This morning, trade ministers from the twelve countries negotiating the Trans Pacific Partnership jointly announced that “we have successfully concluded the Trans-Pacific Partnership.” The U.S. Trade Representative has also released a summary of the agreement that has been reached. Negotiations…
This week Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker will meet their Indian counterparts for the first meeting of the U.S.-India Strategic and Commercial Dialogue (S&CD). The Republican and Democratic leaders of the Senate Finance Committee…
Appeals Court Affirms That Copyright Owners Must Consider Fair Use in Online Takedowns [EFF Press Release, Link (CC-BY)] An appeals court in San Francisco today affirmed that copyright holders must consider whether a use of material is fair before sending…
Creative Commons USA and over 100 other groups have sent a letter to President Obama urging a policy to ensure that “educational materials created with federal funds… are made available to the public as Open Educational Resources to freely use,…
Knowledge Ecology International has leaked the Trans Pacific Partnership draft chapter on intellectual property, dated May 11, 2015. They have also posted Director James Love’s initial comments on the patents and test data provisions, as well as his comments on…
The UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has opened a consultation on a proposal to extend the penalties for online copyright infringement to ten years imprisonment. Currently, the maximum prison term is two years. The consultation paper notes that the penalty…
This post presents preliminary data showing that firms in industries sensitive to copyright can succeed in countries other than the U.S. when copyright limitations include fair use. It is an early product of an interdisciplinary project at American University, in…
Trade Promotion Authority legislation was introduced in the House and Senate today. The full text is available here. Trade Promotion Authority lets Congress set trade negotiating objectives for the executive branch, and in return, the legislature agrees that it will…
Inside U.S. Trade reports that an American trade official, in a closed-door breifing with business representatives, “said TPP countries have closed virtually all text issues except IP,” but that there are also remaining market access issues related to investment, state-owned…
Last week the Senate Finance Committee held a hearing on the Obama Administration’s trade policy, in which U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman was the sole witness. Prepared statements from Chairman Orin Hatch, Ranking Minority Leader Wyden, and Ambassador Froman, and…
[Updated Jan 5] The U.S. International Trade Commission has released its report on Indian trade, investment and industrial policies, including but not limited to intellectual property rights. The full report is here and the the press release is here. The…
The 12 heads of state of the nations negotiating the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) met in Beijing today, where they issued a statement indicating they have”instructed our Ministers and negotiators to make concluding this agreement a top priority.” However,…