Author: Papers

Protection of Copyright and Accessing Education Materials at Low Prices: Finding a Sustainable Solution for Bangladesh

Posted by | Jan 27, 2022 | , ,

[Mohammad Towhidul Islam and Moniruz Zaman] Abstract: This research article explains the intricate relationship between the copyright law and education and finds out that ‘the rudimentary hurdle’ posed by copyright as depicted in writings of intellectual property scholars like James Boyle is the cost of learning materials compared to the affordability in developing countries and LDCs. It also tries to strike a balance between copyright protection and access to education materials in an LDC like Bangladesh. While outlining the periphery of copyright protection, this article considers the scenario of the Bangladeshi book shops. It largely suggests that a ‘fairness’ model for the copyright landscape of Bangladesh can promote access to education and learning. Finally, this article concludes by illuminating new strategies for accessing education materials at low prices.

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Utilising Public Health Flexibilities in the Era of COVID-19: An Analysis of Intellectual Property Regulation in The OAPI and MENA Regions of Africa

Posted by | Jan 26, 2022 | , ,

[Yousuf A. Vawda and Bonginkosi Shozi] Abstract: The paper explores the unique approaches to IP protection in the countries belonging to the Organisation Africaine de la Propriété Intellectuelle/African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI) and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) regions; the limited extent to which legal and policy frameworks with regard to TRIPS flexibilities have been adopted and implemented in pursuit of access to medicines in those countries; and makes recommendations in order to optimise the use of the flexibilities in advancing public health objectives. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the impact of IP rights on access, and some approaches to countering the challenges to access are also discussed.

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The proposal for waiver of WTO’s TRIPS Agreement to prevent, contain and treat COVID-19: investigating the benefits and challenges for low- and middle-income countries

Posted by | Jan 23, 2022 | ,

[Sanath Wijesinghe, Chaminya Adikari, and Ruwanthika Ariyaratna] Abstract: This article examines the benefits of the TRIPS waiver for low- and middle-income countries with particular reference to the challenges that these countries may face in the manufacturing and purchasing stages of COVID-19 vaccines. We assess arguments for and against the TRIPS waiver and suggest actionable solutions that could be provided by global policy actors to enable low- and middle-income countries to overcome such challenges.

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A Rugged Land in a Flat World? The Localized Knowledge Spillovers in a Globalized Economy

Posted by | Jan 20, 2022 |

[Yanfeng Zheng and Qinyu Wang] Abstract: Does globalization breed global knowledge spillovers? We first examine this question using 13 million patents and their citations across 25 patent offices with a rigorous matching method. The results show that cross-country knowledge spillovers have surprisingly declined during 1990-2010. We then develop hypotheses intrigued by this counterintuitive trend through a legal perspective.

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Decolonising Copyright: Reconsidering Copyright Exclusivity and the Role of the Public Interest in International Intellectual Property Frameworks

Posted by | Jan 14, 2022 | , ,

[Jade Kouletakis] Abstract: International intellectual property frameworks conceive of copyright exclusivity as a largely individualistic, westernised and capitalistic benefit which must be balanced against and limited by the non-commercial, competing public interest. This is expressed primarily by way of limitations to and exceptions from the norm of exclusivity recognised within these frameworks. This article argues for an alternative interpretation of copyright exclusivity as being justified by the public interest. However, unlike the works of Geiger et al., this interpretation is not premised upon the constitutional and quasi-constitutional patterns accounting for the public interest foundations of IP. Instead, it is premised upon the conceptualisations of indigenous communities within the Global South relating to exclusivity over intangible property for the communal benefit.

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EU Copyright 20 Years After the InfoSoc Directive – Flexibility Needed More Than Ever

Posted by | Jan 11, 2022 | , , ,

[Martin Senftleben] EU copyright legislation has cultivated the constraining function of the three-step test known from Article 9(2) of the Berne Convention, Article 13 TRIPS and Article 10 of the WIPO Copyright Treaty. Instead of transposing into EU law the dualistic concept of these international provisions – the enabling function that creates room for the adoption of copyright limitations at the national level as well as the constraining function that sets limits to domestic copyright limitations – Article 5(5) of the 2001 Information Society Directive and Article 7(2) of the 2019 Digital Single Market Directive reduce the three-step test to the constraining function that further restricts copyright limitations and exceptions (L&Es) which are circumscribed precisely anyway.

