Communications Law
The Role of Copyright Law in the Music Industry
Hi everyone! I’m Prince and I’m an exchange student over from Scotland, UK. I have attached my short piece on the role of copyright law in the Canadian music industry. I chose this particular topic as I am a musician myself and wanted to enlighten myself to the Canadian Industry. We didn’t cover too much […]
Week 11 Slides & Video
Video & slides below… Jon
Psychedelics and the “Rainbow Rush”
Introduction In the time leading up to legalization of marijuana in Canada, a “green rush” swept the Toronto Stock Exchange. Money poured into companies starting up to service both the Canadian and U.S. markets. It has only been about 5 years post legalization and already there are clear signs of the impending psychedelic surge. Studies […]
Wordle Copycats & IP Law
By now, I am sure most of us have either heard of or played the daily brainteaser Wordle. The online 5-letter word game developed by Josh Wardle, a Brooklyn-based software engineer, is released daily. Players have six attempts to guess the word of the day. Simple enough. But, with any new internet craze, comes those […]
NFTs and IP in Dance Moves?
Hello everyone, I found this article describing a performance on the Ellen DeGeneres show that featured NFT animated dancers: https://decrypt.co/95735/nft-band-debuts-singer-kiesza-ellen-degeneres-show. The dance moves executed by the dancers (who are Chewbacca-like rainbow-coloured furry humanoids) are apparently stored on the blockchain. What’s interesting in the context of this course is how the artist leading the performance suggests […]
Encanto: Disney’s trademark applications
Hi everyone, I’ve been loving the movie and soundtrack of “Encanto” lately, so I thought I’d do a dive into its trademark applications to the USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office). Here are a few interesting and fun facts: I found 10 separate “Disney Encanto” trademark applications. 2 are of the “stylized script”: *click […]
David v Goliath: A glimpse into a Danish case on Trademarks
Being an exchange student from Denmark I figured it would be interesting to give everyone a glimpse into Danish trademark law by looking at a case. The case will provide some insight into how trademarks are delt with in Danish law. I also find the aftermath of this specific case particularly interesting, because it shows […]
Fanfiction wars: a lesson in the difference between trademark and copyright
Yesterday, Young Adult novelist Laura Silverman tweeted that one of her candles she was selling was being taken down for Trademark infringement. Silverman’s candle, which she was selling on Etsy, had a label that read: “Go Away, I’m Reading Fanfiction.” This was allegedly an infringement on the “Harry Potter” trademark, but Silverman noted that she […]
Week 10 Slides & Video
Video & Slides below… Jon
Vancouver Entertainment Brand Allows NFT Holders to Own Their Characters: NFT as Proof of Copyright Ownership?
Here’s the article: Canadian entertainment brand allows NFT holders to own their characters (VIDEO) We previously discussed in class the unfortunate case where a crypto investment / entertainment group purchased a copy of Dune for an exorbitant price, and the fact that ownership of the book did not confer copyright. Now we have entertainment brands […]