Open Media Response to Copyright Rapporteur Therese Comodini Cachia’s Draft Report on Updates to the EU Copyright Directive

[Open Media] March 20- In response to today’s release of Copyright Rapporteur Therese Comodini Cachia MEP’s draft report on updates to the European Union Copyright Directive, OpenMedia’s Digital Rights Specialist Ruth Coustick-Deal said: “This is an issue of fundamental rights, and once again we see the need for the European Parliament to step in and undo the damage being inflicted by the European Commission. Cachia’s proposed updates to copyright legislation are a strong step in the right direction, but more needs to be done to ensure the ability of all Europeans to access information online and express themselves freely.” Click here for more.

Leaked Text: Is EU Tempted By Too Many Safeguards Limiting The Scope Of Blind Treaty?

[Catherine Saez] As the ratification by the European Union of an international treaty creating an exception to copyright for visually impaired people nears, a leaked text shows that the directive implementing the treaty in the EU might come with safeguards limiting the scope of the treaty, allegedly pushed by the publishing industry. The leaked document (from the General Secretariat of the Council of the EU to the Permanent Representatives Committee), seen by Intellectual Property Watch, is the latest draft proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and the Council. Click here for more.

Patients, Members of Congress Ask Chilean Government to Issue Compulsory Licenses on Prostate Cancer and HCV Drug Patents

[Zack Struver] Members of the Chilean Congress and a group of 6 patients visited the Chilean Ministry of Health yesterday to ask that the government use its authority under Chilean law to end patent monopolies on the prostate cancer drug enzalutamide (U.S. brand name Xtandi) and on sofosbuvir-based combination drugs for the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV). The patients and members submitted a petition that outlined the legal authority and public policy rationale for the grant of compulsory licenses on the patents for the drugs described in the petition. Those compulsory licenses would allow prescription drug manufacturers to produce affordable generic versions of the drugs, subject to a reasonable royalty. Click here for more on keionline.org.

Copyright Law and Digital Piracy: An Econometric Global Cross-National Study

[Antoni Terra] This article aims to identify which copyright law measures are more related to low/high digital piracy rates. …After processing the resultant database (or coding scheme) with econometric and descriptive statistical tools, the findings suggest that: (1) the legal measures correlated to high digital piracy rates include the sweat of the brow doctrine and secondary liability rules for Internet Service Providers (“ISPs”); (2) the measures most connected to low piracy rates are private copying and fair use provisions; (3) statutes that favor copyright holders are associated with greater rates of digital piracy; and (4) richer countries show lower levels of copyright infringement, which validates the development economics theory. Click here for more.

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

  • 9:00 – 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.