Australian Government Productivity Commission Recommends the Introduction of Fair Use in Copyright Law
[Mike Palmedo] The Australian Government Productivity Commission has released its final report on ‘Intellectual Property Arrangements,’ which recommends a number of reforms to IP law, including changes to the law on patents, copyrights and enforcement. Regarding copyright and related rights, the Australian Government Productivity Commission warns that the scope of works eligible protection is too broad and the term of protection is too long, forcing copyright users face higher costs. It recommends clarifying the law on geoblocking and allowing parallel trade in books in order to expand access to works. The report recommends “Introducing a system of user rights, including the (well-established) principles–based fair use exception.” Click here for more.
WIPO Journal: Special Issue on Intellectual Property and Development
Thanks to Peter Yu for sending a link to the current issue of the WIPO Journal, which is dedicated to the theme of IP and development. Many of the articles look of interest to readers of the infojustice blog. Click here for more.
India-EFTA Trade Deal Talks to Be Held in January
[Press Trust of India] With India and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) members resuming talks for the long-stalled proposed free trade agreement last month, senior officials of the four-nation bloc will visit here in January to iron out differences related with the pact. The four members of EFTA are – Switzerland, Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein. …Negotiators of both the sides would discuss issues such as intellectual property rights (IPR), number of goods on which duties will either be eliminated or reduced significantly. EFTA wants India to commit more in IPR in the agreement, which is officially dubbed as Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA). They were also demanding for data exclusivity, which India is completely opposed to. Click here for more on the Economic Times site.
Cultural Heritage Institutions: Commission’s Copyright Proposal Fails to Address Our Needs
[Paul Keller] …a number of Europeana organisations representing libraries and other cultural heritage organizations released a joint response to the Commission’s copyright proposals. The paper, issued by LIBER, EBLIDA, IFLA, Public Libraries 2020 and Europeana, deals with those elements of the EU copyright framework that are directly relevant to cultural heritage institutions. This includes four issues addressed in the Commission’s Proposal for a Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market (the exceptions for Text and Data Mining, Education, and Preservation copies, and the measures aimed at improving access to out-of-commerce works), and a number of issues that the Commission’s proposal fails to address, such as on-site access to collections and online document supply. Click here for more.
