Professor Letter Opposing Trade Secret Legislation
[David Levine] Sharon Sandeen at Hamline Law and I have authored a letter dated August 26, 2014 and signed by 31 United States legal academics to the Congressional sponsors of the “Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2014” (“DTSA”) and the “Trade Secrets Protection Act of 2014” (“TSPA”). Congress has been weighing how to respond to increased cyber-espionage. The Acts are the latest bills to create a private cause of action under the Economic Espionage Act (EEA)… While the signatories acknowledge “the need to increase protection both domestically and internationally against domestic and foreign cyber-espionage,” as discussed in the letter, we urge the Acts’ rejection for five reasons. Click here for more.
Moneyweb vs. Fin24: South African Court to Find Whether News Aggregation Constitutes Copyright Infringement
[Caroline Ncube] Moneyweb is suing Fin24 for copyright infringement arising out of Fin24’s (re)publication of eight articles which had been initially published by Moneyweb (see a Mail and Guardian report here). Moneyweb has created a dedicated website (here) where it has posted all of the pleadings filed to date and media articles. This Leo rarely has an opportunity to read litigants’ court documents and is delighted that these documents are so readily available. Click here for more.
Time to Act: Ensure Access to Affordable Biotherapeutic Products
[Civil Society Statement for Pre-ICDRA and ICDRA] We, the undersigned organizations, bring to the attention of Drug Regulatory Authorities, WHO, Member States and other participants of Pre and International Conference on Drug Regulatory Authorities (Pre-ICDRA and ICDRA) and community in general the following concerns with regard to the regulation of biotherapeutic products, particularly biocompetitors, and its impact on access to affordable, safe and efficacious biotherapeutics. Click here for more.
Why U.S. Pressure Is Behind the Stalled Canadian Anti-Counterfeiting Bill
[Michael Geist] Last year, the federal government trumpeted anti-counterfeiting legislation as a key priority. The bill raced through the legislative process in the winter and following some minor modifications after committee hearings, seemed set to pass through the House of Commons. Yet after committee approval, the bill suddenly stalled with little movement throughout the spring. Why did a legislative priority with all-party approval seemingly grind to a halt? Click here for more.
Taking Users’ Rights to the Next Level: A Pragmatist Approach to Fair Use
[Niva Elkin-Koren and Orit Fischman Afori] Abstract: Exceptions and limitations to the rights of copyright owners aim to promote copyright goals in a rapidly changing world. Policymakers are often faced with the choice of either adopting an open-norm, such as fair use, to facilitate flexibility and adaptability, or opt for a strictly defined list of exceptions and limitations to facilitate more certainty and predictability. So far, this binary choice between bright-line rules and vague standards has created a deadlock. This paper argues that in order to promote a reasoned implementation of fair use and serve both the purpose of copyright law and the rule of law, courts should subscribe to the doctrinal indeterminacy mandated by fair use, while at the same time encourage the implementation of concrete rules within that standard. Incorporating bottom-up norms, such as Codes of Fair Use Best Practices, in fair use analysis, would enable courts to do just that. Click here for more.
The Next-Generation Copyright Monopoly Wars Will Be Much Worse
[Rick Falkvinge] …We’re now somewhere in the 1980s-equivalent of the next generation of copyright monopoly wars, which is about to spread to physical objects. The copyright industry is bad – downright atrociously cynically evil, sometimes – but nobody in the legislature gives them much thought. Wait until this conflict spreads outside the copyright industry, spreads to pretty much every manufacturing industry. People are about to be sued out of their homes for making their own slippers instead of buying a pair. If you think that sounds preposterous, that’s exactly what has been going on in the copyright monopoly wars so far, with people manufacturing their own copies of culture and knowledge instead of buying ready-made copies. There’s no legal difference to manufacturing a pair of slippers without having a license for it. Click here for the full column on torrentfreak.com
