Teresa Scassa - Blog

“Copyright Reform and Fact-Based Works”, in M. Geist, ed. From "Radical Extremism" to "Balanced Copyright": Canadian Copyright and the Digital Agenda, (Irwin Law, 2010), 571-597. PDF available here.

In recent years we have seen a dramatic growth in the number of websites, databases, tools and applications which use data from a variety of public and private sources to offer innovative information-based services to a wide range of users.  In many cases, the innovators are upstarts – individuals or small companies that see opportunities for new and useful applications. Although developers may rely upon the copyright doctrine that there is no copyright in facts when they create their tools, the state of the law in this area reveals many uncertainties. In an innovation economy, clarity around the status and use of data in new works is crucial; and the public interest is best served by facts remaining in the public domain. This chapter provides an overview of the current state of the law in relation to the protection of fact-based works in copyright law. It then considers the extent to which Bill C-32 clarifies, ignores or makes worse the state of the law in this area.

Electronic Commerce and Internet Law in Canada, CCH Canadian Ltd., 2004 (with Michael Deturbide).

This book is the first (and only) Canadian treatise on e-commerce and internet law. It covers a range of topics which include electronic contracts, online consumer protection, data protection and privacy, internet domain names and trademark law, copyright law and the internet, software and e-business patents, the regulation of online speech, and jurisdiction and the internet. Since it was published in 2004, much has changed in this area of law. We are currently working on a second edition of the book, which we hope will be published in 2012.

 Canadian Trademark Law, LexisNexis (Butterworths) Canada, Inc., 2010.

This book is a treatise on Canadian trademark law. While a primary focus of the book is necessarily the Trade-marks Act, a number of other statutes are considered, as well as the extensive body of common law relating to trademarks. The book aims to provide a solid grounding in the basic principles of trademark law, while at the same time exploring some of the contemporary challenges in this area of law. These challenges are brought about by the international movement towards harmonization of norms and procedures, as well as phenomena such as the internet and electronic commerce, the growing problem of counterfeiting, and the use of trademarks in critical and parodic expression.

D^re Scassa a entrepris sa carrière universitaire à la faculté de droit de l’Université Dalhousie (1992-2007), où elle a enseigné plusieurs cours dont Propriété intellectuelle, Droit et technologie, Droit administratif, Droit public, Droit des biens et Responsabilité professionnelle. Elle a agi come vice-doyenne de la faculté de droit de Dalhousie (2000-2004) et comme directrice adjointe (2001-2005) puis directrice (2005-2007) de l’Institut de droit et technologie de l'institution.  Elle s'est jointe à la Faculté de droit de l’Université d’Ottawa en juillet 2007 et elle a été nommée à la Chaire de recherche du Canada en droit de l’information à l'automne de la même année. Elle enseigne les cours Introduction à la propriété intellectuelle et industrielle et Property Law. E

D^re Scassa est l’auteure du livre Canadian Trademark Law (LexisNexis/Butterworths, 2010), et a co-auteure du livre Electronic Commerce and Internet Law in Canada, 2e ed. (CCH Canadian Ltée., 2012).  Ses recherches récentes portent sur la propriété intellectuelle, le droit à la vie privée et le droit et la technologie.  Parmi ses plus récentes publications figurent des articles sur le marketing insidieux, la protection des compilations de faits en droit d’auteur, les données géospatiales et le droit, et le gouvernement ouvert et les données libres.  Elle a aussi publié plusieurs articles concernant les données géospatiales et le droit à la vie privée. D^re Scassa travaille présentement sur un projet de recherche interdisciplinaire sur les questions juridiques soulevées par les systèmes d’information géographiques (en particulier les questions de propriété intellectuelle et du droit à la vie privée). Elle travaille aussi sur des projets concernant les droits de propriété intellectuelle dans le science citoyenne, le gouvernement ouvert, la liberté d'expression et les marques de commerce, et la vie privée.

D^re Scassa était membre du Comité consultatif externe du Commissariat à la protection de la vie privée du Canada sous le régime du Commissaire Jennifer Stoddart.  Elle est présentement membre du Comité consultatif sur le gouvernement ouvert du gouvernement fédéral, membre du conseil de l'Association Canadienne des professeur(e)s de droit, et membre du conseil de IT.Can (Canadian Information Technology Law Association).

I began academic career at Dalhousie Law School (1992-2007), where I taught many courses, including Intellectual Property, Law and Technology, Administrative Law, Public Law, Property Law and Professional Responsibility. I also served as Associate Dean of the Law School (2000-2004), and as Associate Director (2001-2005) and Director (2005-2007) of Dalhousie’s Law and Technology Institute. I am co-founder (with Michael Deturbide) of the Canadian Journal of Law and Technology, which I co-edited for seven years. I joined the Faculty of Law, Common Law Section of the University of Ottawa in July 2007, and was awarded the Canada Research Chair in Information Law in the fall of 2007.  I currently teach Introduction à la propriété intellectuelle et industrielle and Property Law. I am cross-appointed to the School of Information Studies at the University of Ottawa, and I am a member of the Geomatics and Cartographic Research Centre at Carleton University.

I am the author of Canadian Trademark Law (LexisNexis/Butterworths, 2010) and co-author (with Michael Deturbide) of the book Electronic Commerce and Internet Law in Canada, 2d ed. (CCH Canadian Ltd., 2012). This book won the 2012 Walter Owen Book Prize from the Foundation for Legal Research. I am also co-author (with Steve Coughlan, Rob Currie and Hugh Kindred) of the book Law Beyond Borders: Extraterritorial Jurisdiction in an Age of Globalization (Irwin Law, 2014), and co-editor of Intellectual Property for the 21st Century: Interdisciplinary Approaches (Irwin Law, 2014). My recent research has focused on intellectual property , privacy and law and technology. I have ongoing research projects on trademarks and the freedom of expression, on intellectual property issues in citizen science, on legal issues in digital cartography, and on various issues related to open government and open data. I am currently involved in the interdisciplinary SSHRC-funded Geothink research project that explores how the Geoweb 2.0 is transforming government-citizen interactions.  A full list of my publications, with hyperlinks to online materials can be found here.

I was pleased to serve as a member of the External Advisory Committee to the Privacy Commissioner of Canada during Jennifer Stoddart's tenure as Privacy Commissioner. I am currently a member of the Canadian Government Advisory Panel on Open Government, a member of the Board of Directors of IT.Can (Canadian Information Technology Law Association), a member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Association of Law Teachers, and a member of the Canadian Geomatics Round Table: Legal and Policy Dimension Task Team.

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