University of Alberta Faculty of Law Blog

Interview with the Rt. Hon. Kim Campbell

Click here for Ms. Suffragette's interview with former Prime Minister of Canada, the Right Honourable Kim Campbell, P.C., C.C., O.B.C., Q.C., or simply press play on the video below. 

 

We hope that you enjoy this entertaining and informative interview with Ms. Campbell as much as we did filming it! Ms. Suffragette caught up with Ms. Campbell at her office at the University of Alberta, where she heads the Peter Lougheed Leadership College.

Ms. Campbell educates Ms. Suffragette member Leri Koornhof on: the history of Canadian women's suffrage, Etruscan equality, gender parity in politics and in Prime Minister Trudeau's cabinet, primate social sex attitudes, and women in leadership positions. We even toss Trump's name in there!

Sound Recording Copyright Extension to 70 Years is a MONEY GRAB!

New reports are suggesting that the Government of Canada plans to extend the term of copyright monopoly from 50 years to 70 years for sound recordings. I will give you  4 reasons why this does not further any legitimate public policy goal but rather is mere rent seeking (a money grab)  by copyright owners (in particular the record companies):

1.  Ever since the Statute of Anne (a mere 12 year term I believe), copyright terms have creeped higher and higher without any empirical reason to support a public policy benefit, e.g. increased incentive to create more or better art or in this case music. In the absence of such data, does anyone really think that artists, or more particularly the record companies that own the sound recordings, will create more or better music if the monopoly is extended yet another 20 years?

2.  Most of the money made on a sound recording happens shortly after its release.  For some classic songs and albums, significant streams of income still happen several decades down the road.  However, by that time, the copyright holders have made bundles and bundles of money, and much more than could ever be justified by the incentive copyright is suppose to provide creators to make art.

3. Despite the apparent support of the extension by Canadian luminaries Bruce Cockburn, Gordon Lightfoot, and Leonard Cohen , each of these artists probably receives about 10-15% (the industry standard) royalty on all sales of sound recordings - meaning the other 85-90% goes to the record companies.  What did they do to justify a 20 year term extension?  They lobbied long and hard!

4.  And even though, as Leonard Cohen is purported to have claimed, some of his sound recordings from the 60s would go off copyright soon if it were not for this extension, his composition or song writing rights will be with him to the end of his days and then another 50 years thereafter (this is a separate copyright with an even longer term).  So while he would not receive a cent for the sale of sound recordings if these were to expire soon, he would still receive his royalties (again probably less than the music publishing house) every time someone else played one of his songs.

 

 

 

Enjoy your US Netflix Guilt Free!

Many Canadians subscribe to VPNs (virtual private networks) - i.e. a server with a location in another country, usually the US - as a means of accessing content in that jurisdiction.  So far example, you may subscribe to Netflix in Canada but with the same user ID and password, access US Netflix (with more and better content) simply by adjusting your computer settings to a US proxy server.

Yesterday Netflix announced that it would be cracking down on Canadian subscribers who do this. Articles I read in the Globe and CBC variously described the practice as "illegal" or at least a legal "grey area."  I dont really think it is much of a grey area.

There are three ways it could be illegal:  breach of contract (i.e. breaching your terms of service); copyright infringement in Canada; or copyright infringment in the US.

As to the terms of service, here is what they say about this:

"You may view a movie or TV show through the Netflix service primarily within the country in which you have established your account and only in geographic locations where we offer our service and have licensed such movie or TV show. The content that may be available to watch will vary by geographic location. Netflix will use technologies to verify your geographic location."

This does not come close to prohibiting the use of VPNs to access content in another jurisdiction.  

Canadian copyright law characterizes the streaming of content over the internet as "communicating a work to the public by telecommunication" - an exclusive right of the copyright holder. But so far courts have interpreted this to mean a right of upload; the right has not been interpreted to have any bearing on the viewing of streamed content.  Moreover, streaming is not copying (so our Supreme Court has ruled) and so there is no issue of infringement of the reproduction right or with respect to illegal parallel imports (since this only applies to "tangible objects.")

As to US copyright law, well the rights have been paid for in that jurisdiction and so it is hard to fathom how viewing content through a server in the US could ever implicate its copyright law,

So enjoy your US Netflix guilt free. 

Greenwald at McGill

Regardless of whether you think him (and Snowden) a foe or friend, this talk by Glenn Greenwald at McGill should be very interesting.  His book, I am told, is also a good read though not without its critics (of course).

CRTC v Netflix

I wanted to write a long diatribe about the 1984-esque Soviet era CRTC and its battle against anything new or innovative, but then Andrew Coyne beat me to it. So what Coyne said. That being said, imagine Netflix and all internet programming as the lady in color and the CRTC as the talking head, and this is where we are at:

 

Online Supplemental Learning Aids

In just a few days, a new semester will start, and it seems as good a time as any to recognize that the world of legal education is changing faster than any of us can really keep track of.  When I went to law school - not as  long ago as you might imagine! - we made notes in class by hand, and were lucky if we had access to one of the few computers available in the law school's shared facilities.  Quicklaw was in its infancy; Westlaw didn't even exist.  CanLii was a glimmer in someone's imagination...

