New York Yankees Repeal Facial Hair Policy Photo Credit: Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post A buzz cut, an archaic policy, and a weird press conference. What do these things have in common? Over the reading break, I was after a particular experience. Not just a haircut. A four on top and mid-skin fade on the sides, “not too high though.” Anything less than four feels too short to the hand and looks...
Kansas City Chiefs Fall to Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX Photo Credit: David J. Phillip/AP The Eagles rose as the Super Bowl LIX Champions. The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Kansas City Chiefs in New Orleans’ Caesars Superdome to secure the franchise’s second championship. In doing so, they denied the Chiefs a third straight title, which would have been a first in National Football League...
How Nike Uses IP to Dominate the Sneaker Market Photo Credit: Nike.com In a fiercely competitive sneaker market, signature brands that effectively utilize intellectual property are propelled into faster growth Nike, a leader in the industry, expertly capitalizes on the success of their elite athletes and branding. With the advent of NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) agreements, Paige Bueckers of...
Is human consciousness a blessing or a curse? Greek gods Hermes and Apollo debate this at Toronto’s oldest watering hole, The Wheat Sheaf Tavern, when they decide to make a wager. Apollo thinks animals would be more unhappy if they were given human consciousness. Hermes thinks otherwise. To settle this bet, they find a veterinary clinic around the corner and grant human consciousness to...
A personal movie list is exactly the kind of writing no one asked for that’s been a hallmark of the Obiter Dicta. After a small dip into our archive, I was inspired by a past senior editor’s list featured in a 1999 edition of Issue 71. Considering that I’ve been writing for a captive audience about my favourites of the silver screen since I was in 1L (my compliments to the patient editors of...
Forty-one years after Daniel LaRusso’s famous crane kick knocked Johnny Lawrence to the mat, Cobra Kai is taking viewers back to where it all began. The latest entry in the Karate Kid franchise released its final episodes on Netflix this past 13 February, a long-awaited conclusion to what its creators attested would be “the biggest season of Cobra Kai yet.” Season 6, Part 3 seems like a world...
Traditionally, Canadian family law has treated pets as property, much like furniture or cars, when couples separate. However, as societal attitudes toward companion animals evolve, so too must the legal framework that governs their fate during divorces and separations. British Columbia has taken a significant step in this direction by introducing new legal provisions that recognize the unique...
› Still of Morrisseau From The Photo Credit: Art Institute of Canada Paradox of Norval MorrisseauPhoto Credit: Art Institute of Canada As the founder of the Woodland art style, Norval Morrisseau did not just paint; he redefined visual storytelling. His work spoke of legends, political messages, Anishinaabe ancestral knowledge, and the interwoven relationships between people, animals, nature, and...
From 11 to 12 February 2025, the Supreme Court of Canada heard oral arguments in Ahluwalia v Ahluwalia to determine if a tort of family violence should be recognized. In 2022, a tort of family violence was recognized by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Ahluwalia v Ahluwalia, a case in which Ms. Ahluwalia was subjected to physical violence, economic abuse, and coercive control at the...
For the fourteenth consecutive year, I have undertaken the task of watching, ranking, and reviewing all of the films nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars. For the past two years, I have shared my reviews with readers of Obiter Dicta. I initially assumed that most would overlook these contributions; however, to my surprise, they have garnered some...
In the field of copyright law, a question often pondered is the extent to which copyright promotes the efficient allocation of resources and the greatest social welfare. The traditional and widely accepted understanding of copyright law operates under the assumption that granting authors exclusive rights to their works will encourage the production of new content. By doing so, copyright law...
Photo Credit: Indiana State Library The law permeates the production of the media we consume. Usually, it works to our advantage—contracts, intellectual property rights, and the laws that enforce them give creatives incentive to produce an entertaining product that can sustain the livelihood of its creator. On occasion, however, the exercise of these rights results in some media never seeing the...
Growing up, I would wander through pet stores and become drawn to the tanks of neon-coloured fish, unaware that they (known by their trade name GloFish) are not marvels of nature but instead patented, genetically engineered organisms. The existence of GloFish is just one of many organisms at the heart of a current debate over the patentability of higher life forms and the legal and ethical...
