[Zeynep Varoglu] There is good news on the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Educational Resources process: UNESCO Member States, at the CI Sector Commission of the General Conference, recommended the adoption of the UNESCO OER Recommendation draft by the Plenary Session of the 40th General Conference next week.
Monrovia, Liberia, 18th November 2019 — More than 90 civil society organisations are today calling for urgent reform of the Harare Protocol of the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) in order to ensure people have access to more affordable medicines. The organisations demand that Ministers representing ARIPO Member States — who are meeting for the ARIPO Administrative and Ministerial Councils from 18 to 21 November in Liberia to change how they grant patents on medicines, in order to promote cost cutting generic competition.
[International Federation of Actors; International Federation of Musicians; and UNI – Media, Entertainment & Arts] We are writing to you as it has become apparent that several international industry federations in the publishing, music and audiovisual sector have approached you with scaremongering letters to avert your approval of a much-needed reform in South Africa, including vital provisions to enhance the livelihood of professional performers and authors. We want you to know that we strongly disapprove of this initiative.
The Karisma Foundation, hosts of the 2020 Global Congress on Intellectual Property in the Public Interest, has announced the dates: August 13-15, 2020. The Congress will be held at the Hilton Hotel, El Laguito, in Cartagena, Colombia.
[Communia Association] On Tuesday this week the participants of the stakeholder dialogue on Article 17 of the EU copyright directive convened in Brussels for the second meeting. After a first meeting that focused on practices in the music, games and software sectors (see our report here), this week’s meeting focused on the current situation in the audiovisual (AV) and publishing sectors.
[PrEP 4 All Collaboration] The decision by Health and Human Services (HHS) to sue Gilead for patent infringement on Truvada and Descovy PrEP is a critical step to provide access to effective HIV prevention to everyone who needs it. Gilead’s conduct is unconscionable and has had disastrous consequences. In the suit, HHS spells this out plainly: “Gilead’s conduct was malicious, wanton, deliberate, consciously wrongful, flagrant, and in bad faith.”
[Ed Black] ... Contrary to the suggestions of the U.S. companies opposing fair use in South Africa, there is nothing inappropriate about the Copyright Amendment Bill’s inclusion of fair use. South African users and creators should be allowed to benefit from fair use, just as American users and creators are able to, along with the millions of citizens of the other jurisdictions that have adopted fair use.
[Christopher J. Morten and Amy Kapczynski] Leading drug pricing bills in Congress tackle the problem of leverage with two distinct solutions to improve the government’s bargaining position: a tax on drug manufacturers that refuse to agree on a fair price and “competitive licensing,” under which the government accelerates market entry of competitors when a deal cannot be reached. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has endorsed the first approach, recently announcing a bill that would impose a tax on drug manufacturers when they fail to reach an agreement with the government on price under Medicare Part D. Rena Conti and Paul Kleutghen recently argued in a Health Affairs blog post that the second approach—competitive licensing—is impractical because of purported manufacturing, regulatory, and legal hurdles faced by drug companies licensed under the competitive licensing scheme.
The following statement was made by Deputy Director General Sylvie Forbin at the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights summarizing the conclusions from the international conference on limitations and exceptions held October 18-19 in Geneva, Switzerland. The text below is a transcript of an oral presentation and may contain small errors and incomplete syntax given the mode of presentation. A fuller written report on the conference and regional seminars will be published by the Secretariat two months before the 40th meeting of the SCCR. The date for the 40th SCCR has not been set.
[Chijioke Okorie] Last week, the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) published the ARIPO Model Law on Copyright and Related Rights (the Model Law). The ARIPO member states are expected to adopt and/or adapt the Model Law for their respective national purposes.
[Communia Association] Article 17(10) of the Copyright in the Digital Single Market directive requires the Commission to “organise stakeholder dialogues to discuss best practices for cooperation between online content-sharing service providers and rightholders”. Last week Tuesday we took part in the first meeting of the stakeholder dialogue. The dialogue (which will consist of a series of meetings) is supposed to provide the Commission with input for producing guidelines can “balance fundamental rights and the use of exceptions and limitations” with the upload filtering obligations introduced by Article 17 of the directive.
[Ellen 't Hoen] Uganda has notified the African Regional Intellectual Property Organisation (ARIPO) that pharmaceutical inventions are not eligible for patentability in the country, Managing IP reported. With this notification, Uganda is exercising one of the TRIPS flexibilities specific for least developed country members of the World Trade Organization that allows them not to grant or enforce pharmaceutical patents and protection of undisclosed data.