Original news and analysis on international IP policy
Access to artificial intelligence, big data, FinTech, eHealth, and digital connectivity are increasingly providing individuals around the world with access to vital resources such as employment opportunities, online banking and healthcare, according to a United Nations report released today.
On 9 May 2017, a five year court battle between publishers and universities finally came to an end when the Supreme Court of India dismissed an appeal by the Indian Reprographic Rights Organization (IRRO) challenging an earlier judgment of Delhi High Court that ruled course packs in India legal for educational purposes.
In a case that gained wide international attention, issues such as the cost of textbooks in India were raised, students agitated for fair access to educational materials, and the jurisprudence on copyright in India has taken a leap forward. In this guest blog, Anubha Sinha, Programme Officer on Openness and Access to Knowledge at the Centre for Internet and Society India, discusses the judgment in the case known as the ‘Delhi University photocopy’ case, and what it means for access to educational materials in India.
Matthew Sag and Sean Flynn write: This week, the South African Parliament began accepting comments on its pending Bill proposing to amend the South African Copyright Act to align it with the digital age. We and other experts and civil society organizations submitted comments praising many of the Bill’s provisions and proposing that it adopt an “open” fair use right. Here we focus on one major reason to adopt an open fair use right – to authorize so-called non-expressive uses of works. We conclude with some reflections on how international law could help in this regard.
At the G20 meeting in Hamburg today, the German hosts chose a retreat over the fight against terrorism as a warm-up, before turning to the controversial topics of free trade and climate change. Governments were very much in agreement when it comes to one thing: Internet platform providers must do more to fight radicalization and the use of the internet by terrorists.
The European Parliament today with over 600 votes adopted the legal instruments to ratify the Marrakesh Treaty on access to reading material for the visually impaired. The treaty, adopted by the members of the World Intellectual Property Organization in 2013 and effective since last year, has been subject of controversies due to lobbying from publishers in the European Union, members of Parliament said today in Strasbourg before the vote. EU member states after today’s vote have one year to implement.
The intergovernmental Council of Europe, based in Strasbourg, France, has published a freely available report on exceptions and limitations to copyright. The report comes as a contribution to the ongoing process of reforming European copyright rules.
Remote sensing and geo-ICT are prime technological tools to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, according to VITO, the Flemish Institute for Technological Research. But technology should not be considered as “deus ex machina,” a speaker added during the recent World Summit on the Information Society Forum (the WSIS Forum 2017).
The lack of content on the internet in local languages and the lack of local digital skills, especially among women and girls, remain central challenges for the digital economy, speakers said during a panel discussion at the recent World Summit on the Information Society Forum 2017 (WSIS Forum 2017).
The number of participants, sessions and the quality of the contributions of the different speakers has never been as high as during this year’s edition of the World Summit on the Information Society Forum (the WSIS Forum 2017), according to organisers.
BERLIN -- The future of the European intellectual property enforcement framework is under heavy discussion at the second IP Enforcement Summit of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) in Berlin today.