J. Aidan "Aidan" O'Neill

J. Aidan O'Neill practises primarily in the fields of intellectual property, media and communications law. He is a member of both the Quebec and Ontario Bars, which he joined in 1982 and 1985 respectively.

Aidan has extensive experience with respect to copyright issues relating to the communications and new media sectors. In this regard, he regularly advises clients in the context of tariff-setting proceedings conducted before the Canadian Copyright Board. In this capacity, he has acted as legal counsel in a variety of proceedings before the Copyright Board to establish the royalties payable for the use of musical works, sound recordings and other copyrighted works by both private and public broadcasters, as well as for the use of published literary works by educational institutions in Canada.

Aidan also acts for a broad range of clients with respect to their regulatory dealings with the CRTC, including the licensing of new television and radio broadcasting services, and the distribution in Canada of foreign satellite services.

He often acts for his clients before the Federal Court of Canada in relation to judicial review applications arising from Copyright Board and CRTC decisions.

Aidan also has broad experience dealing with legal issues relating to Canadian constitutional law, particularly those affecting the protection of official language rights. In this regard, he has represented clients before both federal and provincial courts in relation to the linguistic guarantees set out in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Official Languages Act.