Canada & Copyright: Rogue State or Role Model? Fordham IP Conference 2006

I am pleased to advise that Canada will have about 75 minutes of fame at the 14th Annual Fordham International Intellectual Property Conference in New York City next week on April 20 and 21, 2006. Yes - we will be talking copyright. This is a terrific conference - without doubt the best annual IP conference in the world. It covers patent, trade-marks, copyright, antitrust and trade law from the USA, EU, WIPO and - I’m glad to say - a Canadian perspective with Australian and other important contributions. I’ve been honoured to have organized the Canadian segment the last couple of years. Hopefully, this Canadian session will become an annual feature. Hope to see you there. Here’s this year's Canadian session (subject to revision):

Canada & Copyright: Rogue State or Role Model?

MODERATOR: Prof. Daniel Gervais, Acting Dean, Faculty of Common Law, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada

1. Copyright Revision and WCT and WPPT Ratification

This panel presents an overview of the legislative revision process and the effect of the recent election of a Conservative government. Discussion of the making available right, TPM and DRM, private copying and effect of WCT ratification, ISP liability and search engine liability.

Speakers:

Howard Knopf, Macera & Jarzyna LLP, Ottawa, Canada

Barry Sookman, McCarthy, Tétrault LLP, Toronto, Canada

Panelists: Mihály Ficsor, Director, Center for Information Technology and Intellectual Property, Budapest (addtional panelists to be announced)

2. Educational Exemptions and Fair Dealing: Is It Time for a Change?

This panel will discuss whether a copyright exemption should be used to address the need of educators to use publicly available materials. What are those needs and what are the copyright restrictions placed upon them? How does this compare to the situation for educators in the United States? How broad is the fair dealing defense? Should Canada adopt a fair use defense?

Speakers:
Roanie Levy, Director, Legal and External Affairs - The Canadian Copyright Licencing Agency (Access Copyright), Toronto, Canada

Prof. Sam Trosow, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada

Panelists: to be announced

3. Collective Administrataion of Copyright in Canada: Practical and Policy Dimensions

Speakers:
Glenn O’Farrell, President, Canadian Association of Broadcasters, Ottawa
Paul Spurgeon - Vice President Legal Services and General Counsel, The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN), Toronto

Panelists: Howard Knopf,, Macera & Jarzyna LLP, Ottawa (other panelists to be announced)