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The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 227: Tara Henley on How to Save the CBC www.michaelgeist.ca/2025/03/the-...

submitted 1 day ago • 0 comments

Fantastic series on copyright by @meeranair.bsky.social: “comforting to know that our Copyright Act can preserve the rule of law as it has evolved in Canada, by, and for, Canadians.” fairduty.wordpress.com/2025/02/25/f... fairduty.wordpress.com/2025/02/26/f... fairduty.wordpress.com/2025/02/28/f...

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

In my final post for Fair Dealing Week 2025, I complain about the grammar of our Copyright Act but take comfort in our Courts. HT to @cippic.bsky.social and @mgeist.bsky.social for their diligent work over the last twenty years. fairduty.wordpress.com/2025/02/28/f...

submitted 4 days ago • 0 comments

I co-wrote this piece with Kumanan Wilson on the risks to Canadian health data. Our limited privacy safeguards aren’t good enough in an environment where our data often ends up outside the country. Data localization rules for sensitive health data needed. www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/bc5ccfd...

submitted 4 days ago • 2 comments

Last month, President Trump issued an order on tax rules that “disproportionately affect American companies”. Google is the only company to pay Canadian media outlets under Bill C-18. Today, CRTC ruled Google must also compensate it to administer the law. crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/...

submitted 5 days ago • 0 comments

Universities Australia to adopt antisemitism definition applicable across all campuses. Said to closely align with IHRA approach. A similar initiative in Canada is desperately needed to address ongoing concerns on Canadian campuses. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02...

submitted 6 days ago • 1 comment

Great to spend the night with local students from University of Ottawa, Carleton University, and Algonquin College of Applied Arts and Technology at the official residence of the Israeli Embassy in Canada for an intimate Tu BiShvat gathering. x.com/IsraelinCana...

submitted 13 days ago • 0 comments

I wrote this week about likelihood of U.S. retaliation against Canadian digital and cultural policy, including digital services tax. Today the White House specifically called out Canada’s DST, understating the amount at stake. Will be a key pressure point. www.michaelgeist.ca/2025/02/why-...

submitted 18 days ago • 0 comments

Another AI copyright lawsuit, this time targeting Canada-based Cohere but in U.S. court www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...

submitted 18 days ago • 0 comments

Why the Trump Trade Threats Will Place Canadian Digital, Cultural, and AI Policy Under Pressure www.michaelgeist.ca/2025/02/why-...

submitted 19 days ago • 0 comments

My Globe and Mail op-ed on impact of Trump pressure on Canadian cultural and digital policy: broadcast and telecom foreign ownership restrictions, Cancon rules, mandated streamer payments, digital taxes, and AI policy all on the table for reconsideration. www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/bc5ccfd...

submitted 20 days ago • 0 comments

More than a year after Canadian AI copyright consultation ended, the government issues its “What We Heard Report.” Key (unsurprising) takeaway: “the consultation yielded limited consensus on liability questions raised by infringing AI generated content.” ised-isde.canada.ca/site/strateg...

submitted 20 days ago • 0 comments

“All merchants are responsible for following the rules of our platform. This merchant did not engage in authentic commerce practices and violated our terms so we removed them from Shopify.” www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...

submitted 21 days ago • 4 comments

The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 226: @richardgold.bsky.social on Why Canada Should Target U.S. Patents To Help Counter Tariff Trade Pressure www.michaelgeist.ca/2025/02/law-...

submitted 22 days ago • 0 comments

Perhaps there is scope for a temporary deal on tariffs, but if surrounding Canadian sovereignty is the real Trump goal, there is no deal to be had. bsky.app/profile/atru...

submitted 28 days ago • 1 comment

The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 225: How Canada Can Leverage Digital Policy to Retaliate Against Trump’s Tariffs www.michaelgeist.ca/2025/02/the-...

submitted 29 days ago • 0 comments

The Liberal government has been disappointing on many issues, including failed leadership combatting antisemitism and digital policy. But to hold it responsible for President Trump violating his own USMCA and imposing tariffs that will make everyone poorer is wrong and weakens our country.

