [more]

Some tribunals routinely tape record proceedings while others consistently prohibit it. And within those tribunals that allow tape recording of proceedings, practices on the use of the tape or transcript also vary. It is pretty clear in law that administrative tribunals are not required to record the proceedings, unless required to do so by statute: Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 301 v. Montreal (City), [1997] 1 S.C.R. 793

Administrative tribunals were designed to be less formal than courts, yet the recording of proceedings is a hallmark of the judicial process. Why do some tribunals routinely tape proceedings and . . . [more]

The Canadian Judicial Council has launched a sleek new website. Over the years, the Council has put more and more information online. For some time, there have been links to previous inquiry committee decisions, annual reports and news releases. There is a publications section which is a treasure-trove of information including an interesting Reference Guide for Judges Appointed to Commissions of Inquiry. I’m not sure if the site is just more user-friendly and I discovered hidden information or the CJC has actually posted new material. Either way, one can now find a sample of complaints (anonymized) . . . [more]