Category Information and Communications Technology/ Broadcasting

African Ministers IPR Conference Addresses Issues For African Creators

DAKAR, Senegal -- The World Intellectual Property Organization 2015 African Ministerial Conference on Intellectual Property for Emerging Africa took place last week in Dakar, the Senegalese capital where around 50 ministers gathered as well as 200 participants. Among the many themes addressed, the conference called for better recognition of the rights of artists and creators. Musicians called for a strong musicians’ union to better defend their rights, advocating for a reform of African legislation on copyright. And Africa must boost its creativity and innovation to produce sports content by learning on what others are doing, panellists said.

Could Cross-Border Extended Collective Licensing Open Digital Treasure Troves?

STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- Libraries and archives are increasingly important in the digital era, but without better access to their vast reservoirs of data and materials for research and education, “we are going to lose out,” Anne Leer, World Intellectual Property Organization deputy director general, culture and creative industries sector, said at a conference hosted this week by the National Library of Sweden and Stockholm University. The 5-6 November event looked at whether cross-border copyright collective rights management might be an effective mechanism for accessing digital archives and libraries.

UN Works Through Issues Of A Changed Internet

Most nations in the world agree that all aspects of society now depend on the internet. But this year’s process of reviewing the 2005 World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) is showing how many challenges to the internet have arisen and how far apart nations are on the ways to address them.

WIPO Seminar: Digitisation Boosts Production Of New Music, Movies, Books

The latest instalment of the World Intellectual Property Organization seminar series, “The Economics of Intellectual Property,” set out to answer the question of whether the process of digitisation has affected the supply of new creative works.

European Parliament Votes Down Net Neutrality Amendments

By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch After another heated debate, the European Parliament today voted down several amendments aimed at strengthening network neutrality in the new telecommunications package which has been on the agenda of the European Union for…

Royalties Collection On Rise, Digital Income Catches Up With Physical, Report Says

Royalty collection is on the rise, according to an international confederation of collecting societies, with Europe being the most fruitful market and North America showing the highest growth. Digital income now equals physical revenues from royalties, the report says, and performing rights account for the bulk of collections.

US Copyright Office Draft Strategic Plan For Next Five Years

The United States Copyright Office has issued a draft strategic plan for 2016-2020, with a 30-day comment period. The draft strategic plan is available here. The United States Copyright Office “supports a vibrant marketplace of creativity and innovation that, in…

WSIS+10 Explained: Interview With Constance Bommelaer, Internet Society

On 15-16 December 2015, government officials from more than 190 countries will meet in New York to discuss the future of the internet. They will review progress made in achieving the goals set forth 10 years ago at the Tunis World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) meeting. The aptly named WSIS+10 Review is a pivotal point in determining the fate of the open internet – discussions at the review can influence how the internet is governed for the next decade, as well as whether the internet will continue as a means of economic development and opportunity for the global economy.

Alongside this week’s WSIS+10 stakeholder meetings at the UN, Intellectual Property Watch’s William New sat down with the Senior Director of Global Internet Policy at the Internet Society, Constance Bommelaer, to discuss what to expect in New York and the impact this meeting will have on the future of the internet.

CEIPI Event – Is Copyright In The EU Fit For The 21st Century?

The Center for International Intellectual Property Studies (CEIPI) of the University of Strasbourg welcomes the Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of the Digital Single Market, Andrus Ansip, for a conference-debate on the topic of the future copyright reform in the EU: “Is copyright in the EU fit for the 21st century?”.