Sign-On Statement to WTO in Support of TRIPS Waiver: Copyright Barriers Prevent an Equitable Response to COVID-10
[Mike Palmedo] A group of civil society organizations has drafted a statement to the World Trade Organization (WTO) highlighting the need to overcome copyright barriers to ensure an equitable response to COVID-19. The statement is open for endorsements from both organizations and from individuals until March 18. It will be formally submitted to the WTO on March 22. Click here for more.
WEBINAR – Book Talk with Martin Senftleben – The Copyright/Trademark Interface – How the Expansion of Trademark Protection is Stifling Cultural Creativity
[March 19, 2021 | 10:00am EST] The Copyright/Trademark Interface analyzes the clash between culture and commerce, and the imbalances caused by protection overlaps arising from cumulative copyright and trademark protection. The book highlights the corrosive effect of indefinitely renewable trademark rights and underscores the necessity to safeguard central preconditions for the proper functioning of the copyright system: the freedom to use pre-existing works as reference points for artistic discourse and as building blocks for new creations. Drawing on aesthetic, sociological, and economic theories that support initiatives to safeguard the autonomy of the literary and artistic domain and support the remix activities of artists, the author suggests sound criteria for identifying signs with cultural significance that should be excluded from trademark registration. Click here for more information, or to register for the event.
Strong Support for TRIPS Waiver Amidst Opposition by Big Pharma
[D. Ravi Kanth] More than 100 countries have upped the stakes for text-based negotiations on the TRIPS waiver proposal that seeks to temporarily suspend certain provisions of the WTO’s TRIPS Agreement in combating the COVID-19 pandemic, amidst attempts by Big Pharma to kill the waiver proposal, said people familiar with the development. Click here for more on twn.my.
EIFL and IFLA Issue a Joint Statement Calling on the World Trade Organization to Reduce Burdens on the World’s Poorest Countries
[Electronic Information for Libraries] EIFL and IFLA (the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions) have called on the Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) to extend international trade law measures which reduce burdens on the poorest countries, and allow them to set regulatory frameworks for copyright to enable their libraries to support education, research and cultural participation. The call comes ahead of a formal meeting of the WTO Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), that monitors implementation of the TRIPS Agreement. The meeting, that takes place on 10-11 March 2021, will discuss, among other issues, a request by Least Developed Countries (LDCs) to extend an exemption for LDCs from implementing the substantive obligations for protection and enforcement of IP rights, including copyright, in the TRIPS Agreement. Click here for more.
WEBINAR – COMMUNIA Salon on the German proposal to Implement Article 17
[Communia Association] On Wednesday, the 17th of March, we will be organising the next edition of our virtual COMMUNIA Salon. This time we will take another look at the German implementation proposal for Article 17 of the DSM directive… The German proposal has been adopted at an interesting time. While the Commission is finalising its implementation guidance, the German proposal shows what the user rights-preserving implementation foreseen by the Commission in its draft guidance could look like in practice. The proposed German implementation of Article 17 contains specific mechanisms designed to ensure that platforms comply with the requirement in Article 17 that legal uploads must not be blocked. While the proposal is not without flaws, it can nevertheless serve as an example for other Member States looking for a way to implement Article 17 in a user rights-preserving way. Click here for more.
Ensuring the Visibility and Accessibility of European Creative Content on the World Market: The Need for Copyright Data Improvement in the Light of New Technologies
[Martin Senftleben, Thomas Margoni, Daniel Antal, Balázs Bodó, Stef van Gompel, Christian Handke, Martin Kretschmer, Joost Poort, João Quintais and Sebastian Felix Schwemer] Abstract: In the European Strategy for Data, the European Commission highlighted the EU’s ambition to acquire a leading role in the data economy. At the same time, the Commission conceded that the EU would have to increase its pools of quality data available for use and re-use. In the creative industries, this need for enhanced data quality and interoperability is particularly strong. Without data improvement, unprecedented opportunities for monetising the wide variety of EU creative and making this content available for new technologies, such as artificial intelligence training systems, will most probably be lost. Click here for more.
Competition Regulation in Healthcare in South Africa
[Hardin Ratshisusu] South Africa’s nascent competition regulatory regime is coming of age and has potential to address historical market concentration challenges previously enabled by the apartheid regime, prior to its dismantling in the 1990s. Many sectors of the economy are highly concentrated, including the private healthcare sector, with market outcomes that breed market failures, lack of competitiveness and high cost of care. Looking through competition in the healthcare sector it becomes evident that the market structure challenges do not only require domestic interventions, but also a global response to address some policy and regulatory gaps. Click here for more.
