Uruguayan Rights Holders Seek to Roll Back Progressive Copyright Reform

[Timothy Vollmer] Uruguay is in the process of updating its copyright law, and in April a bill was preliminarily approved in the Senate. The law introduces changes that would benefit students, librarians, researchers, and the general public by legalizing commonplace digital practices, adding orphan works exceptions, and removing criminal penalties for minor copyright infringements. University students were the original proponents of the limitations and exceptions bill. But after its initial approval, collecting societies and publishers created a stir in the media to roll back the bill. Click here for more.

House Democrats Press USTR to Clarify Position on Compulsory Licensing for Generic Medicines in Colombia

[House Ways and Means Committee Democrats] A group of 15 House Democrats today sent a letter to U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Michael Froman urging the Administration to clarify its position on compulsory licensing for generic medicines in Colombia. … “As you know, the issuance of compulsory licenses is permissible under U.S. trade agreements and the WTO Agreement. We therefore find it deeply troubling that U.S. officials may not be respecting the Doha Declaration,” the Members wrote.  Click here for more.

See also:

  • 28 Organizations Ask President Obama to Support Colombian Compulsory License on Expensive Leukemia Drug.
  • Letter from Sens. Brown and Sanders to President Obama.

Fan-Created Movie Subtitle Site Operator Facing Prison

[Andy] The operator of a site that hosted fan-made translated movie subtitles has been prosecuted in Sweden. Undertexter.se was raided by police in the summer of 2013, despite many feeling that the site had done nothing wrong. That is disputed by the prosecutor who says that the crimes committed are worthy of imprisonment. Running a site offering or even linking to pirated movies and TV shows can be a hazardous occupation. It attracts the attention of copyright holders, the police, and in some cases even governments. For those running them these perils represent an occupational hazard. Click here for more.

Google Wins Another Fair Use Case

[Krista Cox] On May 26, 2016, a jury returned a verdict in favor of Google in its battle against Oracle.  Oracle brought suit claiming that Google infringed  by using Java application programming interface (API) in Android’s mobile operating system.  Google argued that its use of the code in the Android system, which relies partly on Java (an open source code that was acquired by Oracle in 2010), was fair use. Click here for more.

Is India Holding the Line Against Another TPP?

[Kyla Tienhaara and Belinda Townsend] …This agreement includes China, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, India and the 10 countries that make up ASEAN. Obama seems to be concerned that RCEP won’t mirror the TPP’s stance on issues like intellectual property protection. Health and environmental groups, on the other hand, are worried that RCEP could indeed be a TPP 2.0. They are particularly concerned that it may make life-saving medicines more costly and threaten the right of states to regulate in the public interest. Of the RCEP negotiating countries, it is India, rather than China, that has been the most outspoken in opposing US-style trade rules. Click here for more.