by Benjamin Delaney If there is one sector of the entertainment industry that was not hit nearly as hard by the COVID-19 pandemic as others such as Hollywood and sports, it is video games. From blockbusters like Nintendo’s Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Sony’s The Last of Us: Part II, to independent games like Kinetic Games’ Phasmophobia, and Spiritfarer from Thunder Lotus Games, the video game industry has largely avoided the setbacks the pandemic has had on other entertainment industries1. While the major studios no doubt have their own legal teams to handle the legal aspects of game development, the.

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by Aimée Riou Since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, now almost a year ago, the art scene has been radically transformed. While the impact on different industries varies, it is still possible to notice more generalized impacts, especially in the context of artists’ contracts. Indeed, the pandemic has led to the cancellation or modification of many of these contracts. So, how does contract law deal with instances of superior force? What about COVID-19? Basic Contract Law rules Before anything else, it is important to understand a few fundamental rules in Québec contract law. First, when a valid contract is.

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by Julie Aubin-Perron A licence is an agreement in which a licensor allows a licensee to use certain rights under certain conditions and for the purposes set out in the agreement. In the arts, often the rights in question are rights in a work, for example, the right to reproduce a song. What’s in it for the licensor? The chance to make a profit and to get their work circulated more widely. Usually, the licensor will receive royalties on sales. An important advantage of a licence is that it typically allows the licensor to retain full ownership of its rights,.

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by Aude Desmartis The Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms and the Civil Code of Québec give all persons a right to a reputation. Of course, where there is a right, there is also the possibility of infringing it. We are, of course, talking about defamation. What is defamation? Defamation, in Quebec law, is a civil law concept, meaning not criminal. Typically, to be held responsible under civil law, all three of the following elements must be found: a fault (a person has done something wrongful), a harm to another, and a causal link between the fault and the harm..

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By Caroline Schurman-Grenier If you want to get into business, you’re going to want to have your brand or company stand out. Let’s say you want to start your own production company. You’ll need a name and maybe even a design that differentiates your company from the others; when people see it, they immediately associate it with your company. Think Coco Chanel, Nike or even St-Hubert Barbecue. When we see their logo, name or slogan, we know what we’re dealing with. So what are those all called? They’re called a trademark and can be very important for anyone who wants.

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by Talia Huculak Using Copyright-Protected Material on YouTube In order to use any copyright-protected material in a YouTube video, whether it be music, sound effects, photos, or video clips, a video creator must first obtain permission or a license from the work’s copyright holder. The copyright holder is the person or company who owns the rights of copyright in the work, and will not necessarily be the artist or performer of that work. Permission to use a copyrighted work is required even if: You give the copyright holder credit in your video; You do not intend to make money from.

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by Talia Huculak Generally speaking, copyright gives the individual who owns the rights to a work the exclusive ability to dictate how it is reproduced, performed, or published and under what conditions. However, there are certain exceptions to this rule under the Canadian Copyright Act. Underpinning these exceptions is the recognition in Canadian copyright law that users’ and creators’ rights are equally important. Fair Dealing Provision Fair Dealing is an exception that allows individuals to use copyright-protected materials under two conditions: (1) Purpose of Use Firstly, the use of the copyright-protected materials must be for one of the following purposes:.

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by Adam Bruder-Wexler In less than a decade, Esports have gone from a little more than a hobby to a multi-billion-dollar industry. Competitive video-gaming sees players compete on popular consoles such as the XBOX, PlayStation and via computer. Games such as Fortnite, League of Legends, CS-GO and Call of Duty attract millions of players from around the world. With its growing fan base and rising popularity, Esports has become a staple source of entertainment in South Korea and China and has seen huge growths in the U.S and across Europe. As competitive gaming continues to become more mainstream the rest.

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by Aimée Riou Under the Copyright Act, the author of a work is the first owner of the copyright in that work. It is important to know, first of all, that copyright protects two distinct types of rights: economic rights and moral rights. Economic rights belong to the owner of the copyright. That can be the author of the work of course, but it could also be a third party if the author has decided to sell the economic rights. Another “copyright”? In the case of moral rights, they belong to the author of the work, no matter if they.

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What is trademark confusion? A trademark exists to identify the source of products and services to customers. Trademark confusion, then, occurs where a customer would be likely to confuse the source of particular products or services with another source – for example, by assuming that someone’s products and services are actually provided by someone else. Section 6 of the Trade-marks Act says that trademark confusion occurs where “both trade-marks in the same area would be likely to lead to the inference that the wares or services associated with those trade-marks are manufactured, sold, leased, hired or performed by the same.

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