Infojustice Roundup

U.S. Proposal for Limitations and Exceptions to Copyright in the TPP

Over the weekend, the U.S. proposal for limitations and exceptions to copyright in the Trans Pacific Partnership was leaked by KEI, and is available along with a statement here.  Earlier this week, PIJIP Professors Peter Jaszi, Michael Carroll and Sean Flynn released a statement on the U.S. proposal, calling it “a first response by the U.S. to the growing chorus of calls for increased attention to the need for international harmonization of mandatory minimum limitations and exceptions to intellectual property rights” but warning that “the inclusion of a U.S.-version of a three-step test in the TPP would cause numerous potential problems for the kind of balance in copyright systems that the new USTR proposal claims to advance.” The full statement is available here.  See also the EFF statement, available here.

La Quadrature du Net: Proposals for the Reform of Copyright and Related Culture and Media Policy

[repost from La Quadrature du Net] Now that the ACTA treaty has been rejected by the European Parliament, a period opens during which it will be possible to push for a new regulatory and policy framework adapted to the digital era. Many citizens and MEPs support the idea of reforming copyright in order to make possible for all to draw the benefits of the digital environment, engage into creative and expressive activities and share in their results. In the coming months and years, the key questions will be: What are the real challenges that this reform should address? How can we address them? Click here for more.

Hetero Joins Patent Pool; Signing License to Produce Low-Cost HIV Medicines

Hyderabad-based Hetero Labs has signed a license agreement with the Medicines Patent Pool that will allow it to produce key HIV medicines for a number of developing countries. The agreement will allow Hetero to produce four key medicines originally developed by Gilead Sciences – emtricitabine, cobicistat, and elvitegravir, and a combination of these medicines plus a fourth drug, tenofovir, in a single pill known as the “Quad” – in 100 to 112 countries. These medicines were licensed to the Pool by Gilead Sciences in July 2011. Click here for the full press release on the MPP website.

Draft 2 of Creative Commons Licenses 4.0 Ready for Public Comment

[blog by Diane Peter on creativecommons.org] We are pleased to post draft 2 of 4.0 for public discussion. This comes after several months of substantive conversations on a number of policy issues, with input solicited from our global community on the CC license-development list (archive), through affiliate consultations, via comments posted directly on our 4.0 wiki, and submissions to staff. Click here for more. Click here for more.