Jon Festinger, KC

Jon Festinger, K.C. has been a long-serving Adjunct Professor at the Allard School of Law (since 1992), now Lecturer. He teaches the following courses at Allard: Torts; Intellectual Property Law; A.I. and the Law; Copyright Law and Social Media; Video Game Law; Communications Law; Media & Entertainment Law; and Business Organizations. In March 2019 he received a Teaching Service Award from the Allard School of Law.

He has also been an Adjunct Professor at the UBC Sauder School of Business, UBC Graduate School of Journalism, and the UBC Faculty of Arts, as well as a Professor of Professional Practice at Simon Fraser University, a faculty member of the Centre for Digital Media, and Honorary Industry Professor in the Centre for Commercial Studies, Queen Mary University of London School of Law, among other academic appointments. 

Jon is the author of the first edition of Video Game Law published by LexisNexis in 2005, and co-author of the second edition published in 2012. In 2018, Jon was one of the three founding editors of the Interactive Entertainment Law Journal (Edward Elgar Publishing) on whose Editorial Board he continues to serve. He was Guest Editor of the Volume 46, Number 3 of the UBC Law Review “Digital Media, Video Games, and the Law” (2013) and will be Guest Editor of a Special Issue of the UBC Law Review “A.I. & The Legal Profession”. At various times during his career, Jon was in house counsel at one of Canada’s largest broadcasting companies, a Senior Vice President of the CTV Television Network and the founding General Manager of VTV (now CTV BC) which was the first all-digital television station in North America, and Executive Vice President, Business & General Counsel of the Vancouver Canucks and GM Place. 

Jon also has significant experience working on pedagogic projects involving AI, in collaboration with UBC’s Center for Teaching, Learning, and Technology, UBC EML and UBC CIC. These projects include (1) the Judicial Interrogatory Simulator (AKA “Moot Court or JIS) jointly with Nikos Harris, K.C. of Allard Law which simulates the law school moot court experience to assists first year students practice their arguments for their mandatory moot court experience; (2) Legal Aid Tool prototype, jointly with Nikos Harris, K.C., that supports students formulate legal advice by taking user-entered information about a case, and acting as a search assistant and providing LLM-generated prompts. The tool purposefully provides contextual support without ‘giving the answer’ with the goal of helping students in legal aid clinics deliver legal advice more thoughtfully and efficiently; and (3) Socrates A.I., an application where students can engage in a private self-Socratic dialogue on their own computer with the parameters of engagement and source materials determined by their Professor. This application was originated in 2018 as part of Jon’s course websites. The Socrates application has been developed steadily since that time with a full A.I. version being implemented in September 2024. The base application will also being made available to UBC Professors generally through UBC CTLT in modifiable form that can be tailored to any course.

To see a more complete version of Jon’s CV, please view his LinkedIn page. Or follow him on Bluesky: @festinger.bsky.social.

• Torts (LAW 241)
• Intellectual Property (LAW 422/570C)
• A.I and the Law (LAW 426D)

Introductory Essay to UBC Law Review Special Issue on A.I. & the Practice of Law, UBC Law Review, vol 58 no 2, 2025 - Special Issue: AI & The Legal Profession

UBC Law Review · Aug 22, 2025

Show publication

Introductory Essay to UBC Law Review Special Issue on A.I. & the Practice of Law, as well as Guest Editor of that issue.Introductory Essay to UBC Law Review Special Issue on A.I. & the Practice of Law, as well as Guest Editor of that issue.

Introductory Editorial

Interactive Entertainment Law Review/Edward Elgar Publishing · Jan 1, 2019

Show publication

Primary author of various introductory editorials for issues of the Interactive Entertainment Law ReviewPrimary author of various introductory editorials for issues of the Interactive Entertainment Law Review

Law 508D Business Organizations (Distance Learning Program)

UBC Faculty of Law/UBC Centre for Teaching, Learning & Technology · Sep 2, 2014

Show publication

Was the "Course Author" of these on-line materials on corporate law which forms part of UBC Law’s Distance Learning Program. Enrolment in the course limited to LLM CL and unclassified students. For more information on eligibility and enrolment, please visit www.law.ubc.ca/distance. The course is designed to be moderated and marked on-line by a "course instructor". 

