Fair Use Week
[Krista Cox] This week is Fair Use Week! There are a number of great activities lined up across organizations and institutions, including live panels and workshops, webcasts, blog posts, videos and chats/AMAs. I’m happy to announce that the website is now live where you can read posts, find great resources, and see the calendar of events. This site will be updated as folks add posts and videos as well as new events. You can visit the site here: http://fairuseweek.org/
Feb. 26 – Presenting the Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use of Collections Containing Orphan Works
[PIJIP] Over the last several years, libraries, archives and other memory institutions have recognized that copyright law poses a significant obstacle to digital preservation of and online access to large segments of their collections. This problem especially acute for archives and collections that contain orphan works—i.e., works for which it is difficult or impossible to find rights holders who might give permission for their use. The Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use of Collections Containing Orphan Works for Libraries, Archives, and Other Memory Institutions, released in December 2014, addresses how memory institutions can apply fair use to overcome these challenges. Click here for more on the upcoming event.
TRIPS In Question During Social Forum Discussion On Access To Medicines
[Catherine Saez] Intellectual property rights are hindering access to medicines by maintaining monopolies and high prices, according to speakers at an annual United Nations forum on human rights last week. Flexibilities enshrined in the World Trade Organization intellectual property agreement are hampered by political and economic pressure, they said, and a new system should be devised for pharmaceutical products. Click here for the full story on IP Watch.
“Ley SOPITA” Introduced in Mexico
[Mike Palmedo] Mexico’s PRI has introduced legislation, dubbed “Ley SOPITA” by some observers, that aims to “stop or prevent, in the digital environment, the commission infringements of intellectual property rights.” It would give the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property the ability to inspect businesses, collect data, and make interim orders that aim to stop infringements. Click here for more.
Call for Participants for Spanish-Language Online Course on Open Internet:
[Public Knowledge] The International team at Public Knowledge, in collaboration with Peer 2 Peer University (P2PU), is launching a free and open Spanish-language online course called “Open Internet,” and is calling for participants. The course will consist of 12 weekly modules with readings, assignments, facilitated online discussions, and multimedia videos, primarily in Spanish (some videos and readings are only available in English, but non-English speakers can work without them). Click here for the full call for students.
An Open Source Business Model for Malaria
[Christine Årdal and John-Arne Røttingen] Abstract: Greater investment is required in developing new drugs and vaccines against malaria in order to eradicate malaria. These precious funds must be carefully managed to achieve the greatest impact. We evaluate existing efforts to discover and develop new drugs and vaccines for malaria to determine how best malaria R&D can benefit from an enhanced open source approach and how such a business model may operate. We assess research articles, patents, clinical trials and conducted a smaller survey among malaria researchers. Our results demonstrate that the public and philanthropic sectors are financing and performing the majority of malaria drug/vaccine discovery and development, but are then restricting access through patents, ‘closed’ publications and hidden away physical specimens. Click here for more.
