PIJIP Webinar: Google v. Oracle – The Supreme Court on Fair Use in Copyright Law
[April 16, 2021 | 11:00am EDT | 15:00 UTC] The Supreme Court’s recent decision in Google LLC v. Oracle America, Inc. has brought renewed focus on copyright law’s fair use doctrine. PIJIP Professors Peter Jaszi, Christine Farley, and Michael Carroll will engage in a roundtable discussion of the case and how to interpret its significance for the application of fair use in future cases. Click here to register.
The Temporary WTO Waiver to Fight Covid-19 Must Include Copyright
[Sean Flynn] Over 250 organizations, prominent researchers, and experts support South Africa and India’s recent proposal to temporarily waive World Trade Organization (WTO) rules on intellectual property — including copyright — for the “prevention, containment and treatment of COVID-19.”… Most of the public debate on the proposal focuses on patent barriers to the production of generic versions of vaccines. Some commenters have proposed a way forward by dropping the non-patent issues. Research by the Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property (PIJIP) helps demonstrate why the inclusion of copyright in the waiver is needed. One reason the existing TRIPS “flexibilities” for countries to issue compulsory licensing for patents is not adequate to scale up vaccine and treatment production around the world is that patents are not the only barrier. Access to industrial designs, undisclosed information and, yes, copyright is also often necessary. Click here for more.
See also: Hailey Konnath for Law 360. 250 Researchers, Orgs Urge WTO To Back COVID IP Waiver. Link.
Resolution Supporting the TRIPS Waiver Proposal Introduced in the Korean National Assembly
[Heesob Nam] Knowledge Commune, in collaboration with the Justice Party, successfully mobilized the members of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea to introduce this resolution… Recognizing that in this hyper connected global community COVID-19 pandemic can only be put an end by vaccination in every country, not in certain countries; Confirming that addressing of vaccine inequality is the key for ending COVID-19 pandemic; Recognizing that high income countries acquired two-thirds of the vaccine supply, accelerating vaccine inequality, and if this continues we have to wait until 2022 for herd immunity in low- and middle- income countries, which is estimated to produce an economic loss of UDS 9.2 trillion globally; Click here for more.
Open Covid Pledge Discussed on NPR’s “Academic Minute”
[PIJIP] On April 7, Jorge Contreras was featured on NPR’s “Academic Minute” podcast to discuss the Open Covid Pledge. Excerpt: “In early March 2020, along with news reports about the rapid spread of COVID-19 and its serious health effects, stories began to emerge that patents could hinder vaccine and drug research, as well as the manufacture and supply of products necessary to contain the pandemic and treat those with the disease.” Click here for more.
Compulsory License in Germany: Analysis of a Landmark Judicial Decision
[Christoph Spennemann and Clara Warriner] This policy brief analyzes how the German Federal Court of Justice addressed compulsory licensing under German patent law, where the request for a compulsory license was used in preliminary proceedings as a defense against alleged patent infringement. Click here for more.
TRIPS Meets Big Data
[Daniel J. Gervais] Abstract: The WTO has begun its work on the interface between Big Data and trade law, including the TRIPS Agreement. After defining Big Data, this paper explores how TRIPS and especially the copyright section might apply. It also discusses briefly the EU database right and then considers how an exception for Text and Data Mining (TDM) might be analyzed under TRIPS and the three-step test. Click here for more.
WTO-TRIPS Waiver: “Third Way” Set to Reinforce Status Quo?
[D Ravi Kanth] The World Trade Organization Director-General Ms Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is hosting a meeting with select trade ministers, large representation of Big Pharma, and a few other stakeholders on 14 April, in what appears to be an attempt to undermine the proposed TRIPS waiver, said people familiar with the development. Click here for more on TWN.my.
Now Is Not The Time For Publishers to Go After Online Libraries: Hachette Book Group, Inc. v. Internet Archive
[Nayram S. Gasu] Nothing better promotes the progress of science and the arts than access to knowledge, especially during a global pandemic. COVID-19 has highlighted how our society has changed in the past few decades and how much it needs to change in the decades to come. As schools and workplaces, law firms included, went partially or completely remote, connectivity and access to online resources became more important than ever. It is in this environment that several publishers chose to bring litigation against Internet Archive (IA) in Hachette Book Group, Inc. v. Internet Archive. Click here for more on Temple 10-Q.
