Ottawa NAFTA Round Turns to Copyright

[Sean Flynn] It was being reported among various observers of NAFTA over the weekend that the talks in the IP chapter are progressing toward Copyright. The US appears poised to table the first set of its demands for that portion of the IP chapter. But it is also rumored that that the US demand may exclude the issue of copyright balance. Civil society organizations, including internet freedom and information justice advocates from the US and Canada (Mexico was largely absent due to the earthquakes), gathered in Ottawa over the weekend to provide the public forum on NAFTA issues that the formal negotiation has yet to sponsor. Click here for more.

See also:

  • Matt Schruers. Calls to Backtrack on Copyright Balance Put Tech backing for NAFTA in Doubt. Link.
  • Michael Geist. Canada’s NAFTA IP and E-commerce Priorities: My Appearance Before the Standing Committee on International Trade. Link.

Modernisation of the EU Copyright Rules Position Statement of the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition

[Reto Hilty and Valentina Moscon] On 14 September 2016 the European Commission published a package of proposals aimed at the modernisation of copyright within the digital single market. The Institute has responded to all of the proposals included in the copyright package in a Position Statement. It includes several parts and chapters examining whether the suggested provisions are adequate for reaching their intended objectives. Click here  for more.

EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement Would Harm User Rights and the Commons

[Timothy Vollmer] Today Creative Commons published a policy analysis covering several copyright-related issues presented in the draft intellectual property chapter of EU-Mercosur free trade agreement. We examine issues that would be detrimental to the public domain, creativity and sharing, and user rights in the digital age. The policy paper is also available in Spanish and Portuguese. Click here for more.

DNDi Welcomes Malaysia’s Move to Secure Access to More Affordable Treatments for Hepatitis C

[Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative] Malaysia has issued a “government use” licence enabling access to more affordable versions of an expensive and patented medicine to treat hepatitis C. This landmark decision should help the more than 400,000 people living with hepatitis C in Malaysia access sofosbuvir, and could have important repercussions in the global effort to secure access to expensive treatments for this viral disease. Click here for more.

German Court: Thumbnail Images in Search Engines Not A Copyright Violation

[Monika Ermert] In a noteworthy ruling, the German Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe today decided that the use of picture search engines and the publishing of the resulting thumbnails and reference links does not violate German copyright law (I ZR 11/16 – Vorschaubilder III) . The case that had been brought by US adult content provider Perfect 10 against AOL Germany turned out favourable to Google in the end, whose picture search engine had been the tool in question. Click here for the full story on IP Watch.