Original news and analysis on international IP policy
The annual World Health Assembly kicks off Monday with key issues of intellectual property and public health on the agenda, but the plan to end the assembly early this year in the face of the pandemic influenza crisis has trimmed talks on counterfeit medicines from the meeting, according to official sources.
The United Nations human rights framework is being brought to bear on intellectual property law, in the hopes that the weight of expert voices in human rights can lead IP regimes toward a better balance between the needs of industry and the needs of public policy.
In the continued absence of a new model that adequately includes them, major global media groups remain concerned over revenues lost to unauthorised file-sharing decades after the arrival of the internet, and their focus is still on enforcement and extension of their rights.
As cases of swine flu in humans pile up and fears that a more serious outbreak could occur in the future, member states, drug manufacturers and public health advocates gather Friday and Saturday to see if they can come up with a way to facilitate sharing of both viruses and vaccine related materials.
Intellectual property laws are a key point of contention at the reconvened meeting.
World Trade Organization Director General Pascal Lamy continues to be engaged on intellectual property issues as WTO members begin to revive broader trade negotiations. This week Lamy hosted the heads of the World Intellectual Property Organization and World Health Organization together, and then chaired a consultation with ambassadors on proposals to amend WTO rules on intellectual property and trade.
The French Senate’s vote on Wednesday sealed the adoption by the Parliament of the controversial French HADOPI law creating a graduated punishment mechanism for alleged copyright infringement on the internet.
An Argentinean philosophy professor is being sued for alleged copyright infringement for posting translated versions of French philosopher Jacques Derrida’s works on a website, according to the Copy South Research Group. The case is bringing international attention to the limitations on access to education brought about by copyright.
Los miembros de la Organización Mundial de la Propiedad Intelectual entablaron a finales de abril unas difíciles negociaciones para aprobar un nuevo plan para la aplicación de recomendaciones que permitan profundizar el enfoque de la OMPI en el desarrollo, según comentaron los participantes.
شاركت الدول الأعضاء في المنظمة العالمية للملكية الفكرية في مفاوضات صعبة في أوائل شهر أبريل/نيسان الماضي للموافقة على خطة جديدة لتنفيذ التوصيات بشأن تعميق تركيز جهود الويبو على التنمية، على حد قول المشاركين.
En avril dernier, les membres de l’Organisation mondiale de la propriété intellectuelle (OMPI) ont entrepris des négociations complexes dans le but d’approuver un nouveau plan de mise en application des recommandations visant à accroître les efforts de l’OMPI en faveur du développement, comme l’ont déclaré des participants.
World Intellectual Property Organization members on Friday overcame anxiety about overreaching of the UN body and agreed to study the Patent Cooperation Treaty, including proposals aimed at improving the efficiency and implementation of the treaty, taking into account some members’ concerns.
A new study shows a copyright exception for legalising file-sharing is feasible, as a cease-fire in the “war on copying” emerges. A new social contract between creatives and society is needed, says media sociologist Volker Grassmuck.