Original news and analysis on international IP policy
Swiss health activist group Public Eye yesterday requested the Swiss government to declare a compulsory licence for a Roche breast cancer treatment which the group says is unaffordable.
Open access advocates in the United States are celebrating the expiration, and non-renewal, of the Copyright Term Extension Act, which introduces into the public domain all works from 1923, and signals an end of the practice by US lawmakers to continually extend the terms of copyright protection.
Leading figures from groups such as Creative Commons and Wikimedia Foundation gathered to discuss why this shift in policy took place, and what it means for the public domain. They asserted that this change is the result of a general acceptance of the value of “the commons,” brought on in part by the era of the internet.
As the World Health Organization Executive Board gathers tomorrow for its annual January meeting, health industry and advocacy groups have seized on a WHO report to be presented to the Board that finds high prices for cancer medicines are "impairing" governments' ability to provide affordable treatments. One issue they may have in common is a desire for more transparency in analyses of prices.
While the World Bank Group and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) are looking for new leaders following the unexpected resignations of their heads, the International Telecommunication Union re-elected its secretary general. The European Patent Office got two new vice-chairs, and the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) a new president, both starting in January. Associations for the creative industry and the pharmaceutical industry also elected new top officials, and lawyers continued to practice firm-hopping.
With negotiations for the European Union Copyright Directive apparently approaching an end, a group of some 95 screenwriters and directors joined the intensive lobbying efforts with a letter today urging that a principle of "proportionate" remuneration to them be enshrined. The letter spells out several elements they argue are key to ensuring European audiovisual authors are able to "make a living from our craft and creativity."
Teresa Hackett, EIFL Copyright and Libraries Programme Manager, attended the 37th meeting of the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR), the global body that sets international copyright law and policy, that took place in Geneva from 26 - 30 November 2018. During a full week advocating for libraries, EIFL participated in discussions on copyright limitations and exceptions, gave presentations at two civil society organized events, and engaged with government delegates from EIFL partner countries on library issues.
At the last SCCR of 2018, the main focus for libraries was on activities in the WIPO action plan 2018-2019; civil society presented ideas for the upcoming regional seminars on limitations and exceptions, as well as views on how to fix the draft broadcast treaty.
Ahead of the 5th trilogue meeting on the future copyright regulation between the rapporteurs of the European Parliament, member states and the European Commission on 13 December in Strasbourg, France, copyright activists collected over 4 million signatories to a petition to amend the draft legislation. Meanwhile, a court decision in Germany today puts use of its auxiliary copyright law for press publishers in question.
Core copyright industries have contributed more than $1.3 trillion to US gross domestic product (GDP) in 2017, and accounted for 6.85% of the US economy. They employed nearly 5.7 million workers in 2017, accounting for 3.85% of the entire US workforce, or 4.54% of total private employment in the United States, according to the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA)'s “Copyright Industries in the U.S. Economy: The 2018 Report.”
Big platform providers and small hosters alike shall be obliged to censor, according to a draft regulation presented by the European Commission in mid-September and accepted by EU member states at their Council meeting today.
Twelve years after the first proposal on the topic, it’s time to speed up the discussion about the global copyright limitations and exceptions regime, advocates and officials said alongside negotiations at the World Intellectual Property Organization last week. And a key focus will be on regional meetings being planned by WIPO on the issue.
European creators are alleging a scaremongering campaign by YouTube, and more than 30 entities representing creators in France say Google and YouTube are leading a massive fake information campaign against the European copyright directive currently under discussion in order to protect their commercial interests.
NEW YORK -- United States intellectual property stakeholders from academic, business and legal backgrounds gathered recently to discuss how to increase public support to strengthen the intellectual property rights system in the US, in light of China’s steady rise in numbers of patent and trademark filings. US IP stakeholders argued that developing public awareness and understanding of IP is key to building this support, with some holding diverging views on how to go about this.