Our Work

CIPPIC has filed its Memorandum of Fact and Law with the Federal Court in Samuelson-Glushko Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC) v Sahni. CIPPIC is asking the Federal Court to expunge or rectify a copyright registration that holds out an AI system as an author under Canadian copyright law.

The Federal Court of Appeal delivered a decisive victory for Internet subscribers yesterday, shutting down Voltage Holdings’ attempt to launch a “reverse class proceeding” against hundreds of Canadians for alleged movie sharing.

CIPPIC has filed its Intervener Memorandum of Fact and Law in the Federal Court of Appeal.

CIPPIC has been granted leave to intervene in the Federal Court of Appeal case Blacklock’s Reporter v. Attorney General of Canada (Docket: A-267-24). This case addresses the balance between copyright enforcement and user rights. CIPPIC's intervention will focus on the interplay between fair dealing and the anti-circumvention provisions of the Copyright Act.

In September, CIPPIC participated in the Office of the Privacy Commissioner's exploratory consultation on privacy and age assurance. The submission questions whether age assurance systems can effectively determine a user's age without breaching privacy rights. It also proposes a tool designed to assess whether an age assurance system is truly privacy preserving.

CIPPIC has filed an application in the Federal Court to expunge or rectify a copyright registration that holds out an artificial intelligence ("AI") program as an author under Canadian copyright law.

The Supreme Court has denied leave to hear the appeal in Voltage v Doe #1, a case in which CIPPIC has played a central role. The case raised questions about the burden of proof borne by copyright owners and the nature of the duties copyright’s authorization right imposes on internet subscribers.

The Federal Court of Canada has ruled that the anti-circumvention provisions of the Copyright Act do not apply to restrain fair dealing; using a validly obtained password to access content for the purposes of fair dealing is permissible.

CIPPIC has been granted leave to be added as a party before the Supreme Court in the leave to appeal of Voltage v Doe #1.

Following CIPPIC’s successful application to be added as a party in Voltage v Doe#1, SCC No, 41026, CIPPIC has now filed its responding argument on the motion for leave.

In January, CIPPIC participated in the government consultation on Copyright in the Age of Generative Artificial Intelligence. The report provides the context in which each of these issues arise under the current Canadian copyright regime and summarizes CIPPIC’s stance on the inquiries posed by the consultation.

CIPPIC has enjoyed success in its intervention in the appeal of a denial of default judgement in a file-sharing case: Voltage Holdings LL.C. v Doe #1, 2023 FCA 194.

The Federal Court, for a second time, has denied Voltage permission to proceed in its class lawsuit for file-sharing.

CIPPIC has filed its Responding Memorandum of Fact and Law with the Federal Court of Appeal in Voltage v Doe.

CIPPIC's submission to the Government of Canada consultation on Copyright and Artificial Intelligence and IoT offers a set of cautious and balanced recommendations for maintaining Canada's copyright framework in the face of new technologies.

CIPPIC’s submission The Public's Domain to the government consultation on copyright term extension places the public domain at the heart of Canada’s copyright system.

CIPPIC today submitted comments to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner regarding two of its proposals for reforming PIPEDA to deal with the challenges posed by artificial intelligence.