PIJIP to Host Globalizing Fair Use: Exploring the Diffusion of General, Open and Flexible Exceptions in Copyright Law

  • 9:00am – 3:30: An academic symposium co-hosted by PIJIP and the American University International Law Review will exploring new directions in domestic and international copyright law promoting adoption of general copyright exceptions that are open and flexible. Click here for the symposium agenda.
  • 4:00 – 6:30: A policy roundtable will be co-hosted by PIJIP, the Computers and Communications Industry Association, Google, the Re-Create Coalition and the R Street Institute. This public event and webcast (live and on demand) will gather leading international experts to discuss global debates around extending fair use rights abroad. A panel discussion will lend insights from local copyright debates followed by a discussion of academic members of the Global Expert Network on Copyright User Rights. Click here for the roundtable agenda.

Scare Tactics Down Under: The Ongoing Global Effort to Mislead on Canadian Copyright

[Michael Geist] Last month, I traveled to Australia and New Zealand as part of a group of experts to discuss copyright fair use and fair dealing. The trip included several public talks, meetings with government officials, a book launch on Reimagining Copyright, and the chance to discuss copyright policy directly with publishers, educators, and librarians. Videos of some of the panels are available online, including a New Zealand forum on copyright and innovation and a panel on comparative copyright limitations and exceptions at the Australian Digital Alliance annual conference. Click here for more.

See also:  Highlights from February Events on Fair Use in Australia and New Zealand. Link.

Eli Lilly Reported to Have Lost NAFTA Investor-State Dispute Against Canada

[Mike Palmedo] NAFTA dispute panel arbitrators are reported to have issued a decision in the dispute brought by Eli Lilly against the government of Canada, though the decision has not been made public yet. Lilly had alleged that Canada’s patentability requirements had an overly high standard of what was considered ‘useful’, causing it to lose patent cases, and that this had violated NAFTA’s requirement that each country grant patents on inventions  that “are new, result from an inventive step and are capable of industrial application.” Click here for more.

Defense Against the Dark Arts of Copyright Trolling

[Matthew Sag and Jake Haskell] Abstract: In this Article, we offer both a legal and a pragmatic framework for defending against copyright trolls. Lawsuits alleging online copyright infringement by John Doe defendants have accounted for roughly half of all copyright cases filed in the United States over the past three years. In the typical case, the plaintiff’s claims of infringement rely on a poorly substantiated form pleading and are targeted indiscriminately at non-infringers as well as infringers. Click here for more.

Trade Agreements, Patents, and Drug Prices: Continuing the Debate

[Amy Kapczynski, Bhaven N. Sampat and Ken Shadlen] Abstract: The upward-ratcheting of patent protection through trade agreements has generated significant concerns about potential effects on prices of drugs and access to medicines in developing countries. The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) included even more extensive pharmaceutical patent provisions than any before. While President Trump withdrew the US as a signatory to the TPP, the potential for new trade agreements to raise the same set of concerns generated by the TPP remains high. Previous work assessing the TPP argued that new data on pharmaceutical expenditures (and other measures) from countries with recent trade agreements with the U.S. indicated that concerns about pharmaceutical patent protection and drug prices are overblown and it may be time to move on from these debates. Click here for more.