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Copyright in the Time of COVID-19: An Australian Perspective

Posted by | Dec 1, 2021 | , ,

[Amanda Bellenger and Helen Balfour] Abstract: COVID-19 has raised many challenges in terms of applying Australian copyright legislation and related policies to higher education context. This paper describes the experience of Copyright Officers at Curtin University and Murdoch University from the initial stages of border-control measures affecting delivery of learning materials to students in China, to the wider disruption of the pandemic with many countries implementing lockdown measures, to the current environment where remote delivery is the “new normal.”

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Access Shrugged:The Decline of the Copyleft and the Rise of Utilitarian Openness

Posted by | Nov 21, 2021 |

[Aram Sinnreich, Patricia Aufderheide, Maggie Clifford and Saif Shahin] Abstract: This article maps patterns of interest in key terms associated with copyright and online culture in the US context. Using exploratory factor analysis of data from Google Trends, authors examined patterns in keyword searches between 2004–2019. The data show three distinct periods of interest. The first period consists of utopian, cause-driven search terms; the second marks a rise and eventual decline in creatively motivated, maker-fueled searches; and the third is characterized by rising utilitarian and institutional interest in accessible copyrighted material. These data show empirically that the public curiosity about alternatives to strict copyright have changed during the study period. Earlier, more idealistic movements contrast with later, more pragmatic approaches.

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Access to COVID-19 Vaccines in High-, Middle-, and Low-Income Countries Hosting Clinical Trials

Posted by | Nov 19, 2021 | ,

[Reshma Ramachandran, Joseph S. Ross, and Jennifer E. Miller] The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the rapid development of multiple vaccines, tested in clinical trials located in several countries. Low- and middle-income countries have experienced significant delays in vaccine access despite initiatives aiming to ensure fair distribution, such as COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX). Because pharmaceuticals do not receive consistent and timely authorization for use in lower-income countries where they are tested, we examined authorization and delivery of COVID-19 vaccines recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) in the countries where they were tested.

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The Natural Right To Parody: Assessing The (Potential) Parody/Satire Dichotomies In American And Canadian Copyright Laws

Posted by | Oct 30, 2021 | ,

[Amy Lai] This paper argues that the right to expressing oneself through parodies should constitute part of the core freedom of expression of a normative copyright regime. By drawing upon natural law legal theories, the paper proposes a legal definition of parody that would help to bring the copyright jurisprudence of a jurisdiction more in line with its free speech tradition. It argues that a broad parody definition, one that encompasses a great variety of expressive works but would not compete with the original and its derivatives in the market, is preferable to a narrow one. The paper then explains why the parody defence in American law and the parody exception in the Canadian copyright statute should follow the proposed parody definition, which would properly balance the rights of copyright owners with those
of users.

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Readability, Accessibility, and Clarity: An Analysis of DMCA Repeat Infringer Policies

Posted by | Oct 20, 2021 | ,

[Amanda Reid] Abstract: Internet access is an essential service in the digital age, and internet service providers (ISPs) are a powerful choke point in the digital ecosystem. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) offers statutory safe harbor protection from copyright liability on the condition that an online service provider (1) adopts, (2) informs subscribers of, and (3) enforces a policy to terminate repeat infringers, in appropriate circumstances. This study examines the second condition, namely how well an ISP informs subscribers of its repeat infringer policy. Other research has analyzed platform policies, like privacy policies and end user license agreements. However, there has been no systematic analysis of ISP repeat infringer policies.

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Introducing the Copyright Anxiety Scale

Posted by | Sep 27, 2021 | ,

[Amanda Wakaruk, Céline Gareau-Brennan and Matthew Pietrosanu] Abstract: Navigating copyright issues can be frustrating to the point of causing anxiety, potentially discouraging or inhibiting legitimate uses of copyright-protected materials. A lack of data about the extent and impact of these phenomena, known as copyright anxiety and copyright chill, respectively, motivated the authors to create the Copyright Anxiety Scale (CAS). This article provides an overview of the CAS’s development and validity testing. Results of an initial survey deployment drawing from a broad cross-section of respondents living in Canada and the United States (n = 521) establishes that the phenomenon of copyright anxiety is prevalent and likely associated with copyright chill.