This is a survey course providing an introduction to the law of corporations and partnerships in British Columbia, although reference is made to laws in other jurisdictions. Students are introduced to some of the more significant legal policies, principles and provisions that apply to several of the forms through which business activity is carried on. The preponderance of the course is devoted to the corporate form principally because it has the greatest impact on our lives and brings into sharp relief the opportunities and costs of economic activity. Moreover, it and the law surrounding it provide a useful counterpoint to partnerships and the law that governs them. 

There are several pedagogically motivated devices that recur in the course. Throughout the course there is a focus on the contrasts between the forms of companies, partnerships and proprietorships. There is also a recurring theme of highlighting “ethical” issues including, but not limited to conundrums of corporate personality, fiduciary duties and lawyer’s professional responsibilities.Was the "Course Author" of these on-line materials on corporate law which forms part of UBC Law’s Distance Learning Program. Enrolment in the course limited to LLM CL and unclassified students. For more information on eligibility and enrolment, please visit www.law.ubc.ca/distance. The course is designed to be moderated and marked on-line by a "course instructor". This is a survey course providing an introduction to the law of corporations and partnerships in British Columbia, although reference is made to laws in other jurisdictions. Students are introduced to some of the more significant legal policies, principles and provisions that apply to several of the forms through which business activity is carried on. The preponderance of the course is devoted to the corporate form principally because it has the greatest impact on our lives and brings into sharp relief the opportunities and costs of economic activity. Moreover, it and the law surrounding it provide a useful counterpoint to partnerships and the law that governs them. There are several pedagogically motivated devices that recur in the course. Throughout the course there is a focus on the contrasts between the forms of companies, partnerships and proprietorships. There is also a recurring theme of highlighting “ethical” issues including, but not limited to conundrums of corporate personality, fiduciary duties and lawyer’s professional responsibilities.

Law 450A Video Game Law (web)

UBC CMS/ UBC Centre for Teaching, Learning & Technology · Jan 1, 2013

Show publication

Materials and ancillary materials related to the Video Game Law course offered at UBC Law School including videos of many of the classes.Materials and ancillary materials related to the Video Game Law course offered at UBC Law School including videos of many of the classes.

Introductory Essay: Digital Media, Video Games, and the Law

University of British Columbia Law Review · Jan 1, 2013

Show publication

Introductory Essay to UBC Law Review Special Issue on Digital Media Video Games and the Law, as well as Guest Editor of that issue.Introductory Essay to UBC Law Review Special Issue on Digital Media Video Games and the Law, as well as Guest Editor of that issue.

Video Game Law, 2nd Edition

LexisNexis · Jan 1, 2012

Show publication

Video games, the precocious offspring of the Information Age, continue to be the source of some of the most fascinating and challenging questions in law. In the second edition of Video Game Law, Jon Festinger, Q.C., Chris Metcalfe and Roch Ripley reveal how this burgeoning industry is creating more than games — it is posing fresh challenges for legal systems throughout the world. This work provides a comprehensive, clear and well documented overview of this rapidly expanding legal territory.

Video Game Law, 2nd Edition addresses the overlapping and emerging issues relating to IP, freedom of speech, employment, defamation, privacy, licensing and torts as they arise within the context of the video games industry, offering unique legal analysis and guidance unavailable elsewhere.
Video games, the precocious offspring of the Information Age, continue to be the source of some of the most fascinating and challenging questions in law. In the second edition of Video Game Law, Jon Festinger, Q.C., Chris Metcalfe and Roch Ripley reveal how this burgeoning industry is creating more than games — it is posing fresh challenges for legal systems throughout the world. This work provides a comprehensive, clear and well documented overview of this rapidly expanding legal territory. Video Game Law, 2nd Edition addresses the overlapping and emerging issues relating to IP, freedom of speech, employment, defamation, privacy, licensing and torts as they arise within the context of the video games industry, offering unique legal analysis and guidance unavailable elsewhere.

Video Game Law

LexisNexis · Jan 1, 2005

Show publication

My original text on the subject, now superseded by the 2nd Edition.My original text on the subject, now superseded by the 2nd Edition.

Book Review - A Sourcebook of Canadian Media Law

University of British Columbia Law Review · Jan 1, 1995

A review of Prof. Robert Martin's book.A review of Prof. Robert Martin's book.

Mapping the Electronic Highway: A Survey of Domestic and International Law Issues

University of British Columbia Law Review · Jan 1, 1995

UBC Law Review article surveying future directions of administrative, IP, competition and free speech law in an increasingly digital age.