Could Sanctioning South Africa for Copyright Reform Violate the World Trade Organization?

[Sean Flynn] This note describes the limitations that the World Trade Organization agreements place on criteria for generalized systems of preference programs, such as those included in AGOA. First, the GSP enabling clause requires that factors be non-reciprocal, general, and oriented toward the recipients’ development. These standards may be violated when criteria are not based on a broad based international norm such as in the agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). Second, the dispute settlement understanding prohibits unilateral litigation of TRIPS. Click here for more.

See also:

  • Andrew Rens and Achal Prabhala in Business Day. No Reason for President to Delay Urgently Needed Copyright Law. Link.
  • Eve Grey. Remembering … Then and Now – Rights Administration and the South African Publishing Industry Before and After the End of Apartheid. Link.
  • Electronic Information for Libraries. EIFL urges President Ramaphosa of South Africa to sign the Copyright Amendment Bill Without Delay Amid Threats of US Trade Sanctions. Link.
  • Mike Palmedo. Top Trade Officials from US and South Africa to Meet Over Copyright Amendments Bill Dispute. Link.

Analyzing the Impact of Trade and Investment Agreements on Pharmaceutical Policy: Provisions, Pathways and Potential Impacts 

[Deborah Gleeson, Joel Lexchin, Ronald Labonté, Belinda Townsend, Marc-André Gagnon, Jillian Kohler, Lisa Forman, and Kenneth C. Shadlen] Abstract: Trade and investment agreements negotiated after the World Trade Organization’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) have included increasingly elevated protection of intellectual property rights along with an expanding array of rules impacting many aspects of pharmaceutical policy. Despite the large body of literature on intellectual property and access to affordable medicines, the ways in which other provisions in trade agreements can affect pharmaceutical policy and, in turn, access to medicines have been little studied. There is a need for an analytical framework covering the full range of provisions, pathways, and potential impacts, on which to base future health and human rights impact assessment and research. Click here for more.

Copyright Exceptions for Nonprofit Performance of Music Found Constitutional in Korea

[Knowledge Commune] The Constitutional Court of Korea upheld Art. 29(2) of the Copyright Act as constitutional. Art. 29(2) permits a public performance of commercial phonograms and audiovisual works if no profit is received in return from audience, excepting cases as prescribed by the Presidential Decree. This provision has long been under attack by music industries and European Commission. Click here for more.

What Happens When Books Enter the Public Domain?

[Jacob Flynn, Rebecca Giblin, and François Petitjean] Copyright’s underuse hypothesis is simple: that, unless publishers are assured of exclusive rights in older works, they won’t continue to invest in making them available. This of course contradicts a core tenet of classical economic theory, that investors will continue to produce copies of books (or anything else) so long as they can expect to get back more than they put in… We have now carried out the first international test of the underuse hypothesis – across the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. And, since we were analysing availability of works across jurisdictions, that enabled us, also for the first time, to examine how the availability of identical works differed according to copyright status. Click here for more.

The Obscure Consumer in the Chinese Intellectual Property Law

[Jyh-An Lee and Yangzi Li] Conventional wisdom suggests that an ideal intellectual property (IP) regime should consider various interests, such as incentives for creators and inventors, social access to creative works, market competition, and economic development. Nevertheless, the interest of consumers has long been neglected in IP policy-making. This article systematically reviews recent Chinese court decisions on IP and explores their implicit consumer policy implications. The article reveals that the Chinese courts have occasionally embedded consumer policy considerations when applying the Copyright Law, Patent Law, Trademark Law, and the Anti-Unfair Competition Law. Moreover, this article illustrates how policy goals underlying the IP regime and consumer protection law are consistent or supplementary with each other in the implementation of different categories of IP laws. Click here for more.

The Medicines Patent Pool Announces New Licensee for HIV Paediatric Treatment

[MPP press release] On World AIDS Day, the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) announces a sublicence agreement with Indian manufacturing partner Cipla for the development, manufacture and supply of HIV treatment lopinavir (LPV) and ritonavir (RTV or r) individually or in combination, for paediatric use. LPV boosted with RTV (LPV/r) is recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a component of first- and second-line HIV treatment regimens for neonates and children. Click here for more from the Medicines Patent Pool. Click here for more.

Our Guidelines for the Implementation of the DSM Directive

[Communia Association] We are thrilled to release our Guidelines for Implementation of the DSM Directive. These guidelines explain different provisions of the new Copyright Directive and make suggestions on what to advocate for during the implementation process of those provisions in the EU Member States. They are aimed at local advocates and national policy makers, and have the general objective of expanding and strengthening user rights at a national level beyond what is strictly prescribed by the new Directive. Click here for more.

See also: IFLA. Three Reasons Why Libraries Should Care About the EU-Digital Single Market Directive. Link.

Protecting Exceptions: New Survey of Legislation Safeguarding the Rights of Libraries and Their Users

[International Federation of Library Associations] A major advance in the most recent European copyright reform has been the inclusion of a ‘contract override’ provision for most of the new copyright exceptions. This addresses the problem that thanks to the principle of freedom of contract, libraries can often find themselves with fewer possibilities to allow for access to, and use of, a work than the law suggests. Click here for more.

Australia’s Stop Online Piracy Act: Copyright Law, Site-Blocking, and Search Filters in an Age of Internet Censorship

[Matthew Rimmer] Abstract: Relying upon the work of Cory Doctorow, this paper argues that Australia’s copyright regime for site-blocking and search-filtering poses a threat to consumer rights, competition policy, and Internet Freedom. This paper first reviews the model of the Copyright Amendment (Online Infringement) Act 2015 (Cth) introduced by the then Minister for Communications and the Arts the Hon. Malcolm Turnbull. Secondly, it explores the flurry of cases brought by the film, television, and music industries in respect of this legislative regime. Third, this paper evaluates the expansion of this regime with the Copyright Amendment (Online Infringement) Act 2018 (Cth). In light of such developments, the conclusion calls for a new approach for Internet regulation by the Australian Parliament. It highlights the need for a bill of rights in Australia for a digital age. As Sir Tim Berners-Lee says, we need a Magna Carta to protect an open and accessible Internet. Click here for more.