submitted 30 days ago • 4 comments

Google payments for news organizations to begin later than expected: news outlets will now only find out if eligible for payments in March. Google paid the money late last year. News links on Meta remain blocked. Bill C-18 a mess from day one. www.sootoday.com/national-bus...

submitted 32 days ago • 0 comments

There has been much talk about Internet censorship in recent years, but playing around with DeepSeek provides a window into the full Chinese censorship system. Touch on Chinese political issues and responses disappear, the system declines to respond, or provides the party line.

submitted 35 days ago • 13 comments

Politicians and activists that have shown so little regard for the safety and concerns of the Jewish community since October 7th using International Holocaust Remembrance Day to affirm the need to combat antisemitism reminds of their silence (or worse) for the past 15 months.

submitted 35 days ago • 2 comments

The @lawbytes.bsky.social Podcast, Episode 224: Why Prorogation and Donald Trump Spell the End of an Era in Canadian Digital Policy www.michaelgeist.ca/2025/01/the-...

submitted 36 days ago • 0 comments

My post on why the results of years of Canadian digital laws and policies now largely fall into two groups: those that have died due to prorogation and those that are likely to die due to Donald Trump. www.michaelgeist.ca/2025/01/why-...

submitted 41 days ago • 1 comment

Harvard settles lawsuit over mishandling of antisemitism on campus. Commits that non-discrimination policies apply to Jewish and Israeli students, agrees to adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism, and enter into partnership with an Israeli university. www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...

submitted 42 days ago • 0 comments

It’s not just the tariff threat for Canada. Trump issued an Executive Order last night exiting OECD’s global tax deal and ordered investigations of any country with tax rules that “disproportionately affect American companies.” Canada’s DST is an obvious target. www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

submitted 42 days ago • 0 comments

New Era and New Risks: Meta’s Content Moderation Reforms and Freedom of Expression Online www.michaelgeist.ca/2025/01/new-...

submitted 55 days ago • 1 comment

In past 24 hours, Canada’s online harms bill dies and Meta ends third party fact checking as company says it censored too much content. For Canada, Meta clearly not backing down on blocking news links and U.S. could join fight on C-11 rules. Company adopting CPC approach on digital policy.

submitted 56 days ago • 0 comments

Meta with a huge political shift on content moderation. Describes own platforms as having engaged in too much censorship, moves content moderation from California to Texas, work with Trump to focus on global expression rights. Has implications for Canada’s C-11 and C-18. about.fb.com/news/2025/01...

submitted 56 days ago • 2 comments

The Year of Disbelief: The Relentless Rise of Antisemitism in Canada www.michaelgeist.ca/2024/12/the-...

submitted 64 days ago • 1 comment

The Year in Review: Top Ten Michael Geist Substacks - the list differs from my blog, featuring a significant emphasis on antisemitism in Canada in the wake of the October 2023 terror attacks, which occupy the top three posts and five of the top ten. www.michaelgeist.ca/2024/12/the-...

submitted 67 days ago • 0 comments

The Year in Review: Top Ten Law Bytes Podcast Episodes - the most popular Law Bytes podcast episodes of the year is headed by a debate with Senator Julie Miville-Dechêne on her Bill S-210. List includes online harms, AI regulation, and the digital services tax. www.michaelgeist.ca/2024/12/the-...

submitted 70 days ago • 0 comments

The Jewish community now starts each day wondering if a school or synagogue has been attacked overnight. Last night, it was a Toronto Jewish girls school - again. I cannot process this new normal and how some still downplay Canada’s antisemitism problem. www.thestar.com/news/ontario...

submitted 74 days ago • 2 comments

Former franchisee of the Second Cup coffee shop at the Montreal Jewish Hospital, who was filmed giving a Nazi salute during a pro-Palestinian demonstration, has been arrested and now faces criminal charges. www.journaldequebec.com/2024/12/18/s...

submitted 75 days ago • 0 comments

Government includes copyright reform in its Fall Economic Statement. Says it will amend the Copyright Act to include a new resale right for visual artists, establishing an extra royalty where their works are resold. budget.canada.ca/update-misea...

