InfoJustice Roundup – January 22, 2019
Singapore Copyright Review – Enhancing Creators’ Rights and Users’ Access to Copyrighted Works
[Singapore Ministry of Law] The Ministry of Law (MinLaw) will amend the Copyright Act to update Singapore’s copyright regime to better support creators and the use and enjoyment of creative works in the digital age. The proposed changes include better recognising creators for their work, allowing easier access to copyrighted materials for educational purposes and supporting creators and users in the collective licensing of copyrighted works. These changes are outlined in the Singapore Copyright Review Report released by MinLaw and the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) today.Click here for more.
Joint Letter from 71 Civil Society Groups to Congress on NAFTA 2.0 and Medicine Prices
The undersigned organizations representing healthcare providers, patients, public health experts, workers, people of faith, and consumers are committed to advancing public health and promoting access to affordable medicines. Access to affordable healthcare and medicines is one of few demands that now unites the American public. We write to you today with concern that provisions currently included in the proposed NAFTA 2.0 (referred to by the Trump administration as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement) would entrench and expand prescription drug monopoly protections, thwart competition and thus undermine efforts to expand access to affordable medicines. Click here for more.
Ahead of Last Trilogue: On Balance the Directive Is Bad for Users and Creators in Europe
[Communia Association] Today we are launching a new minisite called “Internet is for the people” that provides an overall assessment of the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market. Our assessment takes into consideration all the key parts of the Directive. In order to do this, we analysed nine different issues that are included (or have not been included) in the proposal for the Directive: Upload Filters, the Press Publishers Right, Text and Data mining, access to Cultural Heritage, Education, the protection of the Public Domain, a Right to Remix, Freedom of Panorama and Fair Remuneration for Authors and Performers. Each issue was then scored, allowing us to provide an overall score of the Directive based on an understanding of all elements of the proposal. Click here for more.
Draft Patents Rules Undermine Safeguards Against Frivolous Patents
[K.M. Gopakumar] The Ministry of Commerce has floated proposed changes to the rules of the Indian patent Act. Two of the proposed changes are very concerning. It proposes a new mechanism which will expedite decisions on patent applications. This proposed fast-track process seems to come with various other compromises on the functioning of India’s patent architecture and for protecting access to medicines, for example. Click here for more on thewire.in.
Creativity Revisited
[Ralph D. Clifford] In the late 1990s and early 2000s, I wrote two articles on the consequences of using computer-based creativity to create works later claimed for copyright or patent protection… The basic conclusion of these articles was that substituting artificial intelligence technology [“A.I.”] for human creativity results in works that are in the public domain. This essay… reexamines the area after a gap of almost fifteen years. Click here for more.
