Original news and analysis on international IP policy
Pop star Stevie Wonder was a surprise guest this morning at the plenary session of the World Intellectual Property Organization diplomatic conference in Marrakesh concocting a treaty to facilitate access for blind people to books. The president of the diplomatic conference also exhorted delegates to bridge gaps and reach consensus.
A large portion of the United States Congress this week signed on to a letter to President Obama criticising India for its treatment of intellectual property rights.
For several years, research at the Max Planck Institute for Intellectual Property and Competition Law (MPI) – in collaboration with experts from all over the world – has examined the trend of bilateral and regional agreements that include provisions on the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights.
This week's World Intellectual Property Organization Marrakesh Diplomatic Conference, anticipated to deliver an international treaty allowing visually impaired people wider access to books, is also an arena where different stakeholders hope to influence the debate. Civil society calls for a practical treaty that really works on the ground, while industry insists that safeguards to protect the integrity of the international copyright laws be included in the treaty.
Displays of good intentions peppered the two first days of World Intellectual Property Organization negotiations on treaty facilitating access to books for visually impaired people. However, countries pleading for flexibility reaffirmed their previous positions. Developed countries seeking to preserve the international copyright system, and developing countries assuring that the treaty is not jeopardising this system.
World Intellectual Property Organization delegates this week have launched into negotiations expected to yield the first treaty creating exceptions and limitations to copyright for the benefit of visually impaired people. Many delegations have said much work remained to be done in the next ten days to breach differences. A new text was released this evening on commercial availability.
A guide to key provisions and limitations of the European Union directive on permitted uses of orphan works - those whose creators cannot be found - has been published by the Electronic Information for Libraries (EIFL).
A new coalition of United States business groups, called the Alliance for Fair Trade with India (ATFI), launched today to take aim against what they say are discriminatory trade practices in India against US exports.
In their traditional communiqué, Group of Eight countries at their annual summit welcomed ongoing efforts to negotiate bilateral and multilateral trade deals which they say will allow them to overcome economic uncertainties and shoulder the responsibility to support prosperity worldwide.
The World Intellectual Property Organization diplomatic conference expected to yield a treaty creating exceptions and limitations to copyright for the benefit of visually impaired people opened today in Marrakesh, Morocco.
Assurances of good faith and willingness to find solutions for remaining issues were given by delegates, while WIPO Director General Francis Gurry called for unity, King Mohammed VI talked about moral obligation in a royal message, and visually impaired people called for negotiators to create history. All nonetheless agreed on the importance of the copyright system.
During day one of the Summit of the G8 countries at Lough Erne Golf Resort in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland today, President Barack Obama, British Prime Minister David Cameron and the President of the European Commission, Manuel Barroso, jointly announced the formal start of negotiations of the US-EU free trade agreement, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).
European Commission Vice-President responsible for the Digital Agenda, Neelie Kroes, today told a US business group that revelations about the United States government's mass surveillance programmes would hurt US businesses, but create opportunities for European business. She also said the US should have been more transparent with the European Union and allow US companies to be more transparent, and risks undermining trust in digital services.