Today, students have access to a host of supplemental learning aids, and the rich variety of available resources is only going to keep growing.  The development of the flipped classroom, amongst other things, has created an incredible variety of podcast and other online material for students to use in helping them to decipher difficult topic areas.  I'm pleased to say that I've added to this myself.  Just this year, all of the material I developed for my Flipped Classroom in Evidence was placed online.  These capsules were created, and make the most sense, when watched within the context of the Flipped Classroom, but frankly, I think they can help anyone learn about Evidence law.  

And this is hardly the only resource available.  Those of you taking Administrative Law would be wise to bookmark Craig Forcese's Bleaching Law website.  He's posted an incredible array of material that explain difficult admin. law concepts in a way that can only supplement and enhance your classroom experience.

Really, this is just the tip of the iceberg.  Though it's mostly an American site.  Check out Legal Ed Web, a "gathering place" for videos of this type which includes Craig's videos, and soon enough, mine as well.  It has an amazing array of material relating to a growing assortment of law courses.

Legal education is no longer confined to what you hear in the classroom and what you can find in the library.  It is now very easy to supplement your learning experience and bolster your understanding just about anywhere you have a connection to the internet. I look forward to seeing how this experience will evolve.

Jailed by Google+

Are you sick of the new tricks Google is pulling off to get you to joing Google+? Well not as sick as this guy! Apparently, Google+ tried to get all in his contact list to join, and that included his ex-girlfriend who had a restraining no-contact order against him. Well - that's his story, but he will have to tell it to a judge because he is in jail.

Netflix and Blockbuster

Business models for new technologies are so fluid that usually the state is way behind when it attempts to regulate them. The ascendance of Netflix and demise of Blockbuster are a good case in point, especially since Blickbuster had a chance to team up with Netflix.

While there was no state involvement here, anytime the state gets involved taking on technological issues, they are usually years behind. It is hard enough for the private sector to keep up, let alone the slow agents of the government.

Flipped Classroom

Like many Professors, I've been thinking over the past few years about different ways of teaching law.  One of my more recent endeavours involves the "flipped classroom" - the idea that students receive a prepackaged video lecture before class to help their performance in class.  I recently travelled to University of Ottawa to meet with another "flipper" - Associate Professor Craig Forcese of the Faculty of Common Law at U of O.  We recorded our seminar, and have posted it online.  I hope it will be of interest to students and academics looking for a different way to learn.  

Illusions from Honda

The end of BB

Speaking of companies making strategic errors, the Globe and Mail has a good story about the demise of Blackberry (h/t Josh Blackman). Here is a taste of the article:

Once a fast-moving innovator that kept two steps ahead of the competition, RIM grew into a stumbling corporation, blinded by its own success and unable to replicate it. Several years ago, it owned the smartphone world: Even U.S. President Barack Obama was a BlackBerry addict. But after new rivals redefined the market, RIM responded with a string of devices that were late to market, missed the mark with consumers, and opened dangerous fault lines across the organization.

Yahoo serious?

No not the Australian actor, but the search engine, as in what are they doing to turn themselves around now that they have a new(ish) CEO?

Good to know that Marissa Mayer is trying, but I will believe it when I see it. Yahoo used to be my go-to search engine and portal. Every now and then I try a search on it, and it never gets me what I want. The portal is still decent and I use it for travel and news, but unless it draws me in on a daily basis for searches, my eyeballs are not seeing it. That is really what Yahoo's challenge is. No easy answer, but at least the challenge is clear.

MC Escher in 3D

With a 3D printer, of course:

 

Blackberry sold

What happens when a company fails to keep its finger on the pulse of the tech-demanding public? Sadly, Blackberry's fate of being sold off and probably broken up into pieces is the answer.

Nice Education Blog

Victoria is a a Grade 3/4 and Tech Teacher on a Mission at West Langley Elementary School in Langley, British Columbia. She is a graduate student in the Masters of Educational Technology program offered through the University of British Columbia. 

She also hosts a really neat, funky, and informative blog on education and technology called A Tech Teacher on a Mission. Her latest post, is a very neat introduction to blogging providing some helfpul tips on the subject.

I don't usually link to non-law blogs, but this one is worth following.

N. Korean Tablets

North Korea now has tablets. Yay! The bad news, however, is that there is no WiFi. The good news is that the tablets come pre-installed with the “Juche Study Books” App., i.e. "Kim-Il Sung’s political theory." Not good news enough for you? Fear not, Angry Birds is also pre-installed.

Super Teddy Bear

It was only a matter of time before someone created a super-teddy!

 

Here Sharky Sharky

Want to go into the water, but worried about big bad sharky? Worried that too many shark attacks will keep the shark-fin-soup bans from taking hold? (Just kidding about that last one) Worry no more! An Australian has invented a wetsuit that makes you invisible to sharks. More here with video.

Internet is getting old

Post Secondary Education Blog makes the point that the Internet is now older than incoming university students. This means the Internet(s) is old!

Super Fast Train

If you have ever visited Japan and used their Shinkansen bullet train, you know they are fast but quiet. It seems an even faster train is in the works: