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ALAI CANADA NEWSLETTER
October 2001Telephone: (450) 658-5933
ALAI CANADATelecopier: (450) 658-1907
1981 McGill College Avenue, Suite 1100, Montreal (Quebec), H3A 3C1Email address:
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FORTHCOMING ACTIVITIES
Annual Conference: Judicial Recourses in Copyright
Putting Copyright to Work
November 14, 2001 from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Omni Hotel, Montreal
The deadline to register at the preferred rate is November 2, 2001. Register now!
Numerous aspects of the judicial enforcement of copyright will be discussed by distinguished speakers. You have already received a copy of the preliminary program by electronic mail, but let us remind you that the topics covered will be:
- Anton Piller injunctions
- Arbitration in copyright
- Statutory damages founded by the Copyright Act
- The assessment of non-statutory damages
- The enforcement of the criminal provisions of the Copyright Act
- Cross-border infringement and private international law
- Seizures before judgment and information technology
- Recourse against anonymous or pseudonymous infringers
As for all of our annual conferences, there will be simultaneous translation of the proceedings.
For more information or to obtain another copy of the brochure and registration form, please contact Ms. Suzanne Lecompte at (450) 658-5993 or by email at the email address .
FORTHCOMING DINNER-CONFERENCES
IN MONTREAL
December 2001: Me Jeff Wise, Heenan, Blaikie, Interaction between copyright and contract law: is it possible to obtain more by contract than is offered by the Copyright Act?
January 2002 : Me Danielle Bouvet, Commercial Law Section, Legal Services- Industry Canada, Recent developments concerning International Copyright Conventions.
February 2002 : Me Danielle Dicaire, Bélanger, Sauvé, Error & Omission Insurance for the Cultural Industries.
March 2002 : Me Stefan Martin, Fraser, Milner, Casgrain, Review of the year 2001 in Copyright Case-Law.
CASE-LAW
On October 3, 2001, Mr. Justice Cumming of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice granted partial summary judgment in favour of the Plaintiff in the class action suit Robertson v. Thomson Corp. This suit relates to the right of freelance journalists to control the reproduction and communication of their works in news-clipping databases.
COPYRIGHT REFORM PROCESS
The Federal Government’s initial public consultation on copyright issues in the digital era and the application of compulsory licences for retransmission by the Internet has drawn to a close. ALAI Canada filed succinct representations where government proposals that conform to the objectives of the association were discussed. More detailed representations will be considered when the Canadian Government’s proposal will be known. A copy of ALAI Canada’s representations will be made available shortly when the association’s website is launched at the address:
WEBSITE OF ALAI CANADA
The committee in charge of developing the association’s website is pleased to announce that good progress is being made and that the website is likely to be on-line by the end of the month of October 2001 at the address: The final version of the site was recently submitted for approval by the developer and the expectations of members will surely be met. We remind you that this site’s objective is to ensure the presence of ALAI in cyberspace and to simplify the participation of members by enabling them to obtain up-to-date information on the activities of the association. You will find a list of forthcoming activities and you will have access to publications made by the association. Moreover, you will have access to relevant links to copyright resources on the Internet. We will inform you when the site goes on-line.
PREVIOUS ACTIVITIES
On June 20, 2001, Professor Adolf Dietz, of the Max Planck Institute in Munich, gave a conference in Montreal on the “Modern System of Copyright in Continental Europe”,
On October 17, 2001, Me Pierre-Emmanuel Moyse, of the law firm Léger, Robic, Richard / Robic, gave a conference on the copyright reform process.
FORTHCOMING ACTIVITIES
ALAI INTERNATIONAL STUDY DAYS
The next Study Days of ALAI International will be held on September 16 and 17, 2002 in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. More information on these study days will be communicated when they are received by ALAI Canada’s Secretariat.
NEWS ABOUT OUR MEMBERS
Me Brigitte Doucet was named member of the Copyright Board. Prior to this nomination she worked at the Association des producteurs de films et de télévision du Québec (APFTQ).
Mr. Serge Provençal recently joined the law firm Joli-Coeur, Lacasse, Geoffrion, Jetté, St-Pierre.
Me Geneviève Côté now works for Zone 3.
Me Paule Desautels has joined the Bell Canada law department.
Me Marie-Hélène Deschamps-Marquis has recently joined Stikeman, Elliott in Montreal.
NEW MEMBERS
ALAI Canada welcomes the following new members:
Me Martin Cabanes, Lavery, de Billy
Me Douglas Simsovic, Heenan Blaikie