Casey Chisick

Casey Chisick* is a partner in the Entertainment Law and Intellectual Property practices and co-leader of the firm's Fashion Industry Practice Group. He is certified by the Law Society of Upper Canada as a Certified Specialist in Intellectual Property (Copyright).

Having worked as a law professor, a jazz promoter and a musician – and even as artistic director of an internationally-renowned folk dance company – Casey offers his clients a rare combination of recognized expertise in copyright and other intellectual property matters and first-hand experience in the business of entertainment. His diverse practice spans a number of related areas, including intellectual property, entertainment law, communications, advertising and marketing and fashion and apparel, with particular expertise in the collective administration of copyright, including tariffs certified by the Copyright Board of Canada. Casey provides transactional advice and litigation counsel to clients in the film, television, music, broadcasting, theatre, advertising, literary, newspaper, visual arts, new media and fashion industries, as well as to general business clients with intellectual property needs. He also consults on negotiation strategy for businesses of all kinds.

Casey was the gold medallist in law at the University of Manitoba, earned a Masters of Law as a Fulbright and Frank Knox scholar at Harvard Law School, and served as law clerk to The Hon. Mr. Justice Frank Iacobucci of the Supreme Court of Canada. He began his professional career as a law professor, first at the University of Manitoba and later at Osgoode Hall Law School, where he taught copyright, intellectual property, corporate law, negotiation and dispute resolution to hundreds of students and was recognized by National magazine as a leader in introducing technology to the Canadian law school classroom. Through numerous writing and speaking engagements in Canada and internationally, Casey became, and remains, one of Canada’s best-known authorities on digital copyright issues. He has also served as an Adjunct Professor at Osgoode Hall Law School and the University of Toronto and is a frequent commentator on copyright and entertainment issues for CBC television and radio.

Casey was selected as one of Lexpert’s Rising Stars for 2011, identifying him as a Leading Lawyer Under 40.  He is also recognized as a leading practitioner by Chambers Global, PLC Which Lawyer?, the Legal Media Group Guide to the World's Leading Technology, Media & Telecommunications Lawyers and LawDay, and holds a BV Distinguished™ rating from Martindale-Hubbell. Chambers Global has written that Casey is “...recognized for his expertise in copyright and commended for his communication skills, analytical dexterity and novel approach to IP law. ‘He is one of the best,’ sources affirm.”

As a transactional lawyer, Casey has served as a trusted advisor to clients in significant deals ranging from the purchase and sale of film, television and broadcasting assets to celebrity branding transactions, as well as the development, financing, production and distribution of TV series, specials and feature films. He negotiates recording, management and publishing agreements for leading Canadian recording artists and songwriters, talent agreements for well-known television and radio personalities, and employment agreements for senior executives in the entertainment and media industries. In addition, he has served as chief outside counsel to companies in fields as diverse as IT outsourcing, interactive advertising and functional genomics.

As litigation counsel, Casey has represented clients before the Copyright Board, the superior courts of Ontario and British Columbia, the Federal Court and Federal Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court of Canada. Some of his notable cases and engagements include: 

• Counsel to the Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency (CMRRA) and CMRRA-SODRAC Inc. (CSI) in the historic CSI Online Music Services Tariff proceeding before the Copyright Board of Canada, the first proceeding anywhere in the world to establish the royalties payable to songwriters and music publishers for the right to reproduce songs for distribution via the Internet, and in subsequent proceedings to recertify and enforce that tariff
• Counsel to CMRRA and SODRAC in Baker Estate v. Sony Music Canada Inc. et al, an Ontario class action involving royalties due and unpaid by record labels for the reproduction of songs on CDs and other physical media
• Counsel to Musicians Rights Organization Canada (MROC), a copyright collective representing the rights of performers, in a number of significant litigation matters
• Counsel to Postmedia Network Inc. and the National Post in a host of transactional and litigation matters
• Counsel to CSI in the judicial review of SOCAN Tariff 22 before the Federal Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada
• Co-counsel to CSI in the judicial review of the CSI Satellite Radio Tariff
• Counsel to a number of copyright collectives and rightsholder groups in relation to Canadian copyright reform initiatives, including Bill C-32, the Copyright Modernization Act (2010).
• Counsel to Shaw Media Inc. and its predecessor, Canwest Media, in numerous transactional and litigation matters
• Counsel to EMI Music Publishing in Redwood Music v. EMI Mills Music et al., an Ontario proceeding involving the ownership of reversionary and substituted copyright in musical works
• Counsel to Setanta Sports North America Inc. in a successful motion for an injunction to enforce the terms of a broadcast licence for English Premier League soccer
• Counsel to a leading Canadian insurance underwriter in a number of entertainment-related disputes
• Counsel to a significant ethnic specialty television service in litigation involving the unauthorized use of its programming and broadcast signals
• Counsel to Jennifer Meyer Inc., a leading California-based jewellery designer, in a dispute over the distribution of infringing knock-offs of its unique products
• Counsel to a Vancouver-based television producer in the defence of allegations involving the defamation and appropriation of personality of a well-known Canadian athlete
• Counsel to the creator of a successful television program in an action for infringement of the creator’s moral rights

In addition, Casey’s specialized expertise is frequently sought by clients in relation to special projects and studies involving the exploitation and monetization of copyright in relation to new and emerging business models.

Casey is active in the legal community, currently serving as co-chair of the biennial Law Society of Upper Canada (LSUC) Entertainment, Media & Advertising Law Symposium (generally recognized as Canada’s top continuing legal education program for entertainment lawyers), a member of the Copyright-Technical Committee of the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada, and a member of the advisory board of IP Osgoode, a research institute at Osgoode Hall Law School that explores legal and policy issues at the intersection of intellectual property and technology. He has also served on the executive of the Ontario Bar Association (Entertainment, Media & Communications Section) and the steering committee of the Entertainment Professionals Network, and is an active member of a number of professional associations, including ALAI Canada, the Copyright Society of the USA and the ABA Entertainment & Sports Law Forum

An in-demand speaker at legal and business events, Casey has appeared at a host of conferences and seminars produced by organizations including:

• Canadian Music Week
• North by Northeast
• Copyright Society of the USA
• Beverly Hills Bar Association
• Association of Corporate Counsel – ACC Ontario
• Law Society of Upper Canada
• Canadian Newspaper Association
• Ryerson University (Ethics at Ryerson)
• National Screen Institute (NSI FilmExchange)
• The Canadian Institute
• InSight Information
• University of Toronto Technology and IP Group
• Osgoode Hall Entertainment & Sports Law Association
• Playback magazine
• International Association of Jazz Education (IAJE)

Casey's experience on the legal and academic stages has been complemented by stage work of a very different kind. He is a proud member of the board of directors of Soulpepper Theatre Company, a member of the advisory board of the Glenn Gould Lectures, and outside counsel to the Toronto Centre for the Arts. He has also served as the founding executive producer and host of Winnipeg’s Asper Foundation Jazz Performances; principal of Case Closed Productions, a concert and event promotion company; artistic director of the Chai Folk Ensemble, North America’s oldest and largest Jewish folk dance company; president of the Jazz Winnipeg Festival; vice-president of the Winnipeg Jewish Theatre; and a director and officer of the Toronto Jazz Festival. He also served as Executive Producer of Sophie Milman’s Juno Award-winning 2007 album, Make Someone Happy, as well as her acclaimed 2009 album, Take Love Easy, and her 2008 concert DVD, Live in Montreal.

*denotes Professional Corporation

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Conferences, Speaking Engagements, Events