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Supreme Court Rules Against Overbroad Trademark Rights

The Supreme Court of Canada continues to distinguish itself as the leading high court in the world for recognizing the need for balance in intellectual property law matters.  The latest example is this morning’s pair of trademark decisions involving Mattel’s Barbie trademark and champagne maker Veuve Cliquot.  In both cases, […]

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June 2, 2006 Comments are Disabled News

Captain Copyright

Access Copyright has launched a new site that borders on parody, but is apparently serious.  Captain Copyright, is a new "superhero" that educates children about the virtues of copyright, rushing to the scene in the event that someone publishes research without proper credit.  While my first reaction to the site was that it is just silly, as I dug deeper, I now find it shameful.  These materials, targeting kids as young as six years old, misrepresents many issues and proposes classroom activities that are offensive.

In addition to the Captain Copyright series, there are a series of "games" and educational activities targeting kids and teachers beginning in Grade One. These so-called activities are of particular interest to me since one of my kids is currently in Grade Two and another starts Grade One in September.  It is pointless to go through each exercise to point to the misconceptions and half-truths that it seeks to bring into my child's classroom, but a few merit comment.
private copying copyright education

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May 31, 2006 26 comments News

CMEC Visits Ottawa

CMEC, which represents provincial ministers of education, was in Ottawa today to lobby on copyright. Jamie Muir, the Nova Scotia Minister of Education, is quoted extensively in the release on the visit (which interestingly contains several references to the recent CMCC effort to bring the views of Canadian musicians to […]

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May 30, 2006 Comments are Disabled News

Patriot Act Concerns Reach House of Commons

Concerns over the use of Patriot Act to access Canadians’ personal information spilled into the House of Commons yesterday.  See this exchange between Joe Comartin and Treasury Board President John Baird.

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May 30, 2006 2 comments News

Foreign Affairs Launches IP Public Consultation

The Department of Foreign Affairs has launched a public consultation on intellectual property, but you need to move quickly to participate.  For the next 17 days, DFAIT is accepting responses to a series of questions that focus almost exclusively on Canadians' experience with intellectual property enforcement in other countries.  The […]

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May 30, 2006 1 comment News