The good folks at IP Osgoode‘s IPilogue blog have published a short article I wrote which explores the "incidental inclusion" exception to copyright infringement, an exception which, depending on who you talk to, could be of major significance for film and TV producers facing errors and omissions clearance problems: "Cindy, Incidentally – The “Incidental Inclusion” Exception in Canadian Copyright Law". The opening paragraph:
A filmmaker films an individual walking down a city street, past a convenience store. The camera captures, among others, two things: an advertisement consisting of the familiar, stylized Coca-Cola symbol hanging in the window, and the faint, but audible, strains of a popular song drifting from inside the store as an unseen customer opens the door. Concerned, the filmmaker speaks with an entertainment lawyer and asks whether there’s anything to worry about. From such a simple fact scenario rises one of the more vexing questions in Canadian intellectual property law.
