Supreme Court of Canada sides with Rogers in illegal movie downloading case

The Supreme Court of Canada (SCOC) has sided with Rogers in its case against Voltage Pictures LLC, finding that companies pursuing copyright violators should have to reimburse internet service providers for their efforts to find and disclose subscriber information. Voltage was attempting to sue violating subscribers in a “reverse” class action copyright lawsuit and had identified the IP addresses of thousands of users of file sharing software they suspected of downloading its movies, which include titles like The Hurt Locker and Dallas Buyers Club. Rogers claimed each undertaking would take 20 to 30 minutes at a cost of $100 per hour resulting in a charge back to Voltage of $2.75 million. The initial 2016 Federal Court ruling in the case decided that Rogers did have the right to charge Voltage for their work; which was overturned on appeal in 2017. The SCOC has now sent the issue back to the lower court to determine what a reasonable cost is for the ISP to execute a so-called Norwich court order.

CBC/Radio-Canada says the focus of this year’s annual public meeting will be the importance of diversity and inclusion in the collective cultural experience. Set to take place in Edmonton at the Art Gallery of Alberta on Sept. 25, details of the public broadcaster’s new 2018-2021 Diversity and Inclusion Plan will also be shared. For those unable to attend, the event will be broadcast live on Facebook with a webcast set to stream at www.cbc.radio-canada.ca/apm beginning at 11:30 a.m. (MDT) / 1:30 p.m. (EST). Read more here.

Quebecor Inc. is beta testing its own low-cost wireless mobile flanker brand. Fizz is being tested across Videotron’s LTE network in Quebec and the Ottawa area. A launch date hasn’t been revealed for the no-frills brand which promises speeds of up to 150 Mbps, depending on phone and location.

The Ontario Association of Broadcasters (OAB) Connection 2018 conference agenda is out with radio futurologist James Cridland providing the opening keynote on radio’s long term survival. Other highlights include The Future of Content Panel with moderator Alan Cross and afternoon keynote speaker Valerie Geller on how to become a better communicator and increase audience. Early bird registration for the Nov. 8 event is now open.

The Canadian Media Guild (CMG) Freelance Branch and four other Canadian freelance associations have banded together. CMG, the Professional Writers Association of Canada (PWAC), News Photographers Association of Canada (NPAC), Travel Media Association of Canada (TMAC), and the Urban Worker Project (UWP) are collectively urging their members to work together to challenge stagnating pay rates, and contracts that demand copyright and ask freelance journalists to indemnify hiring publishers should they be sued because of content the freelancer has contributed. Don Genova, president of CMG Freelance, says more and more Canadians are self-employed, or engaged on short-term contracts that offer no job security and no benefits. This weekend in Toronto (Sept. 21 and 22), as part of the Say No to Bad Contracts campaign, PWAC and CMG Freelance will present a conference called Level Up, offering professional development sessions, including understanding and negotiating contracts.

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