Photo Credit: Siu Lun Terrence Tong and Emilie Barrette Last month, on February 7th and 8th, the Osgoode Hockey team hosted the very first Osgoode Frozen Forum: Law School Hockey Championship. While there is an annual tournament at Queen’s in Kingston, this was the first ever law school hockey tournament in the GTA. There were eight school teams and two alumni teams that played, totalling over...
We all grow up liking different things, whether it is dinosaurs, dolls, or whatever your fancy. My thing was history and, thus, I am overjoyed at the uncovering of the potential first royal tomb of a Pharaoh since Tutankhamun in 1922. In mid-February, a team of archaeologists found what they believe to have been the tomb of Thutmose II, who ruled Egypt’s eighteenth dynasty around the late...
Are you a law student passionate about legal research and writing? You should attend the Osgoode Hall Law Journal Research Symposium on 11 March in the Helliwell Centre! It is a highly anticipated event you do not want to miss. The Osgoode Hall Law Journal (OHLJ) is one of Canada’s prominent peer-reviewed law journals and has been publishing papers since 1958. The journal is incredibly well...
In early February, the Delaware district court found that an AI-powered model trained with Thomson Reuters’s legal research platform (Westlaw) infringed on copyright. In Thomson Reuters Enterprise Centre GMBH v. ROSS Intelligence Inc., legal research startup Ross Intelligence developed a legal search engine using a natural language AI model in direct competition with Westlaw. Ross hired a...
The intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and copyright law has become a crucial point of focus for legal systems worldwide, particularly in Europe. As AI continues to reshape creative industries, questions surrounding the ownership and protection of AI-generated works have emerged, demanding a re-evaluation of traditional intellectual property (IP) frameworks. Recent legislative efforts...
Photo Credit: Joel Saget-AFP via Getty Images In recent years, the market for weight loss drugs has garnered significant public attention, primarily owing to the popularity of semaglutide products, namely Ozempic. These drugs, originally developed for diabetes, were used off-label for weight loss, with recent variants, including Wegovy, approved for weight loss in both Canada and the United...
Photo Credit: FPG / Getty Images In the chance that you, dear reader, live under a rock, the edition of the Obiter Dicta that you are currently reading is the penultimate issue with myself as the head opinion editor. A veritable tragedy! To ease you through what I am sure will be a difficult loss for Osgoode’s student body and the Obiter’s treasured readership, I have penned this article. As is...
Photo Credit: NYC2012.com I was an unusual child. While other kids were watching cartoons, I was glued to Pat Foran’s Consumer Alert on CTV News and CBC’s Marketplace, fascinated by the way they held shady businesses accountable. As I grew older—and as the cost of living skyrocketed—my passion for consumer protection only grew. So naturally, when I discovered Scocco Law’s Consumer...
2025 Spring Training: What Fans Can Expect to See as Opening Day Approaches. Photo Credit: Instagram/ @sportsnet Ah, late February—one of my favorite times of the year. The Shamrock shake is back at McDonald’s, it is no longer minus twenty degrees, and of course, football is over which means that BASEBALL IS BACK! I caught a glimpse of the New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays first spring...
› The old family Caprice, from days gone Photo Credit: Author’s Own all it by whatever moniker, the urbanist movement is strong among young people worldwide. I share many sympathies with it, of course: who doesn’t want better, more walkable spaces with readily accessible and convenient transit? I’m a frequent passenger of provincial commuter rails, coaches, and the good old TTC myself. I’m glad...
› Unicorn Seal – Indus Script Photo Credit: Mukul Banerjee Have you ever watched a spy movie and wanted to break a code or perhaps saw Indiana Jones and wanted to make your own discoveries that could contribute to the understanding of humanity’s ancient past? Well, such an opportunity exists, and you can get paid for it. The state of Tamul Nadu in India has offered a $ one-million reward...
Photo Credit: osgoode hall law school It’s no secret that law school is an expensive undertaking. This article aims to shed some light on the recent updates from the York University and Osgoode Hall Law School communities related to funds that impact the student experience. L&L Referendum Recently, the Legal & Literary Society (L&L) announced that they intend to hold a referendum in...