Consumers International has published its annual “IP Watchlist,” a report that examines the copyright laws and policies of 30 countries, determining which are strongest (and weakest) at promoting access to knowledge. The list ranks each country according to 49 criteria, which fall in to four general categories: “scope and duration of rights; freedom to access and use (which is further sub-divided into eight types of use); freedom to share and transfer; and administration and enforcement.”
The top countries in the list this year are Israel, Indonesia, India, New Zealand, and the United States. The bottom five countries are Jordan, Argentina, the United Kingdom, Thailand, and Brazil. Consumers International notes that, in general, African and Latin American countries have “the harshest IP laws for consumers” because they “based their IP laws on those of the colonial powers, and have since only continued to strengthen them in favor of IP owners without introducing concomitant flexibilities for consumers and developed countries have done.”
Click here for the full report.
Click here for the press release.
