Colombian Government Presents Again Bill 1520 Without Citizen Participation

 Posted by on May 20, 2013  No Responses »
May 202013
 

Claudio BoteroLast Friday while celebrating the Internet day the government introduced a Bill, reproducing essentially the text of the former Law1520 (Ley Lleras 2) before the Congress. Despite the several citizen claims (last one) to open a civil dialogue when implementing the US FTA obligations before taking them to parliament, and after 3 failed attemtps to reform the Copyright system during the last 2 years (Ley Lleras 1 on ISP liability was filed , Law 1520 or Ley Lleras 2 that was implementing other copyright provisions was declared unconstitutional, and the 001 bill that developed some basic exceptions but in a very restrictive way and was finally retired this past week. Continue reading »

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Sentencia de Corte Sobre Ley Lleras 2: Inexequible

 Posted by on March 21, 2013  No Responses »
Mar 212013
 

colombia flag - better cropping[Published on karisma.org.co, CC-BY] El 23 de enero de 2013, la Corte Constitucional comunicó su decisión de declarar INEXEQUIBLE en su integridad la ley 1520 de 2012 (Ley Lleras 2), demandada por el Senador Jorge Enrique Robledo. El pasado 18 de marzo fue publicado el texto de la sentencia C-011 de 2013 y se mantienen pendientes de publicación los respectivos salvamentos de voto. Daniel Ríos Sarmiento, colaborador de la Fundación Karisma, resume así el logro que representa esta sentencia: Continue reading »

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Is Colombia regulating orphan works?

 Posted by on March 4, 2013  1 Response »
Mar 042013
 

colombia flag - better croppingThe issue of orphan works has been systematically ignored in Colombia, but it has suddenly appeared as part of draft legislation to reform to the country’s system of Copyright Collecting Societies.

At the end of 2012, the Colombian Performance Rights Organization (Sayco) faced an important scandal that led to the resignation of its manager, and later to the resignation of the head of the Copyright Office. Reports on the society’s bad practices were followed by the Copyright Office’s decision in 2012 to take control of Sayco using their surveillance powers given by law. This situation was one of the main factors that led the government to promote a reform of the Colombian system of copyright royalty management. Continue reading »

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Colombian Constitutional Court Support Colombian Civil Society Concerns: Ley Lleras 2.0 Is Not Constitutional

 Posted by on January 28, 2013  No Responses »
Jan 282013
 

boteroThe official press release of the Colombia’s Constitutional Court confirmed that #LeyLleras2 was declared unconstitutional in its entirety due to procedural irregularities during its process in Congress.

The Court after analyzing the content of the Act found that it mainly regulated copyright and related rights. For this reason, the approval on first debate of the bill should have been done in the first commissions of Congress because it was an intellectual property issue, and not in the second commissions in charge of international affairs. Continue reading »

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LeyLleras2 Declared Unconstitutional by the Colombian Constitutional Court

 Posted by on January 24, 2013  No Responses »
Jan 242013
 
*imagen de OpenSourceWay cc (BY-SA)

*imagen de OpenSourceWay cc (BY-SA)

[Cross posted from http://karisma.org.co/] Yesterday, January 23, the Constitutional Court of Colombia decided about the constitutionality of the law known as #LeyLleras2 (1520 of 2012 Act). According to the press information available at this moment, the Court declared the unconstitutionality of the entire law due to procedural irregularities incurred in Congress because the law was processed in the Second Commission of Congress, like an international treaty, but not as the internal implementation of an intellectual property law which the process should have been carried out in the First Commission. Furthermore, the 1520 Act was processed as an ordinary law and not as a statutory law. Continue reading »

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Copyright in Latin America: New Enforcement Measures Pose Major Threats to Internet Users in Panama and Colombia

 Posted by on September 28, 2012  No Responses »
Sep 282012
 

Co-authored by Carolina Rossini and Carolina Botero. Reposted from the EFF Deeplinks Blog.

After years of being one of the most progressive regions in the world in terms of balanced copyright policy, Latin America is unfortunately sliding into copyright maximalism, enacting increasingly restrictive copyright enforcement measures into their federal laws.

While Chile spent years drafting their broad reform to the copyright system along with civil society groups, and Brazil excitedly discussed the reform of copyright law with unprecedented civil society participation to draft a balanced bill, Colombia and Panama have rushed to write and approve new copyright frameworks with drastic consequences for the digital generation. Why is this occurring? It is the result of top-down, harsh implementation of bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) with the US, that require nations to enact far more restrictive language than what is found in the US itself.

This is precisely the kind of forum shifting and policy laundering we often blame on the US. But in these cases, Latin American governments should also be held accountable for their own choices. Continue reading »

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Internet Activa: A webinar for digital activists

 Posted by on September 17, 2012  No Responses »
Sep 172012
 

“Digital rights and civil freedoms on the web, 12 basic lessons online” is the first online seminar, to be launched from September 2012 until February 2013. This webinar will give you the information, criteria and basic tools to understand key issues in our times. It will also give you  a glimpse of similar experiences in Latin America and will connect you with other fellow activists in the defense of an Open, Participative and Free Web. Continue reading »

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Colombian Copyright Office Seeks Comments on Limitations and Exceptions to Copyright for the Visually Impaired

 Posted by on September 5, 2012  No Responses »
Sep 052012
 

In an unprecedented action the Colombian Copyright Office opened a consultation process for citizen participation on the instrument for limitations and exceptions to copyright for the visually impaired that is currently in discussions at WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (see the WIPO working document, in Spanish).

The Colombian’s Copyright Office’s mechanism is far from perfect, moreover, the institution’s terrible web page does not help to promote citizen participation. Continue reading »

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Colombian government attempts to implement copyright reform in three weeks!

 Posted by on March 22, 2012  2 Responses »
Mar 222012
 

Yesterday, the Colombian Executive introduced a draft law it says is required to implement its obligations under the Colombia-US Free Trade Agreement. The Congress has been called upon to do the necessary paperwork in three weeks to have the law in place before President Obama visits Cartagena in mid-April. Continue reading »

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