Canadian Lawyer

March 2008

The most widely read magazine for Canadian lawyers

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LEGAL REPORT: INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY Pushing and pulling BY KIRSTEN MCMAHON the Charter of Rights and Freedoms is for criminal lawyers," says Gilles Marc Daigle, a partner at the Ottawa office of Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP. "It has given rise to a whole slew of issues that were just not on the map only a few years ago." If you're confused about the state of "W the 'net — never mind as a lawyer, but even as a consumer of digital media — you're not alone. "So are many lawyers ithout a doubt, the in- ternet for copyright lawyers is a bit like at copyright laws The increased popularity of MP3 players, cellphone ring tones, and other technologies is causing a quagmire for IP lawyers interpreting an arguably outdated Copyright Act. and judges," says Daigle. In fact, two Federal Court of Appeal decisions re- leased in January — one involving a tariff on MP3 players and another in- volving a tariff on cellphone ring tones — show that the current Copyright Act can be pushed or pulled to limit or ex- pand rights regarding new technology, but that some amendments and clarifi- cation are certainly called for. "The MP3 decision shows that the new technology of digital audio recorders wasn't contemplated by the legislation as it existed, and I think it demonstrated that some type of legislative action was 46 M ARCH 2008 www. C ANADIAN Law ye rmag.com

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