I particularly wanted to put up this post this week because I think it fits perfectly with the theme of WIPO’s World Intellectual Property Day theme, “Powering Change: Women in Innovation and Creativity”. It is a story of a remarkable woman and one of Canada’s copyright pioneers, someone who has remained in the shadows for too long. Continue reading “Geraldine Moodie and her Pioneering Photographs: A Piece of Canada’s Copyright History”
When Vietnam-based popular pirate movie streaming site 123Movies, aka GoMovies, suddenly announced last month that they were shutting down—and advised its users to start paying for content– there was both relief and some head-scratching on the part of the content industry. The piracy site has long been a thorn in the side of content owners. It was cited by the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) in its 2018 submission to the US Government as part of the US Trade Representative’s (USTR) annual Special 301 country review process and featured in USTR’s most recent Notorious (Pirate) Markets report. Recently it was described by a senior executive of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) as “the most popular illegal site in the world”, with 98 million visitors a month. Now it’s gone, and good riddance to it. Continue reading “Vietnam and 123Movies: Whatever the Reasons for the Shut-down, It’s a Major Step Forward”
Comments are finally closed. The submissions are in. It’s all over but the decision (and possibly public hearings enroute to a decision, along with FairPlay’s response). We will have to wait and see whether the CRTC (Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission) steps up to the plate and discharges its responsibilities, or ducks the issue and strikes out. Continue reading “Blocking Offshore Content-Theft Sites in Canada: It’s now up to the CRTC”
Gary Charbonneau has won! You may remember Charbonneau as the independent film maker who made a crusading documentary criticising the Vancouver Aquarium for keeping cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises) in captivity and on display. He used, without permission, some of the Aquarium’s footage in his film, lifting it from the Aquarium website (in violation of its terms of service) as well as using some footage he shot within the facility itself. The Aquarium sued, claiming copyright violation, seeking to have the film blocked. I first wrote about the case almost two years ago. (here). In a recent development, the Aquarium has announced that it has thrown in the towel, bowing to public opinion, and will no longer keep whales and dolphins in captivity. Continue reading “The “Whale of Tale” is Finally Over: Cetaceans and Copyright Controversies”
Hugh Stephens Blog 