Ariel Thomas is a lawyer practising copyright, communications, contract, entertainment and trademark law. In her work as a copyright lawyer, she is particularly interested in the way Canada’s Copyright Act will continue to evolve with technological change. Ms. Thomas has appeared before Canadian courts at all levels, as well as the Copyright Board of Canada and the CRTC. As part of a team, she recently represented a group of copyright users in the K-12 education sector in complex litigation against Access Copyright.

Colleen Stanley is the owner of Stanley IP Law. She is a lawyer and registered Canadian trademark agent practising intellectual property law in Toronto, Canada. Colleen provides advice on copyright law, trademark law and design law to intellectual property owners, licensees and users. Colleen was formerly legal counsel at Harlequin Enterprises Limited and prior to that she was in-house counsel with the Society of Composers, Authors and Legal Publishers of Canada. She started her legal career as an associate at Stikeman Elliott in Toronto. Ms. Stanley is a member of the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada (IPIC) , The Copyright Society, the Association Littéraire & Artistique Internationale (ALAI), the Toronto Intellectual Property Group and the International Trademark Association (INTA). She is an active member of IPIC's Conference Committee and Indigenous IP Committee and was an instructor for IPIC’s Trademark Agent Tutorials from 2018 - 2023. She is also a member of INTA’s Indigenous Rights Committee. Ms. Stanley is a member of the Law Society of Ontario, a Registered Trademark Agent and a Notary Public for the Province of Ontario. Ms. Stanley was the recipient of the IPIC Educational Foundation Prize for the highest mark on the 2012 Canadian Trademark Agent Examination. Ms. Stanley has her LL.B. from the University of British Columbia and her B.A. Hons. from Queen's University.

David Fewer is an intellectual property and technology lawyer who brings over twenty-five years of experience to CIPPIC's advocacy. Prior to joining CIPPIC, David practiced with national firms in British Columbia and Ontario and clerked with the Federal Court of Canada. His graduate legal studies focused on intellectual property policy and the Charter’s significance for copyright. He teaches, writes, and frequently comments in the media on technology law.

Jennifer Stirling is Mississauga Library’s Manager Digital Library Services and Collections who works with her team to support equitable access to information and technology in all formats for Mississauga residents. She has been an active member of the Digital Content Working group for many years and is currently chairing a taskforce looking at eBook legislative solutions across publicly funded Canadian libraries with CULC, CARL and CFLA. In her spare time, she likes to bake, hang out with her house full of boys (including the pug) and is an ardent scrapbooker.

Katherine Silins is a second-year student at the Schulich School of Law. She completed a degree in Computer Software Engineering in 2015 before working in telecommunications and cybersecurity for the federal government for 8 years. She has interests in national defence and hopes to become a prosecutor after graduation.

Matthew Johnson is the Director of Education for MediaSmarts, Canada’s center for digital media literacy. He is the author of many of MediaSmarts’ lessons, parent materials, and interactive resources and a lead on MediaSmarts’ research projects. He has served on a number of expert panels including the Canadian Pediatric Society’s Digital Health Task Force, for which, he participated in the drafting of the Canadian recommendations for children’s screen time, as well as consultations on the current Copyright Act.

Meaghan Shannon is the Copyright Librarian at Queen’s University and previously managed a portfolio of copyright and academic integrity at a large Ontario college. She earned her Master of Studies in Law degree, with a specialization in intellectual property law, and her Master of Library and Information Studies degree from Western University. She has experience working in both academic and public libraries as well as in archives.

Meera Nair holds a doctorate in Communication with a research interest in systems of copyright law. She is the Copyright Officer for the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology in Edmonton.

Myra Tawfik is Distinguished University Professor and the inaugural Don Rodzik Family Chair in Law and Entrepreneurship at the University of Windsor. She is a Senior Fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI). Professor Tawfik also served as Associate Dean (1998-2000), Acting Dean (2011) and Interim Dean (2017) of the Faculty of Law. Professor Tawfik is an expert in intellectual property law, especially copyright law, copyright history and capacity-building in IP literacy for start-ups and entrepreneurs. In relation to copyright history, she was the recipient of a visiting scholarship from the American Antiquarian Society, and a fellowship from the University of Windsor’s Humanities Research Group. She was the President of the Canadian Association for the Study of Book Culture from 2016-2019, and its Vice-President from 2012-2016. Among her copyright history publications, she was the co-editor of a Special issue of the Papers of the Bibliographical Society of Canada and her research on copyright history has been cited by the Supreme Court of Canada. Her book For the Encouragement of Learning: The Origins of Canadian Copyright Law (University of Toronto Press, 2023) is the culmination of nearly 20 years of research and, to date, is the subject of podcast interviews for New Books Network and the Champlain Society’s Witness to Yesterday Professor Tawfik has also founded and led a number of multidisciplinary clinics, knowledge mobilization and community outreach projects designed to provide Canadian start-ups and innovators with IP literacy skills and access to affordable IP legal services. She was a member of the province of Ontario’s expert panel on the commercialization of public sector IP and is an advisor to the province on IP education. Her co-authored massive open online course, Foundations of IP Strategy, has become the provincial standard curriculum on intellectual property literacy for start-ups.