Background:

Jon Festinger, Q.C. (LL.B., B.C.L. 1980 McGill University) is a Vancouver, British Columbia based counsel and educator. He is an SFU Professor of Professional Practice and a faculty member of the Centre for Digital Media (http://thecdm.ca). Jon has taught media, entertainment and communications law topics at the UBC Faculty of Law for over two decades, as well as teaching at various times at the UBC Graduate School of Journalism, the Thompson Rivers University Faculty of Law and the University of Victoria Faculty of Law. He is the author of the first edition of “Video Game Law” published by LexisNexis in 2005, co-author of the 2nd Edition published in 2012 (http://www.lexisnexis.com/store/ca/catalog/booktemplate/productdetail.jsp?prodId=prd-cad-01004), “Guest Editor” and author of “Introductory Essay: Digital Media, Video Games, and the Law” a special issue of the University of British Columbia Law Review at (2013) 46:3 UBC L Rev 615, and the author of “Mapping the Electronic Highway: A Survey of Domestic and International Law Issues” at (1995) 29:2 UBC L Rev 199. As a graduate of McGill University’s Faculty of Law, Jon began his legal career in private practice, in turn becoming General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of WIC Western International Communications and its various subsidiaries including Canadian Satellite Communications Inc. (“Cancom”), Senior Vice President of the CTV Television Network and Executive Vice President, Business & General Counsel of the Vancouver Canucks. Jon practices law through Festinger Law & Strategy, is Chair of Ronald McDonald House British Columbia, a member of the Law Society of British Columbia’s Rule of Law and Lawyer Independence Advisory Committee and a Director of the eatART Foundation. Jon has been a Trustee of the Simon Fraser University Foundation, a Director of City Opera Vancouver, a Trustee of the Jack Webster Foundation, a Director of the CKNW Orphans Fund, a Director of the Vancouver Board of Trade, a Director of the British Columbia Association of Broadcasters, a Director of Canadian Women in Communications (national), Chair of the Canadian Bar Association Media & Communications Law Section (national), a member of the “Working Group on Canadian Programming and Private Television convened by theMinister of Canadian Heritage in 1994 and which authored “The Future of Canadian Programming and the Role of Private Television: Keeping Canada on the Information Highway” and a Director of the McGill Legal Aid Clinic in 1979 and 1980.

 

Teaching:

Assistant Professor of Professional Practice, Simon Fraser University FCAT & Centre for Digital Media: “Surviving as a Creative Entrepreneur” spring 2015 (with Professor Howard Jang); “Foundations of Digital Media” fall 2012 & 2013, spring 2015 (with Dr. Richard Smith & Rory Holland).

Adjunct Professor UBC Faculty of Law: “Video Game Law” (http://videogame.law.ubc.ca) fall 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, spring & fall 2013, fall 2014 and 2015; “Legal Constraints on (Digital) Creativity” (http://creativity.law.ubc.ca) spring 2015; ”Media & Entertainment Law”, 1994/95 academic year, and spring 2012 (with Adjunct Professor Bill Allman); “Media, Entertainment and Communications Law”, fall 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005; “Topics in International Law and Transactions: International Law of Communications, Media & Entertainment”, spring 1996 and 1997; “Media Law”, fall 1995 and 1996; “Topics in Public Law: Broadcast & Entertainment”, spring 1993 and 1994.

Instructor UBC Faculty of Law: “Sports Law”, fall 2010 & 2011 (with Professor Joe Weiler); “Media & Entertainment Law” spring 2011 & 2013 (with Professor Joe Weiler); “Entertainment & Sports Law”, spring 1992 (with Professor Joe Weiler and Brian Burke).

Course Author UBC Faculty of Law: “Law 508, Business Organizations” a distance education course, 2014.

Adjunct Professor, UBC Graduate School of Journalism: “Media Law” (http://medialaw.journalism.ubc.ca) fall 2014; “Ethics and the Law”, fall 2004.

Sessional Lecturer, Faculty of Law Thompson Rivers University: “Digital Media Law”, spring 2015; “Sports Law 2 (Professional Sports)”, spring 2014 & 2015; “Business Associations” (with Leon Getz, Q.C.), spring 2014.

Adjunct Professor, University of Victoria Faculty of Law: “Media, Entertainment and Communications Law”, spring 2006; “Video Game Law”, fall 2005.