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An Empirical Review of the Copyright Limitations and Exceptions for Educational Activities

Posted by | Sep 17, 2021 | ,

[Daniel Kiat Boon Seng] Abstract: International copyright instruments allow member states of WIPO to make various education-related limitations and exceptions to copyright. To better inform international policy-making in this area, it is instructive to examine how various member states have, in their national copyright legislation, enabled the use of works for education, given the nature and breadth of modern-day education. This paper categorises education-related limitations and exceptions in the legislation of member states into eight categories

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Copyright as a Barrier to Music Therapy Telehealth Interventions: Qualitative Interview Study

Posted by | Sep 16, 2021 |

populations. A therapist who plays music in a private room for a patient is not subject to copyright restrictions. However, in the wake up of the COVID-19 pandemic, music therapy is no longer strictly confined to the face-to-face setting. The present study explores music therapists’ perceptions of copyright law with respect to their ability to provide mediated services to their clients.

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The People’s Vaccine: Intellectual Property, Access to Essential Medicines, and the Coronavirus COVID-19

Posted by | Sep 12, 2021 | , ,

[Mattthew Rimmer] Abstract: This paper explores intellectual property and access to essential medicines in the context of the coronavirus COVID-19 public health crisis. It considers policy solutions to counteract vaccine nationalism and profiteering by pharmaceutical companies and vaccine developers. This paper considers the campaign for the development of a People’s Vaccine led by the People’s Vaccine Alliance, UNAIDS, Oxfam and Public Citizen.

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Repairing Medical Equipment in Times of Pandemic

Posted by | Aug 30, 2021 | , ,

[Ofer Tur-Sinai and Leah Chan Grinvald] Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic that has gripped the world since early 2020 has underscored the need for an effective right to repair medical equipment. As healthcare systems have been pushed to the limit, keeping critical medical equipment (such as ventilators) in working order has become a matter of life and death. Unfortunately, the ability of hospitals and other health care providers to service and fix their medical equipment is often hindered by the tight control that original equipment manufacturers keep over repair of their products. On top of direct contractual restrictions on repair, one of the major difficulties encountered by hospital-based and third-party service providers is the lack of access to service manuals, service keys, schematics, replacement parts, and repair tools. The ability to block access to these critical items is abetted, in large part, by intellectual property laws.

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A deeper look into the EU Text and Data Mining exceptions: Harmonisation, data ownership, and the future of technology

Posted by | Aug 27, 2021 | ,

[Thomas Margoni and Martin Kretschmer, Martin] Abstract: There is global attention on new data analytic methods. Data scraping (a typical first step for advanced data analytics), text and data mining (TDM, the extraction of knowledge from data) and machine learning (ML, often also simply referred to as Artificial Intelligence or AI) are seen as critical technologies. The legal issues involved in the regulation of data range from privacy and data protection (such as the GDPR) to proprietary approaches (such as copyright, database rights, or proposed new rights in data themselves). This paper focusses on one specific intervention, the introduction of two exceptions for text and data mining in the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market (CDSM). Art. 3 is a mandatory exception for text and data mining (TDM) for the purposes of scientific research; Art. 4 permits text and data mining by anyone but with rightsholders able to “contract-out” (Art. 4), for example preventing TDM use of publicly available online content by “machine-readable means”. Click here for more.

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Addressing Exclusivity Issues During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond

Posted by | Aug 13, 2021 | , ,

[Michael S. Sinha, Sven Bostyn, and Timo Minssen] Abstract: … This chapter addresses exclusivity issues, with a particular emphasis on regulatory exclusivities for vaccines and therapeutics. We begin with a basic overview of the current regulatory exclusivity landscape in Europe and the US, followed by a discussion of current developments in COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics. Next, we describe the influence of these technological developments on debates surrounding regulatory exclusivities while describing their relationship to other forms of exclusivities. From these assessments, we draw some lessons for market exclusivity, innovation, and access during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

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Interfaces and Interoperability After Google v. Oracle

Posted by | Aug 9, 2021 |

[Mark A. Lemley and Pamela Samuelson] Abstract: We address an important issue the Supreme Court left unaddressed this spring in its blockbuster Google v. Oracle decision: are computer interfaces copyrightable at all? We argue that they aren’t, and that the Federal Circuit’s decision to the contrary is an aberration that should not undermine a quarter century of consensus on the importance of interoperability and open APIs. In our view, denying copyright protection for APIs and encouraging interoperability is important not only for innovation in the software world but for restoring competition to a technology industry dominated by a few incumbent firms.

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