Copyright & Social Media
Communications Law
The Unintellectual Property
Good Evening LAW422! Please find attached Trevor Hunt and I’s podcast titled “Unintellectual Property.” During the episode, we discuss the controversy surrounding the fashion brand “We Wore What” and social media influencer Danielle Bernstein. We dive into the issues surrounding Ms. Bernstein and her brand, and whether we think she could be found guilty of […]
Presentation: Patent Trolls
Hello everyone, I have prepared a short presentation on the topic of patent trolls, you should be able to listen to the audio on slides. Patent Trolls
Indigenous Intellectual Property
In order to look deeper into the Indigenous Intellectual Property issues, let’s start with two anecdotes from Hugh Stephen’s blog (https://hughstephensblog.net/2019/10/08/can-copyright-law-protect-indigenous-culture-if-not-what-is-the-answer/). Great Bear Rainforest, is a pro-environment documentary film that was produced by Heiltsuk First Nation. Mr. Byron Horner holds the copyrights of the film and is legally entitled to use it. The issue raises […]
The Tangled Web of Rights to Spider-Man
Long before Disney’s Marvel films dominated the box office, Marvel, still an independent company, sold the rights to Spider-Man to Sony in 1998. Marvel retained the comics rights, but Sony could produce films with the character and sell merchandise – if you’ve ever wondered there always seems to be a new Spider-Man film on […]
Twitch streaming and Canadian Copyright Law: Do ‘React Andys’ get Copyright protection?
For the uninitiated, Twitch is website on which content ‘Creators’ perform for audiences around the world. That performance is called ‘streaming’. As a consumer of Twitch content, I have always been curious about the copyright implications of streaming. Especially given the rise of ‘Just Chatting’ streams, where the Creators often merely just watch (and react) […]
“Right to Repair’ – A Brief History, The Modern Issue, & Why Legislation is Needed
Hi All, I wanted to provide a follow-up to the story about the ‘right to repair’ iPhones that I highlighted at the start of our October 25th class. This will also serve as my post/ presentation component of the class. Right to repair Most people are familiar with the concept of ‘right to repair’ especially […]
Miramax Suing Tarantino Over NFTs
Hi everyone. I thought some of you might be interested in this news, especially any film-buffs out there. News came this week that Miramax has filed a lawsuit against one of their most well-known collaborators, director Quentin Tarantino. The entertainment company (founded by the Weinstein brothers) produced some of Tarantino’s most popular films, including the […]
Subway v Budway: Missed Opportunity to Develop the Doctrine of Initial Interest Confusion
This summer, I was driving down Clark drive when I saw what I believed to be the Subway logo on a store front; however, upon closer inspection, I realized the logo said “Budway”. I googled “Budway” and discovered it was a cannabis store. I wondered how Budway could be getting away with such a blatant […]
Are Paparazzi Pictures Weaponized Copyright?
https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2021-10-05/lisa-rinna-paparazzi-lawsuit Hey everyone, It was fascinating to read this article yesterday, especially in light of the discussion we had in class about Emily Ratajkowski’s re-publishing of paparazzi images, which I considered to be particularly relevant. It has been reported that Lisa Rinna is being sued for publishing paparazzi images of herself to her social media […]
To Zell With It: How Canada’s Forgotten Brand is Being Fought Over
Hi everyone, I came across an article this week that I thought was particularly interesting following our recent discussions in class on the temporal element of trademarks and their “use it or lose it” nature. In mid-October, it was announced that Hudson’s Bay is suing the “Moniz” family in Quebec over using the “Zellers” brand […]