Author: InfoJustice Eds.

The TRIPS Council on 15-16 October should agree to extend the transition period that exempts Least Developed Countries from implementation of the WTO TRIPS Agreement

Posted by | Oct 7, 2020 |

[Nirmalya Syam] The least developed country (LDC) members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) have submitted a request to the upcoming session of the TRIPS (Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) Council for an extension of the transition period available to LDC members under Article 66.1 of the TRIPS Agreement, for as long as they remain LDCs, and for an additional period of 12 years following their official graduation from the LDC category as determined by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly.

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Implementing the Marrakesh Treaty in Latin America: A Look at the Experiences of Four CC Community Members

Posted by | Oct 2, 2020 | ,

[Brigitte Vézina and Scann] Four years ago today, the Marrakesh Treaty entered into force. The Treaty is truly special in the international copyright law universe: it has a clear humanitarian and social development dimension and it’s the first international treaty that focuses on the beneficiaries of limitations and exceptions, rather than on the rights of creators or holders of related rights. Adopted at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in 2013, the Marrakesh Treaty’s main goal is to create a set of mandatory limitations and exceptions for the benefit of the blind, visually impaired, and otherwise print disabled (VIPs). The Marrakesh Treaty is a huge step forward for VIPs around the world, as it facilitates access to works in adapted versions. However, making sure the treaty works on the ground in each country or institution is not necessarily plain sailing.

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EIFL-KLISC Fact Sheet on US-Kenya Trade Talks

Posted by | Sep 29, 2020 | ,

[Electronic Information for Libraries] EIFL and our partner library consortium in Kenya, the Kenya Libraries and Information Services Consortium (KLISC), have issued a fact sheet on the proposed US-Kenya Free Trade Agreement (FTA), a comprehensive bilateral trade agreement that aims to strengthen economic ties between the US and Kenya… At least 20 priority areas for negotiation have been identified, including intellectual property (IP). However, any requirement to apply a standard of IP protection similar to that found in US law to Kenya, as a developing country, raises significant concerns among libraries and other civil society stakeholders.

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Civil Society letter on the Article 17 implementation guidance

Posted by | Sep 14, 2020 | ,

Earlier today 27 (update 16-09-2020: 30) civil society organisations sent a joint letter to Commissioner Breton summarising our responses to the Article 17 guidance consultation that closed last week… The letter expresses concerns that the proposed Article 17 guidance endorses the use of automated content blocking by online services even though it is clear that this will lead to the violation of fundamental rights. It also warns that implementations of Article 17 based on the proposed guidance will violate established principles of EU law.

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Global Congress: Week on Intellectual Property, Public Interest and COVID-19 – Apply Now!

Posted by | Sep 8, 2020 |

For all those interested who were waiting for the development of the Global Congress in 2020, we inform you that the event and in its full version, has been postponed to the year 2021. However, we invite you to participate in the activities that we will be organizing for this 2020 to be realized between the 5th and the 9th of October 2020, in order to have a virtual meeting space for the discussion of these topics that have shown their relevance in the framework of the global pandemic.

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Commission consultation on Article 17 guidance: User rights must be protected at upload

Posted by | Sep 7, 2020 | , ,

[Paul Keller] At the end of July the Commission published a long awaited “targeted consultation addressed to the participants to the stakeholder dialogue on Article 17 of the CDSM Directive“. With this consultation the Commission makes good on its (pre-covid) promise to “share initial views on the content of the Article 17 guidance” with the participants of the stakeholder dialogue. Nestled in-between 18 questions, the consultation document provides a detailed outline of what the Commission’s guidance could look like once it is finalised. While we have been rather sceptical after the end of the six meetings of the stakeholder dialogue meetings, we are pleased to see that the initial views shared by the Commission express a genuine attempt to find a balance between the protection of user rights and the interests of creators and other rightholders, which reflects the complex balance of the provisions introduced by Article 17 after a long legislative fight.

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Creative Commons Is Now Leading the Open COVID Pledge—Here’s What That Means

Posted by | Aug 28, 2020 | ,

[Diane Peters and Eric Steuer] We’re pleased to announce today that Creative Commons is taking on leadership and stewardship of the Open COVID Pledge. Earlier this year, CC joined forces with an international group of researchers, scientists, academics, and lawyers seeking to accelerate the development of diagnostics, vaccines, therapeutics, medical equipment, and software solutions that might be used to assist in the fight against COVID-19. The result was the Open COVID Pledge, a project that offers a simple way for universities, companies, and others to make their patents and copyrights available to the public to be utilized in the current public health crisis. Users of Creative Commons licenses will be familiar with the Open COVID Pledge’s approach. Like CC licenses, the Open COVID Pledge offers free, standard, public licenses that anyone can use to remove unnecessary obstacles to the dissemination of knowledge.

