Mike Palmedo

Mike Palmedo is the admin for infojustice.org, and he manages interdisciplinary research on copyright exceptions at American University College of Law's Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property. He has Masters degrees Economics and in International Affairs, and is an economics PhD candidate.
  • Joined: January 13, 2011
  • Articles: 783

A Review of Copyright Exceptions for Quotation – How Often Do Laws Include “Permitted Purposes?”

[Mike Palmedo and Margarita Gorospé] In April 2019, IIPA petitioned USTR to review South Africa's GSP benefits, alleging it fails to provide "adequate and effective" protection of copyrighted works... IIPA notes the following concern with the quotations exception in South Africa's Copyright Amendments Bill: "Section 12B(1)(a) provides a broad and circular exception for quotation, permitting any quotation provided that 'the extent thereof shall not exceed the extent reasonably justified by the purpose,' but without enumerating the permitted purposes, for example, criticism and review." However, this type of language is not uncommon.

Overview of 2020 Special 301 Hearing

Last week, the Interagency Trade Policy Staff Committee chaired by the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) held its hearing for the 2020 Special 301 Review... All of the documents associated with the investigation, including the request for comments, submissions from industries and countries, etc. and hearing statements are available at https://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=USTR-2019-0023. A transcript of the hearing will be posted on the docket within the two weeks. Below are some notes on the hearing.

User Rights Network Members File Comments to USTR on the GSP Review of South Africa

PIJIP has created a page for comments submitted by members of the User Rights Network to the U.S. Trade Representative for its GSP Country Practice Review of South Africa. This review is being conducted in response to an IIPA petition critical of South Africa's Copyright Amendments Act.

Comment to USTR for the 2019 GSP Review of South Africa

[Mike Palmedo and Andres Izquierdo] Our submission demonstrates that it is common for countries to allow the use of copyrighted works for educational purposes – even full works – without the authorization of the copyright owner. We reviewed the copyright laws all the Members of the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) and the WIPO Group of Latin American and Caribbean Countries (GRULAC) – a total of 38 countries.

Top Trade Officials from US and South Africa to Meet Over Copyright Amendments Bill Dispute

The Daily Maverick reports that South African Minister of Trade and Industry Ebrahim Patel and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer will soon meet to discuss a dispute over South Africa's proposed Copyright Amendments Bill. The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has launched a formal review of South Africa's trade benefits through the General System of Preferences (GSP), to investigate whether the Amendments violate the GSP's eligibility criterion that beneficiary countries provide" provide adequate and effective protection of intellectual property rights." It is doing so at the request of the International Intellectual Property Alliance, a US-based trade group representing publishers.

IIPA Petition Leads USTR to Review South Africa’s GSP Benefits

The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has announced an upcoming review of South Africa's eligibility for trade benefits under the General System of Preferences (GSP), a system which allows duty-free imports from developing countries that meet certain criteria. According to the announcement, USTR "is accepting a petition from the International Intellectual Property Alliance based on concerns with South Africa’s compliance with the GSP IP criterion, in the area of copyright protection and enforcement." It will publish a Federal Register Notice requesting comments and announcing the dates of a public hearing.

Article Highlights Controversies Around the South African Music Rights Organization

Struan Douglas has a recent article in Noseweek arguing that the South African Music Rights Organization (SAMRO) needs to operate under more transparency, and to be more closely regulated. He notes a "huge income inequality gap between top and bottom royalty earners", and reports that 95 out of its 595 top royalty earners were "music publishers, most of whom were found to have been deregistered or nonexistent." Douglas also reports that SAMRO has been charging license fees for public domain works.

USTR Seeks Comments For Annual Report on Foreign Trade Barriers

The U.S. Trade Representative has called for comments for the National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers (NTE). The report, published each year "sets out an inventory of the most significant foreign barriers affecting U.S. exports of goods and services, including agricultural commodities, U.S. intellectual property, U.S. foreign direct investment by U.S. persons, especially if such investment has implications for trade in goods or services, and U.S. electronic commerce."

Former USTR Official: USMCA Can Be Amended If U.S. Wants To Pass A Law Violating Its Obligations

Former Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Mariam Sapiro has written a memo for the Pass USMCA Coalition arguing that the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) would not prevent a future Congress from shortening the period of marketing exclusivity granted to new biologic medicines in the U.S. She argues that the countries could amend the agreement if the U.S. wanted to pass a law in violation of its current obligations.

Microsoft Releases Draft Data Sharing Agreements

Today Microsoft released three draft data sharing agreements for comment. They are intended to help individuals and organizations share data in order to “address some of society’s biggest challenges and help individuals and organizations be more innovative, efficient, and productive.” The agreements are crafted with an eye towards use in the context of training artificial intelligence models.

The Impact of Copyright Exceptions for Researchers on Scholarly Output

Abstract: High prices restrict access to academic journals and books that scholars rely upon to author new research. One possible solution is the expansion of copyright exceptions allowing unauthorized access to copyrighted works for researchers. I test the link between copyright exceptions for health and science researchers and their publishing output at the country-subject level. I find that scientists residing in countries that implement more robust research exceptions publish more papers and books in subsequent years. This relationship between copyright exceptions and publishing is stronger in lower-income countries, and stronger where there is stricter copyright protection of existing works.