 

Academic Talks & Panels (recent):

1.”Press Start:Culture, Industry, and Innovation in Japanese Gaming” conference at UBC February 27, 2015; Presentation on “Legal, Normative & Cultural Perspectives on Mods and Modding of Japanese Video Games”,

2. The Law Society of Upper Canada 17th Biennial National Conference “New Developments in Communications Law and Policy” May 1 & 2, 2014; Presentation on “Social Media Memes & Legal Realities” http://ecom.lsuc.on.ca/cpd/product.jsp?id=CLE14-0050199

3. “Brown Bag Seminar” at Georgia Tech University on “Legal Constraints on Digital Creativity; Digital Media Demands on Legal Creativity”, September 19,2013 http://www.gvu.gatech.edu/event/brown-bag-archive/gvu-brown-bag-seminar-jon-festinger#sthash.6MJ4bX06.dpuf

4. Open UBC Week panel on “Reclaiming the Open Learning Environment” with Will Engle & Brian Lamb,October 23, 2013

5. UBC CTLT Institute, Panel on “Open Courses, Open Pedagogies” with Professor Christina Hendricks & Professor Jon Beasley-Murray, May 27, 2013

6. Penn Law IP Symposium 2013 “Creation Nation: IP & The Rise of Prosumerism” March 29, 2013, Philadelphia Pa.: Presentation and panel on “Game Development & Modification” with Prof. Greg Lastowka (Rutgers Law) & Mark Methenitis http://pennip.org/2013-symposium/

7. The Law Society of Upper Canada “Entertainment & Media Law Symposium 2011″ April 15 & 16, 2011, Toronto, Ont.; Keynote Address “The Three Faces of Convergence”

Industry Talks & Panels (selected):

1.”Press Start:Culture, Industry, and Innovation in Japanese Gaming” conference at UBC February 28, 2015; Panel on “Working with Japanese Game Companies: Best Practices” (audio) https://pressstartubc.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/best-practices.mp3

2. Vancouver International Film Festival panel discussion on the film “Bye Bye Blues” and orphan rights in copyright law, with Professor Joel Bakan and Professor Colin Browne, November 12, 2014 (audio)

3. Full Indie Summit 2014, Presentation on “Law-ification” August 10, 2014 http://www.fullindiesummit.com

4. Full Indie Vancouver,  Presentation of “Candy Crushing on Flappy Birds: Originality in Video Games” April 29, 2014

5.“The Battle of the Living Room: Video Game Consoles as Media Centers” with Kraig Marini-Baker (Davis Wright Tremaine LLP), Alan Bruggeman (Microsoft), Anoop Desai (Electronic Arts). Part of Law Seminars International 3rd Annual Seattle Conference on Gamer Technology Law, October 4, 2012.

6. Tools of Change for Publishing Conference: Talk on “Rights of Creation: Legal conundrums & Ethical Paradoxes” October 20, 2012, Vancouver B.C. http://oreilly.com/minitoc-vancouver.html

Books & Articles (recent):

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Email & Websites:

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Media:

It  was truly a great honour to be profiled as part of “Team Open” by Creative Commons in December 2014. There are many reasons why, but most obviously because it has everything to do with the collaborative efforts around modeling the Video Game Law course in an open way. I understand that my inclusion relates almost entirely to initiatives which are due to the contributions and support of so very many students, guest speakers, colleagues, staff and administration at both UBC’s Faculty of Law and  at the Centre for Digital Media, as well as the unflinching efforts of the UBC Centre for Teaching, Learning & Technology. For more information about the open pedagogic design of the course click on: http://videogame.law.ubc.ca/about-2/communityparticipate/

Finally it is impossible not to be mindful of the incredible contributions to world made Creative Commons as an organization and by its founders including Professor Lawrence Lessig and Aaron Swartz.  The vision and focus of the rest of Team Open is a humbling reminder of both what is possible and what is left to be done.  To read the Team Open article click on the image below (and don’t forget to donate to creative Commons if you are able).

As far as milestones for the course go, being covered by a legitimate video game website also ranks right up there. Most important my wife Corinne liked it and thought it had me down.  Thanks to Justin Gifford for being entirely too kind. Apologies in advance to the entire Commonwealth of Australia…

Click on image below to get to the article.

Also in the category of making me look and sound much too good comes this interview with the new website BasedGamer which originates here in Vancouver.

Not to mention this cool video produced VR Chat about our Project Oculus experiment during the 2014 edition of Video Game Law.

Was also part of the Canadian Lawyer cover story for October 2014 “The Next Frontier: Global Trends And Technology Are Driving The Evolution Of Law”. Click on the image below to get to the article.

Wrote a short article on “Why Video Game Law Is Important” which landed me on the cover of the February 2015 issue of BarTalk, the monthly publication of the Canadian Bar Association, B.C. Branch. Click on the image below to get to the issue.

Appeared on the cover of the February 2o15 issue of Lexpert magazine and in an article on sports law.Click on the image below to get to the article.

Sadovnick Partners is a leading talent search firm based in Los Angeles California. They conduct an interview series which is accessible through their website (http://www.sadovnickpartners.com). Below is a two part video interview, each section being approximately 16 minutes long.