submitted 77 days ago • 1 comment

Fall Economic Statement posted here: budget.canada.ca/update-misea...

submitted 77 days ago • 0 comments

The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 223: Looking Back at the Year in Canadian Digital Law and Policy www.michaelgeist.ca/2024/12/the-...

submitted 78 days ago • 0 comments

Just-resigned Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland: “Our country today faces a grave challenge…That means eschewing costly political gimmicks, which we can ill afford and which make Canadians doubt that we recognize the gravity of the moment.”

submitted 78 days ago • 0 comments

Notable RCMP Arrest in Quebec for wilful promotion of hatred and antisemitism for hate speech postings on Telegram and X. RCMP says “individual allegedly posted hundreds of hateful messages in recent months, targeting Jewish communities and sexual minorities in particular.” rcmp.ca/en/news/2024...

submitted 81 days ago • 0 comments

This is a must-read piece on antisemitism in Canada. But there is something more in the lived experience: ubiquitous security at synagogues and schools, removal of mezuzahs, hiding Jewish identity on campus, and desperate calls for action that often go unanswered. www.thefp.com/p/explosion-...

submitted 82 days ago • 1 comment

The Conservative plan for Bill C-63 is to not only abandon the Criminal Code and Human Rights Act portions of the bill, but also the core Online Harms Act as well. Promoting Bill C-412 as an alternative. michellerempelgarner.substack.com/p/climb-down...

submitted 82 days ago • 0 comments

JUST committee report - Heightened Antisemitism in Canada and How To Confront It. "Evidence heard during this study leaves no doubt as to serious danger posed by rising antisemitism in this country, and need for strong leadership on this issue. Time to act is now." www.ourcommons.ca/content/Comm...

submitted 83 days ago • 0 comments

Canada’s largest media companies came together recently to file a copyright infringement lawsuit against OpenAI, the owners of ChatGPT. @robertdiab.bsky.social joins the Law Bytes podcast to discuss the case and its implications for copyright and AI in Canada. www.michaelgeist.ca/2024/12/law-...

submitted 85 days ago • 1 comment

The images of a firebombed synagogue with people inside in Melbourne, Australia are simply numbing. There is a desperate need for political leadership to confront antisemitic hate and violence but too many are seemingly unwilling to lead with real action. news.sky.com/story/antise...

submitted 88 days ago • 1 comment

Better later than never, but the move to split Bill C-63 may have come too late to save online harms legislation in Canada. www.michaelgeist.ca/2024/12/gove...

submitted 88 days ago • 0 comments

It is often said that it is never too late to do the right thing, but my post notes that after months of doing nothing, that may not be the case for privacy and online harms reforms in Canada. www.michaelgeist.ca/2024/12/gove...

submitted 89 days ago • 0 comments

Hey Minister Champagne: if the government is finally open to splitting overstuffed bills, how about doing the same with Bill C-27 so Canada can get on with privacy reform and go back to the AI regulation drawing board?! www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/art...

submitted 89 days ago • 1 comment

Long overdue decision from Minister Virani to split Canada’s online harms bill. The inclusion of criminal code and human right act provisions undermined public support and placed entire bill at risk. Bill C-63 a case study of government legislative overreach. www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/art...

submitted 89 days ago • 0 comments

Great post Michael -- wondering if the Canadian media plaintiffs don't allege infringing results because OpenAI has figured out how to avoid this.

submitted 91 days ago • 0 comments

Canadian media companies are demanding that OpenAI pay millions in copyright damages. My first take on the lawsuit including the companies' admission that they have no actual knowledge of when, where, or how their data was accessed, scraped or copied. www.michaelgeist.ca/2024/12/cana...

submitted 91 days ago • 2 comments

[email protected]: "The University of Toronto has released a draft statement on law and policy around antisemitism, and it should arguably serve as a model for approaching hateful and discriminatory speech on university campuses." cfe.torontomu.ca/blog/2024/12...

submitted 91 days ago • 0 comments