Let it be known that I have very negative attitude towards Ipsos Reid. A couple of days ago my phone office rang.  The speaker presented herself as a poller from Ipsos Reid, interested in conducting a survey about the public attitude towards companies.  I politely declined.  First I said that I was very busy.  She asked me if there was another time when it’d be more convenient to talk to me and I said that I actually wasn’t interested in participating at all. A few hours later the phone rang again, same introduction only asking to speak to one of …

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Paul-Erik Veel and I have (finally) posted our new paper on SSRN.  The paper, downloadable here, is called “Beyond Refusal to Deal: A Cross-Atlantic View of Copyright, Competition and Innovation Policies”.  Here’s the abstract: Conventional wisdom holds that the European Union, through the application of its competition law, has opted to subordinate intellectual property rights in the pursuit of competitive markets to a much greater extent than has the United States. We argue that, at least in the context of copyright protection, this conventional wisdom is false. While European antitrust regulation of IPRs does presently seem much more robust and activist …

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On Tuesday, I submitted my Reply to Access Copyright’s (AC) submission regarding the AUCC Application to compel AC to grant transactional licenses.  In my previous submission I pointed out that while the AUCC correctly diagnosed some of the problems, it asked to Board to prescribe the wrong remedy.  I also explained why the conduct that the AUCC complained about might run afoul the Competition Act.   AC responded on July 8.  Basically, AC’s response boiled down to four themes: “I didn’t do it”: flatly denying any wrongdoing without providing any evidence or theory to refute the evidence-based allegations made against it; …

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I have submitted my response to the application filed by the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC) to amend the Access Copyright Interim Tariff. The AUCC’s Application draws a dim picture of monopolistic excess, abuse, and inequitable conduct.  It confirms that many of the concerns raised in the course of Access Copyright’s Application to grant the Interim Tariff have materialized.  The Board should intervene to rectify this problem. Unfortunately, while the AUCC correctly diagnosed some of the problems, it asks to Board to prescribe the wrong remedy.  I am not persuaded that amending the Interim Tariff to require …

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The Copyright Board granted my request to extend the deadline for responding to the AUCC’s Application to amend the interim tariff.  No word yet on my second request to invite the Commissioner of Competition to intervene.  Here’s the Board’s decision: NOTICE OF THE BOARD Mr. Katz’s request of June 15, 2011 to extend the time for responding to the AUCC application regarding transactional licences is granted. Accordingly, today’s deadline to reply to AUCC’s application is extended in the following way: Objectors’ response on the AUCC’s application: by no later than Monday, June 27, 2011. ACCC will be allowed to add to …

Copyright Board Grants Extension Read more »