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An Open Letter to the Government of South Africa on the Need to Protect Human Rights in Copyright

Posted by | Aug 22, 2020 | , ,

[Cory Doctorow] Five years ago, South Africa embarked upon a long-overdue overhaul of its copyright system, and, as part of that process, the country incorporated some of the best elements of both U.S. and European copyright. From the U.S.A., South Africa imported the flexible idea of fair use — a set of tests for when it’s okay to use others’ copyrighted work without permission. From the E.U., South Africa imported the idea of specific, enumerated exemptions for libraries, galleries, archives, museums, and researchers. Both systems are important for preserving core human rights, including free expression, privacy, education, and access to knowledge; as well as important cultural and economic priorities such as the ability to build U.S.- and European-style industries that rely on flexibilities in copyright.

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Uneducating Copyright – Member States Can Choose Between ‘Full Legal Certainty’ and Patchworked Licensing Schemes for Digital and Cross-Border Teaching Activities

Posted by | Aug 19, 2020 | , ,

Author: Bernd Justin Jütte Abstract: The Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market supplements the existing exception for teaching of the Information Society Directive. The new exception focuses on digital and...

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ON A KNIFE EDGE? SOUTH AFRICA’S NEW COPYRIGHT LAW

Posted by | Aug 15, 2020 | , , ,

[EIFL] The Copyright Amendment Bill [B13B – 2017] had been sitting on the desk of President Cyril Ramaphosa for over a year waiting to be signed into law. In June 2020, when Blind South Africa issued a legal challenge over the delay, the President acted. But instead of signing the Bill that had been approved by the legislature, the President used his prerogative to return it to parliament citing constitutional concerns with certain aspects, including new exceptions for libraries, education and persons with disabilities. The President’s rejection of the Bill is widely seen as the result of pressure by copyright industries, and the threat of trade sanctions and reduced future investment from the United States and the European Union.

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COVID and Copyright – The Right to Research

Posted by | Aug 12, 2020 | , ,

[Teresa Hackett] In Part II of this two-part blog, EIFL Copyright and Libraries Programme Manager Teresa Hackett examines how the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of the right to research through two key issues, text and data mining and digital preservation by cultural heritage institutions, and how WIPO’s proven formula could address the issues. In Part 1 of the blog, we looked at the immediate challenges the COVID-19 pandemic posed for the copyright and licensing framework as education moved online.

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WTO TRIPS Council Discusses National IP Measures and TRIPS Flexibilities in the Context of COVID-19

Posted by | Aug 9, 2020 | , ,

[Nirmalya Syam] A regular session of the TRIPS (Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) Council was held virtually on 30 July 2020. This session offered the first opportunity for the World Trade Organization (WTO) Members to discuss intellectual property (IP) related issues in the context of COVID-19. Discussions focused on national measures taken by various countries in relation to IP in response to COVID-19 as well as the scope of the use of TRIPS flexibilities across the spectrum of various IP rights in order to ensure rapid development, scaled up manufacturing of and affordable, timely and equitable access to various technologies and products required to respond to COVID-19. South Africa made a strong general statement pointing to the need to consider new bold measures that will comprehensively and expeditiously address IP challenges.

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WHO, WIPO, WTO launch updated study on access to medical technologies and innovation

Posted by | Jul 29, 2020 | ,

[World Intellectual Property Organization press release] On 29 July, the Directors-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) presented a new edition of the Trilateral Study on Access to Medical Technologies and Innovation. Building on the first edition launched in 2013, the publication seeks to strengthen the understanding of the interplay between the distinct policy domains of health, trade and intellectual property (IP), and how they affect innovation and access to medical technologies, such as medicines, vaccines and medical devices. The second edition provides an improved, evidence-based foundation for policy debate and informed decision-making at a critical time for global health.

