Glossary

• Author: David Vaver
• Profession: Professor of Law. Osgoode Hall Law School, York University
• Pages: 289-299

GLOSSARY

* indicates cross-reference to another entry.

Account of profits: Discretionary remedy that requires an infringer to

detail the net profits made from an infringement and to pay the sum

over to the claimant.

Anticipation: The converse of novelty in *patent law. An invention that

has been anticipated (i.e., the same subject matter is shown to exist

already at a patent application's claim date) is not new and therefore

cannot be patented.

Assignment: Voluntary transfer of ownership of a right. The person

transferring is the assignor, who transfers (assigns) to an assignee. Such

a transfer is called "cession" in Quebec.

Berne Convention [Berne]: The Convention on the Protection of Literary

and Artistic Works signed at Berne in 1886. The latest version is the Paris

Act of

1971.

Canada has ratified only the 1928 version, but *NAFTA and

*

TRIPs bind it to give a high level of

*

copyright protection equivalent

to the 1971 Act. Canada will soon formally adhere to the 1971 version.

Bill C-32: The Copyright Amendment Bill of 1996, introduced into the

Canadian House of Commons on 25 April 1996. The bill increases the

rights of record companies and performers, gives Canadian book dis-

tributors the right to stop unauthorized imports or distribution, and

provides some exemptions for libraries, archives, museums, and people

with disabilities. References are to Bill C-32 as it stood at its second

reading stage in June 1996. The bill was referred to a parliamentary

committee to hold hearings and, at press time, was likely to be pre-

sented with a number of amendments for third reading. It is projected

to be passed by 1997.

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