Federal Court Continues Trend of Ordering Disclosure of Subscriber Information

After initiating a proposed class action lawsuit alleging copyright infringement in respect of five motion pictures (I have previously blogged on the Notice of Application), Voltage Pictures LLC (“Voltage”) has successfully persuaded the Federal Court to order the partial disclosure of subscriber information in order to proceed with certification of its “reverse” class action.

Wexford Collegiate v. Hamilton: Understanding Grand and Small Rights

Canadian high school Wexford Collegiate School for the Arts created headlines last week after YouTube clips of the school’s students performing songs from the musical Hamilton circulated online. Unfortunately for the staff and students who were involved, the musical performances have already been removed from YouTube, and online commentators, such as Howard Sherman from Arts Integrity, called out Wexford Collegiate for infringing copyright. However, the situation is more nuanced than it appears at first blush, and it is important for amateur productions and education institutions to understand their obligations, and rights, when it comes to performing theatrical compositions.

Celebrity Social Media Accounts: When does a Repost Infringe Copyright?

For almost a decade, the rise in popularity of social media platforms has created new methods for organizations, brands and celebrities to target their audience. Whether through promotional tweets, posts on Instagram, or Periscope shopping excursions, there are countless ways to engage with millions of individuals around the world. However, obtaining content for social media can tread into murky copyright waters. This issue is illustrated by a recent dispute between Toronto photographer Jake Kivanç and Drake, where Kivanç has accused Drake of playing dirty not clean.

Creative Pleading Seeks to Certify Copyright Class Proceeding

Voltage Pictures LLC has been busy in the Federal Court of Canada. As illustrated by the proposed class proceeding filed April 26, 2016, the movie production company is showing no sign of slowing down.

Unpack SODRAC Symposium Video: Reproduction Rights

On February 25, 2016, Hayes eLaw LLP founding partner Mark Hayes spoke on the “Reproduction Rights” panel at Osgoode Hall Law School’s Unpack SODRAC: Technological Change and Copyright Tariffs after CBC v SODRAC (SCC 2015). The video can be found below.

Trifecta of Noteworthy Copyright and Trademark Filings

Although notices of appeal are common place in intellectual property matters, three recent filings at the Federal Court of Appeal are, at least in this author’s opinion, noteworthy to those in the copyright and trade-mark communities.

Netflix Gets Rewind of Copyright Board Decision

In a late December decision, Netflix, Inc v SOCAN et al, 2015 FCA 289, the Federal Court of Appeal (“FCA”), perhaps binge-writing decisions prior to the holidays, granted Netflix’s application for judicial review of the Copyright Board’s decision in Tariff 22.D.1 – royalties for audiovisual webcasts for the years 2007 to 2013 (“Tariff 22.D.1 Decision”).