InfoJustice Eds.

  • Joined: July 15, 2019
  • Articles: 297

EIFL Urges Brazil to Maximize the Benefits of the Marrakesh Treaty to Expand the Global Availability of Accessible Format Works for Persons with Print Disabilities

[Electronic Information for Libraries] EIFL welcomed the opportunity to submit comments on Brazil’s implementation of the Marrakesh Treaty for persons with print disabilities. The comments focused on Article 4(4) of the treaty, an optional provision that allows a country to confine exceptions to works that are not available on the commercial market under reasonable terms, the so-called ‘commercial availability test’. EIFL opposes the introduction of a commercial availability test because it would undermine the overarching objective of the Marrakesh Treaty, which is to expand the availability of accessible format works for persons with print disabilities. It would especially hamper cross-border exchange of accessible format works, widely recognized as key to ending the global ‘book famine’ for persons with print disabilities, and fundamental to the treaty’s success.

Coronavirus Pandemic: The Vaccine As Exit Strategy – A Global Hurdle Race Against Time with a Split Jury

[Francisco Colman Sercovich] ...The markets of the poorest countries, those most affected by prior pandemics thus far, are not profitable enough for wealthy countries-based multinationals to justify engaging in vaccine R&D. Beyond health-related imperatives, the large subsidies being swiftly granted by wealthy countries now in order to not just shorten schedules but also, perhaps for the most part, to ensure domestic production capacity and control of intellectual property rights, are a glaring recognition of the market failures involved and the ensuing need for public intervention -- albeit often tinted by a narrow-minded nationalism.

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.

Carolina Botero Appointed to the UNESCO Open Science Advisory Committee

UNESCO has launched a two-year consultation process to build a global consensus on open science. The consultation process includes the establishment of an Open Science Advisory Committee appointed by the Director-General of UNESCO that will be in charged of drafting the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science so that we can have a "regionally balanced, inclusive and transparent consultation. Carolina Botero, Director of Fundacion Karisma and Host of the next Global Congress on IP and the Public Interest has been named to the Open Science Advisory Committee.

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.