Copyright & Social Media
Communications Law
Athlete Biometric Data and Wearable Tech Metrics: Is Player Data Intellectual Property in Basketball?
Introduction Professional basketball teams are starting to incorporate wearable technology that collects different biometric data from players. The Cavaliers, Jazz, Pacers and Suns, who were the first NBA teams to install biometrics labs, have now started to test biometric and performance data including heart rate variability, jump load, fatigue indicators, sleep metrics, and movement tracking. […]
AI-Generated Content Creation: A Dog, a Cat, and Several Unholy Hybrids
Social media platforms have, for many years, relied upon tools which track digital fingerprinting, conduct metadata analyses, and do advanced pattern recognition to critically analyse altered content for copyright infringement. With AI’s rapid advancements in visual product-generation, it seems easier than ever to appropriate copyrighted content to create high-quality derivative works which can undermine the […]
Can a Broader Interpretation of “Genre” Save Movies?
In the last couple decades, “Hollywood” and the broader film industry have undergone rapid changes, including in the popularity (or lack-thereof) of the movie-going experience, the market of movie studios, and the types of movies being made. These broad changes have led to two different monopolizations within the industry. First, a monopolization of movie studios […]
Do Foreign Inventors Get a Fair Shot at Patent Grant in Canada? I Unleashed AI on 100,000 Patent Applications to Find Out
This summer I worked at an intellectual property firm in downtown Vancouver, immersed in the world of patent prosecution. My days were spent drafting correspondence and amendments for patent applications destined for the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Our clients included both Canadian inventors filing patents […]
Trademarking Your Face: The New Frontier Against Deepfakes?
AI: An Acute Issue? Trademarks traditionally serve a commercial function by allowing a person to distinguish their goods or services from those of others.[1] However, amidst the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, and the resultant proliferation of deepfakes,[2] could trademarks emerge as a potential safeguard against the unauthorized exploitation of one’s physical likeness? English television […]
The World of Intellectual Proper(kit)ty
For my project, I chose to look into something I’m truly passionate about: cats. But Tyleigh, isn’t this all a little millennial cringe? Yes, but consider this a palate cleanser from all the very serious, real world problems going on. Instructions for Viewing Presentation Link: https://www.canva.com/design/DAG75lu26AU/hwQ6-HgHBQh3rD65SKi5cg/view?utm_content=DAG75lu26AU&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=uniquelinks&utlId=h696852ee1f ——— References, Organized by Topic: Grumpy Cat PUMA Deadmau5/Meowingtons […]
Stories within Stories – Who Owns the Copyright?
Term project by Dylan Nouri Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) is my favourite movie of all time. The 2015 Best Picture winner features Riggan Thomson, a washed-up Hollywood actor who used to play the titular Birdman in a series of exciting, but superficial, action movies back in the 90s. Decades later, in an […]
Re-Imagining “Ms Jackson”: AI Remix Culture, Copyright, and the 1950s Soul Version
Recent social media posts and YouTube uploads have reimagined the early-2000s hip-hop classics. One striking example is Outcast’s Ms Jackson, reimagined as though it were recorded in a 1950s soul-blues club, complete with vintage instrumentation, crooning vocals, and a soundscape that feels lifted from another decade. The concept is widespread, occurring with other big artists, […]
Trademarking Taste: An Untapped Frontier?
On June 17th of 2025, a swath of significant amendments to Canada’s Trademarks Act entered into force, quite literally going as far as to change the definition a trademark. Out was any reference to a distinguishing guise, and in was a definition of Trademark including “a sign or combination of signs that is used […]
Tragic: The Gathering – The Story of How My Favourite Game Made Billions Losing Itself
In this post I’d like to tell a story about Magic: the Gathering. Magic: The Gathering (MTG, or Magic) is a trading card game developed by Wizards of the Coast (WotC), and for the past 6 years it has been my obsession. I’ve collected cards, traded with friends, and played the game, both casually and […]