I was reminded today of a very interesting (and hilarious) bit of local history and a great example of IP law in action. As some of you know, unfortunately, we don’t have Trader Joe’s up here in Canada. A local man saw this unfilled niche and opened up a store reselling TJ’s merchandise. A hilarious […]

Hi everyone! There have been some questions about samples, so I decided to write this piece that touches upon use and history of sampling, and also considers why copyright owners don’t sue more frequently over the use of samples. Defining “samples” Samples are short pieces of recorded music or sounds that can be inserted into […]

IMG_9742 Hi everyone! Hope you’re all enjoying reading break. I wanted to share this video I took last Friday night at an EDM concert. In the clip, Timmy Trumpet is sampling a song by David Guetta, which is in turn itself sampling a song by Eiffel 65. It reminded me of our discussion last class […]

Slides & video below… Jon

This lawsuit was briefly mentioned in last week’s news of the week and has particular relevance to what we’re currently covering in class. Getty images is currently suing Stability AI, an AI based image generator, alleging they copied 12 million images belonging to Getty to train it’s AI model. This case is particularly interesting to […]

Slides and video below… Jon

Hi everyone! I recently came across an article that discussed how BuzzFeed will be creating some of its content using ChatGPT. The use of AI technology for content creation seems to be in its early stage, and BuzzFeed’s CEO said that the company is currently looking to use it for limited purpose – to generate […]

Slides & video below. Unfortunately my human error is to blame for the lack of sound for the first while.                     Jon

Hi everyone,  This week I’ve been thinking about the intersections between IP protections and activism as well as how infringements to such IP can cause real harm to marginalized communities.  I remembered a chat I had with an associate at a large Vancouver firm who was discussing taking on a pro-bono case to represent the […]

Hi everyone! I wanted to share an interesting article on whether someone’s face could be a trademark. Specifically, I was intrigued by the issue of whether there is trademark for figurative signs representing how historical figures might have looked like. When I watch TV shows or movies situated in an era far back in time, […]

Slides & video below… Jon

Hey everyone! I’m really looking forward to how this class will help me crack the confusing code that is the music industry.  9 months ago, I remember seeing an article about how Ed Sheeran “pre-emptively suing Sami Chokri and Ross O’Donoghue in 2018” asking the court to declare that he (with his song Shape of […]