InfoJustice Roundup – July 1, 2019

WIPO Accused of Bias Toward Copyright Holders in Regional Meetings

[William New] The World Intellectual Property Organization, a United Nations agency, has come under fire from a range of regional and global groups representing key public interest components of the copyright system for unfairly catering to rights holder interests in an ongoing series of regional meetings, resulting in sharply biased outcomes of the meetings. The groups say they were excluded from participating on equal footing with other stakeholders, giving days of extra time to others to lobby officials from national and regional copyright offices. This provides support for the notion that WIPO and the copyright system are pursuing a mission to protect copyright holders, they argue, ignoring other creators, the public interest, and exceptions and limitations. Click here for more.

Patents, Trade and Medicines: Past, Present and Future

[Kenneth Shadlen, Bhaven Sampat and Amy Kapczynski] Abstract: …We draw attention to the conceptual and methodological challenges of assessing the effects of patent provisions in trade agreements on prices and access to drugs, with particular emphasis on the importance of timing. Depending on when countries began allowing drugs to be patented, TRIPS-Plus provisions have different effects; and when pharmaceutical patenting has been in place for more countries for more time, the effects of TRIPS-Plus provisions will change again. Click here for more.

Official UNESCO Recommendation on Open Educational Resources Moves One Step Further

[Education International] Education International welcomes UNESCO global commitment to advancing access to works for teaching and learning through expanding access to quality and locally relevant open educational resources. EI welcomed the progress at the intergovernmental meeting of experts to examine a UNESCO draft Recommendation concerning Open Educational Resources (OER) held from 27-28 May in Paris, France. Click here for more.

Time for Copyright Laws in Africa to Change

[Electronic Information for Libraries] On 12-13 June 2019, heads of copyright offices from more than 40 African states met in Nairobi, Kenya, to discuss copyright limitations and exceptions for libraries, archives, and education in the African region… The clear consensus that emerged from the two-day seminar was a recognition that copyright exceptions in Africa are wholly inadequate, especially for online uses, and that there is a real need for reform. Click here for more.

See also: International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organizations. WIPO Pan-African Meeting Discusses Exceptions and Limitations to Copyright. Link

Global Access to Insulin: Understanding the Barriers

[Knowledge Portal on innovation and access to medicines] WEBCAST: Despite the fact that insulin has been used for nearly 100 years, an estimated 1 in 2 people who need it cannot afford and/or access this much-needed medicine. Various factors can affect access to insulin, including issues at both national and global levels. Building on previous studies focused at country-level, Health Action International’s (HAI) Addressing the Challenge and Constraints of Insulin Sources and Supply (ACCISS) Study has been working to identify and address the inequities and inefficiencies in the global insulin market. Marg Ewen and Molly Lepeska will present the main research findings of this multi-year study, including issues related to global market structure, intellectual property, trade, prices, taxes and tariffs. Click here to view the webcast.

Implementing the Copyright Directive: Protecting the Public Domain with Article 14

[Paul Keller] Article 14 – Works of visual art in the public domain – is one of the very few unambiguously good provisions of the new EU copyright directive. The article is intended to ensure that (digital) reproductions of public domain works cannot be protected by exclusive rights, and as a result, taken out of the public domain. This legislative intervention comes in response to the relatively widespread practice of museums in claiming exclusive rights of digital reproductions of public domain works that they have in their collections and which they make available to the public. Click here for more.

Copyright, and Photographs or Videos of Public Art, In South Africa: An Imperfect Picture

[Bram Van Wiele] Abstract: The rise of digital photography and videography has made the creation, sharing and commercialisation of high-quality photographs and videos more accessible, in terms of both cost and skills required. This thematic report examines the impact on copyright infringement of the increase in photographs and videos containing public art. It then analyses the applicability, for such photographs and videos, of the general exceptions for protection of artistic works in South Africa’s Copyright Act 98 of 1978. Click here for more.