The User Rights track of the Fourth Global Congress on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest (www.global-congress.org), Delhi, India, December 15-17, 2016, and a Focus Issue of the American University International Law Review seeks research contributions.
Accepted paper proposals will be given opportunities to present and seek feedback on their draft work at the Global Congress on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest December 14-17, 2015, and at a Symposium at American University Washington College of Law in Washington D.C. on March 18, 2016.
New publications on international and comparative law will be considered for publication in the American University International Law Review (Spring 2016).
This series will focus on how law and policy can play a key role in breaking down barriers to full participation in the digital economy through expansions of user rights — the rights of users to access, use and transform digital content to further social, economic, cultural and political purposes. User rights can be found in diverse fields of law, including in human rights (e.g. the right to freedom of expression and opinion, the right to participate in cultural heritage, the right to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress, the right to privacy, the right to health), in limitations and exceptions and enforcement safeguards in intellectual property laws, in net neutrality and other communication industry regulation, in consumer and competition protection, in privacy rights — including those related to the capturing of user data, in contracts and terms of service, and through other laws that protect the rights of users of the digital economy and the content shared through it. The Track seeks research for presentation and publication that contribute to understanding of the role of user rights in enabling social, economic, cultural and political development, including promoting participation by marginalized groups in society. Topics of particular interest include:
- Comparative experiences with the consideration, adoption or interpretation of user rights in domestic legal systems.
- Empirical, qualitative or methodological studies on the social, economic, cultural and political impact of user rights, including on the inclusion of marginalized groups in society.
- Comparative treatment of user rights in international agreements, including multilateral, regional and bilateral agreements.
- Comparative or normative studies on the impact of internet regulation in the formation of user rights, including exploration of tensions between such regulation and intellectual property exclusivity rights.
- Comparative or normative analysis of the role of human rights in the digital economy, including in bounding the excesses of the growing “enforcement agenda” in global intellectual property law.
DEADLINES
AUGUST 1 PRIORITY APPLICATION
SEPTEMBER 1, 2015, DEADLINE
-To be considered to present at Global Congress, apply to http://form.jotformpro.com/form/50854976184973
-To apply for consideration for publication in the American University International Law Review and the March 18, 2016, apply at http://www.jotformpro.com/pijip/Call4Papers
DECEMBER 14-17: Global Congress on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest, Delhi, India.
FEBRUARY 1, 2016: Draft papers due for American University International Law Review publication.
MARCH 18, 2016. Workshop for paper presentation and feedback at American University Washington College of Law’s new campus in Washington D.C. Only for papers accepted for American University International Law Review publication and for which timely drafts are submitted.
APRIL 4, 2015: Final papers for publication due.
BACKGROUND ON AUILR
The American University International Law Review (“AUILR”) is one of the most frequently cited student-run international law publications in the United States. AUILR publishes articles, critical essays, comments, and case notes on a wide variety of international law topics, including public and private international law, the law of international organizations, international trade law, international arbitration, and international human rights. AUILR also publishes pieces on topics of foreign and comparative law that are of particular interest to the international legal community. AUILR publishes an annual volume featuring articles on international intellectual property law.
BACKGROUND ON THE GLOBAL CONGRESS
The 4th edition of the Global Congress on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest (“the Congress”), will bring research, civil society, industry and regulatory and policy-making communities together for active, intense engagement on key public-interest intellectual property issues. The theme for the 2015 Congress is Three Decades of Openness; Two Decades of TRIPS-comes at a pivotal time for reflection, revision, and further strategizing. Specifically, the 2015 Congress seeks to produce three outcomes- first, the mobilization of existing scholarly research directly into the hands of civil society advocates, business leaders and policy makers, leading to evidence-based policies and practices; second, the collaborative identification of urgent, global and local research priorities and generation of a joint research/advocacy agenda; and third, the solidification of an inter-disciplinary, cross-sector and global networked community of experts and practitioners focused on public interest aspects of IP policy and practice.
