InfoJustice Eds.

InfoJustice Eds.

  • Joined: July 15, 2019
  • Articles: 284

Copyright Directive – Implementation – July news

[Natalia Mileszyk] Last month, we held the first edition of our Copyright Directive Webinars, aimed at explaining the different provisions of the new Copyright Directive and making suggestions on what to advocate for during the implementation process of those provisions at a national level, to expand and strengthen user rights. We’ve now released the presentations and video recordings of the webinars. As you know, many countries are now speeding up with the process of implementation of the Directive – you can find below a short summary of what’s going on.

Lessons from COVID-19: Pharmaceutical Production as a Strategic Goal

[Carlos Correa] As often said, major crises bring about challenges but also opportunities. The strategic importance of a local pharmaceutical industry has been growingly recognized as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. Developing countries should take advantage of this opportunity to strengthen their pharmaceutical industry, including biological medicines. Industrial policies would need to be reformulated under an integrated approach so as to expand value added & create jobs while addressing public health needs. South-South cooperation may also play an important role in increasing the contribution of developing countries to the global production of pharmaceuticals.

Who is Facilitating Fair Use in the time of a Pandemic?

[Mehtab Khan] The pandemic has put several pressures on the scope of fair use. Within a matter of weeks, millions of people lost physical access that they normally would have had through libraries and cultural institutions. Fair use was built to be flexible for circumstances like these. But now that users have changed the way that they are accessing copyrighted works, primarily through intermediaries, this has implicated copyright and fair use in novel ways.

COVID LESSONS – COPYRIGHT AND ONLINE LEARNING

[Teresa Hackett] At the end of March, at the height of the global lockdown, UNESCO estimates that more than 1.5 billion learners in 193 countries were affected by country-wide or localized closures of schools and other educational institutions. The closures happened overnight and mid-way through the academic year, leaving no time for teachers and students to prepare. For education to continue, it had to move off-campus and online.

Intellectual Property, Innovation and Access to Health Products for COVID-19: A Review of Measures Taken by Different Countries

[Nirmalya Syam] Abstract: The rising incidence of COVID-19 will require all countries, particularly developing and least developed countries, to be able to procure and manufacture the products required for the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of COVID-19. Intellectual property (IP) rights over such products can constrain the ability of countries to rapidly procure and produce and supply the products required at a mass scale. This Policy Brief describes the measures and actions taken by different countries to address potential IP barriers to access to the products required for COVID-19.

June 16 2020: A Sad Day for South African Youth

[South African Democratic Teachers Union, Independent Beneficiaries Forum, South African Guild of Actors, ReCreate South Africa, Section 27 and BlindSA] On June 16th we celebrate the resistance by the youth of Soweto and across South Africa to oppressive laws that limited their future education prospects based on race. In 1976 black school students left their desks to protest the imposition of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction. The massacre of students that followed was one of the darkest days in the history of apartheid. Sadly, 44 years later on June 16th 2020, we faced another dark day for the prospects of our young people. In a letter which received little media attention, President Cyril Ramaphosa referred the Copyright Amendment Bill back to Parliament. This move by the President could dash the future education and employment prospects of millions more young South Africans.

Will Patents stop Covid drugs from saving lives?

[Ken Shadlen] The Covid-19 pandemic has sparked a global race of public- and private-led research to develop vaccines and treatments. Will patents hinder access to the products it generates? ... With regard to treatments (the dynamics around vaccines may differ), access problems will mainly affect middle-income countries. While low-income countries will likely receive drugs at discounted prices, and with governments and philanthropic donors covering the costs, middle-income countries will face higher prices. To understand why, let’s compare Covid-19 to HIV/AIDS, and consider one potential treatment that has advanced in clinical development and about which we have enough patent information for an informed discussion.

How Filters fail (to meet the requirements of the DSM directive)

[Paul Keller] Article 17 of the DSM directive establishes that Online Content Sharing Service Providers (OCSSPs) are liable for copyright infringing uploads by their users unless they either obtain a license for the use of such content, or take a number of measures designed to prevent the availability of such content on their platforms. While the directive never explicitly talks about filters or automated content recognition (ACR) systems, it is assumed by all sides of the debate that, in order to meet this obligation, platforms have little choice but to implement ACR-based filtering systems that will scan all user uploads and block or remove uploads that contain works that have been flagged by their rightholders.

SOUTH AFRICA: MORE THAN 80 ACADEMICS, RESEARCHERS AND TEACHERS CALL ON PRESIDENT TO FIX THE PATENT LAWS

[Afro Chic] More than 80 leading academics, teachers and researchers have written to the President surrounding the need to make changes to South Africa’s patent law, particularly around issues pertaining to COVID-19. It details their urges to the President to engage in a process of law reform- something to which his offices have already committed, although progress in this regard has been slow. The letter relates to both existing and prospective patented and patentable equipment that may be used to combat or mitigate the effects of the pandemic and includes products such as respirators and personal protective equipment (PPE) as well as diagnostic testing equipment and medicines.

WHO Recognizes the Open COVID Pledge as a Means to Advance Research and Science in the Fight Against COVID-19

[Diane Peters] Today, under the leadership of the World Health Organization, more than three dozen member countries and other organizations announced their support of the WHO’s Solidarity Call to Action. We are pleased that within this statement of principles, the Open COVID Pledge is featured as a mechanism that allows holders of valuable COVID intellectual property to meet the WHO’s call to action by immediately and freely making IP available to anyone for purposes of combating the disease. Through the generosity and vision of pledgors, this intellectual property can be used to develop and rapidly innovate medicines, test kits, vaccines, equipment, software and other technology to mitigate the pandemic’s impact. We count among our current Pledgors many technology giants, as well as research projects and institutes.

Communia Association Copyright Directive Webinars

[Natalia Mileszyk] The process of implementation of the new Copyright Directive is speeding up in various countries (see our Implementation Tracker). Therefore, COMMUNIA has decided to organize a series of webinars aimed at explaining the different provisions of the new Copyright Directive and making suggestions on what to advocate for during the implementation process of those provisions at the national level, to expand and strengthen user rights. The Copyright Directive Webinars are aimed at local advocates and national policymakers and will be conducted by COMMUNIA members and experts that were involved in preparing our Implementation Guidelines. We will hold four webinars of one hour each, as follows.

Articles 7 and 8 as the basis for interpretation of the TRIPS Agreement

[Thamara Romero] Abstract: Articles 7 and 8 of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) play a central role in assuring the members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) the right to implement public health measures. The Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health is also an important element for the interpretation of any provision of the TRIPS Agreement that may have public health implications. The most recent and prominent example of the use of articles 7 and 8 for interpretation in WTO law can be found in the WTO Panel decision of 2018 on the Australia – Tobacco Plain Packaging dispute.