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EIFL Urges Brazil to Maximize the Benefits of the Marrakesh Treaty to Expand the Global Availability of Accessible Format Works for Persons with Print Disabilities

Posted by | Jul 29, 2020 |

[Electronic Information for Libraries] EIFL welcomed the opportunity to submit comments on Brazil’s implementation of the Marrakesh Treaty for persons with print disabilities. The comments focused on Article 4(4) of the treaty, an optional provision that allows a country to confine exceptions to works that are not available on the commercial market under reasonable terms, the so-called ‘commercial availability test’. EIFL opposes the introduction of a commercial availability test because it would undermine the overarching objective of the Marrakesh Treaty, which is to expand the availability of accessible format works for persons with print disabilities. It would especially hamper cross-border exchange of accessible format works, widely recognized as key to ending the global ‘book famine’ for persons with print disabilities, and fundamental to the treaty’s success.

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Coronavirus Pandemic: The Vaccine As Exit Strategy – A Global Hurdle Race Against Time with a Split Jury

Posted by | Jul 24, 2020 |

[Francisco Colman Sercovich] …The markets of the poorest countries, those most affected by prior pandemics thus far, are not profitable enough for wealthy countries-based multinationals to justify engaging in vaccine R&D. Beyond health-related imperatives, the large subsidies being swiftly granted by wealthy countries now in order to not just shorten schedules but also, perhaps for the most part, to ensure domestic production capacity and control of intellectual property rights, are a glaring recognition of the market failures involved and the ensuing need for public intervention — albeit often tinted by a narrow-minded nationalism.

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Copyright Directive – Implementation – July news

Posted by | Jul 21, 2020 | , ,

[Natalia Mileszyk] Last month, we held the first edition of our Copyright Directive Webinars, aimed at explaining the different provisions of the new Copyright Directive and making suggestions on what to advocate for during the implementation process of those provisions at a national level, to expand and strengthen user rights. We’ve now released the presentations and video recordings of the webinars. As you know, many countries are now speeding up with the process of implementation of the Directive – you can find below a short summary of what’s going on.

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Carolina Botero Appointed to the UNESCO Open Science Advisory Committee

Posted by | Jul 20, 2020 | ,

UNESCO has launched a two-year consultation process to build a global consensus on open science. The consultation process includes the establishment of an Open Science Advisory Committee appointed by the Director-General of UNESCO that will be in charged of drafting the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science so that we can have a “regionally balanced, inclusive and transparent consultation. Carolina Botero, Director of Fundacion Karisma and Host of the next Global Congress on IP and the Public Interest has been named to the Open Science Advisory Committee.

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Lessons from COVID-19: Pharmaceutical Production as a Strategic Goal

Posted by | Jul 17, 2020 | ,

[Carlos Correa] As often said, major crises bring about challenges but also opportunities. The strategic importance of a local pharmaceutical industry has been growingly recognized as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. Developing countries should take advantage of this opportunity to strengthen their pharmaceutical industry, including biological medicines. Industrial policies would need to be reformulated under an integrated approach so as to expand value added & create jobs while addressing public health needs. South-South cooperation may also play an important role in increasing the contribution of developing countries to the global production of pharmaceuticals.

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Coronavirus
Trade Agreements
NAFTA
TPP
ACTA
Domestic Legislation
Domestic Policy & Litigation
Limitations and Exceptions
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Multilateral (WIPO, WTO, UN)
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Ahmed Abdel Latif
Alek Tarkowski
Alexander Dent
Allan Rocha de Souza
Andres Guadamuz
Andres Izquierdo
Brandon Butler
Brook Baker
Burcu Kilic
Carolina Botero
Carolina Rossini
Caroline Ncube
Carrie Sager
Celeste Drake
Christophe Geiger
David Levine
Eve Gray
Hafiz Aziz ur Rehman
Heesob Nam
Hong Xue
Jonathan Band
Jorge Contreras
Jimmy Koo
Joana Varon
Joe Karaganis
Krista Maier
Lina Diaz
Leanne O’Donnell
Marcela Palacio Puerta
Matthew Rimmer
Matthew Webb
Michael Carroll
Michael Geist
Michael Palmedo
Michael Smith
Miguel Morachimo
Meredith Jacob
Margot Kaminski
Pedro Mizukami
Peter Maybarduk
Pranesh Prakash
Rashmi Rangnath
Sangeeta Shashikant
Sara Bannerman
Stela Bivol
Sean Flynn
Stephanie Rosenberg
Susan Chalmers
Thiru Balasubramaniam
William Xu
Peter Yu

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