WIPO’s 23rd session of its Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights is taking place in Geneva November 22 – December 2. The session is debating a treaty on limitations and exceptions on libraries and archives; another on limitations and…
The World Trade Organization’s TRIPS Council will ask Member states to consider a request from Least Developed Countries for an extension of the deadline for their compliance with the TRIPS Agreement. IP Watch reports that Bangladesh presented the TRIPS Council…
The South Centre has released a new policy brief on the state of the implementation of the Doha Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health. It hails the Doha Declaration as a “landmark achievement for clarifying the relationship between IP and…
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the Commonwealth of Learning have published guidelines on Open Educational Resources. Its purpose is to “encourage decision makers in governments and institutions to invest in the systematic production, adaptation and use…
U.S. Register of Copyrights Maria Pallante has published a report outlining the “Priorities and Special Projects of the U.S. Copyright Office” for the next two years. According to the copyright office press release: “Rogue websites, illegal streaming, small claims, orphan…
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has announced “Re:Search,” a new consortium of pharmaceutical manufacturers, government entities, and nonprofit organizations which will share intellectual property in order to drive research and development for new drugs, vaccines and diagnostics for TB,…
The city of Sao Paulo has adopted a law supported by REA-Brazil that requires the city to purchase open educational resources. Specifically the resources must be available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike (CC-BY-NC-SA). The law will also require future…
The Pan African Conference on Access to Information was held this month in Capetown, hosted by UNECSO, the African Union, the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression, and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. Over 200 delegates…
On September 19-20, the UN held a High Level Meeting to develop a global strategy to fight Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), “principally cardiovascular diseases, cancers, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes.” A draft resolution was developed prior to the meeting for ratification…
Public Citizen Conference Call Briefing on Trade Negotiations Underway in the United States Contact: Arthur Stamoulis arthur@citizenstrade.org WHAT: Fair trade advocates from the United States, New Zealand and Australia will provide a press briefing via conference call on key…
Nominet, the British domain name register for .uk domain names, has requested comments on proposed rules concerning “Domain names used in connection with criminal activity.” The rules would include “an expedited process to suspend domain names.”
The next negotiating round of the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement will be held in Chicago from September 6-15. Negotiators hope to make progress on outstanding issues including intellectual property protection, which has been an area in which negotiators have had…