Category Access to Knowledge/ Education

Internet Providers, Trademarks Owners Need Collaboration And Trust, WIPO Panel Says

The responsibility of internet intermediaries in cases of intellectual property rights infringement has long been debated. Wedged between rights holders and internet users, intermediaries are asked to provide surveillance from the first and to preserve an open internet by the second. An information meeting organised by the World Intellectual Property Organization tried to gather different points of view on the role and responsibility of internet intermediaries in the area of trademarks.

European Parliament Passes Orphan Works Directive

The European Parliament today passed a “directive on certain permitted uses of orphan works” with 531 in favour versus 65 opposed (11 abstentions). The directive will be a good first step toward allowing the digitisation and making available to the public of older copyrighted works that are buried in the archives and libraries of the Union because no rights holder can be located, the lead rapporteur Lidia Geringer de Oedenberg (S&D) and many supportive MEPs said.

How To Reboot WIPO

By this point, I’m sure the entire intellectual property community knows that WIPO has problems, from an investigation of sanctions-busting in its technical assistance programmes going back years to allegations of vote-buying through abuse of the hiring process. It harkens back to the dying days of the term of the last Director-General, Kamil Idris, who left office early under a cloud, writes Nick Ashton-Hart.

Review Of WIPO Shipments To Iran, North Korea Issued; US Calls For New Safeguards

An independent study of the World Intellectual Property Organization’s technical assistance to countries sanctioned by the United Nations was released today, and while it did not conclude whether WIPO violated UN protocol or whether there was any personal gain involved, it did raise questions as to how such behaviour could have been perpetuated from the early 2000s right up to this year.

Separately today, the United States government made a sharp statement in a members-only WIPO meeting raising concerns about WIPO’s technical assistance activities and its viability as an organisation if it does not attain “an appropriate level of oversight, accountability and transparency.” The US called for new safeguards to ensure monthly, quarterly and annual reviews of its technical assistance involving sanctioned member states, and assurances that WIPO staff can speak with risk about past activities.

Public Not Eager To Be Consulted By ITU On Telecom Regs

The global public consultation started by the UN International Telecommunication Union (ITU) on the draft future International Telecommunication Regulations (ITR) has elicited few responses on the consultation website since it opened to comments on 15 August.

US Congressional Push For Release Of TPP Text; US Pressuring Nations Bilaterally?

With talks on the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement about to resume, members of Congress are putting pressure on the Obama administration to disclose what it's seeking on intellectual property rights. And civil society groups say that even more worrying than the closed-door nature of the TPP negotiations is the United States' increasing use of bilateral meetings to sway other countries.

NGOs Oppose US Proposal On Copyright For Trans-Pacific Trade Deal

At least a dozen non-governmental groups from several continents have issued a joint statement opposing apparent copyright language proposed by the United States in the ongoing Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement negotiations. The groups said the draft language, aimed at curbing copyright infringement, could undermine critical copyright exceptions, which are built into laws in order to protect society's access to public knowledge.