Communications Law
Week 9 Slides & Video
Slides & video below… Jon
“Use your Illusion” – A lesson in overcoming the potential legal hurdles of proving Joint Authorship in musical collaborations
Have you ever wondered what the legal implications are for a band and its individual members when they decide to split up? How do we know which band members own authorship and performance rights to the songs? The answer may or may not be as straightforward as you initially think. During the creation process a […]
IP Rights and Santa Claus
Hello all! In the spirit of the upcoming season, I wanted to share something I learned recently about copyright in Santa Claus images. It is a popular IP myth that Coca Cola owns/has copyright or trademark over popular images of Santa Claus because of their highly successful 1931 ad campaign. I actually believed this until […]
Murine Metaphysics
Higher life forms are generally regarded as possessing qualities and characteristics that transcend the particular genetic material of which they are composed. A person whose genetic make-up is modified by radiation does not cease to be him or herself. Likewise, the same mouse would exist absent the injection of the oncogene into the fertilized egg […]
Human Creations vs. AI Creations — What’s the Difference?
I came across the following tweets in the past few days that really show the sophistication of today’s AI technologies: AI writing a college essay; AI grading a college essay and providing comments; AI generating a movie synopsis. Some of our classmates have posted really interesting thoughts about how copyright law could apply in relation […]
A Practical Guide for Content Creators on Fair Dealing
1. Introduction The use of copyrighted material is all around us in the modern technological age. A quick scroll on Tiktok (well, using my algorithm at least) reveals a barrage of ‘Tiktokers’ displaying and commentating on a variety of sports highlights or reacting to the latest heartbreak on reality television. So wide spread is the […]
Extension of copyright term to take effect on 30 December 2022
I thought it was interesting to share this. I know the Canada-United States- Mexico agreement was signed in 2019 and came into force in 2020. Canada had said that it was going to have a transition period of 2 years or so to implement this. It appears that the term of life will officially become […]
Generative AI and Copyright
I recently came across an interesting article (https://news.bloomberglaw.com/ip-law/wild-west-of-generative-ai-raises-novel-copyright-questions) about an artist who registered US copyright for a comic book made with the assistance of artificial intelligence. The US Copyright Office later revoked its decision of granting the copyright because it had “overlooked the use of AI in the creation of the comic.” However, people use […]
IP Law and Elon Musk’s “Twitter Blue” Plan
Hi everyone! Arkie and I want to share our LAW 422 IP law project with all of you. Recently, there’s been a lot of chaos online after Elon Musk acquired Twitter so we decided to do a case study into Elon Musk’s “Twitter Blue” Plan and its IP law implications. We made a short educational […]
IP in M&A: Microsoft and Activision Blizzard Acquisition
We’ve been talking about trademark and passing off as the “law of the marketplace.” Some IPs are so lucrative in the marketplace that they attract synergistic opportunities – one recent example of this is Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard. This acquisition has garnered criticism among video game competitors like Sony as Activision Blizzard owns the […]