[Reto Hilty and Valentina Moscon] On 14 September 2016 the European Commission published a package of proposals aimed at the modernisation of copyright within the digital single market. This copyright package is of particular interest to the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition, which…
[Timothy Vollmer, Creative Commons, Link (CC-BY)] Today Creative Commons published a policy analysis covering several copyright-related issues presented in the draft intellectual property chapter of EU-Mercosur free trade agreement. We examine issues that would be detrimental to the public domain, creativity and…
[Drugs for Neglected Diseases press release, Link (CC-BY-NC-SA)] Malaysia has issued a “government use” licence enabling access to more affordable versions of an expensive and patented medicine to treat hepatitis C. This landmark decision should help the more than 400,000…
SPARC Europe, Link (CC-BY) SPARC Europe is leading and collaborating with an international coalition in an effort to halt the adoption of harmful provisions found in the current draft of the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market, and certain amendments,…
[William New, IP Watch, Link (CC-BY-SA] The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) today announced an “out-of-cycle” review of Thailand’s intellectual property policies after what USTR said were reports of improvement on several IP issues including trademarks and…
[Fifa Rahman for IP-Watch, Link (CC-BY-SA)] Gilead’s announcement today that they would include four middle-income countries (Malaysia, Thailand, Belarus, Ukraine) in their sofosbuvir voluntary licence was a welcome surprise, and will enable millions access to their highly effective, but exorbitantly…
We, the undersigned, are Internet freedom and public interest advocates drawn from all three nations party to this agreement, who are dedicated to the rights of all peoples to access cultural and educational resources, to enjoy a free and open…
[Ernesto for TorrentFreak. Link (CC-BY-NC)] Following two new court orders issued today, Australian Internet providers must block dozens of additional pirate sites. The new blockades were requested by Foxtel and Village Roadshow, and cover many of the most used pirate…
South Africa’s Department of Trade and Industry has released Draft Intellectual Property Policy (Phase I). The full document is here (PDF). The introduction, which summarizes the policy’s goals and proposed reforms, is below. The National Development Plan (NDP) of South…
Gerald Leitner, Secretary General of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions Reposted from IP-Watch, Link (CC-BY-NC-SA) Information is the raw material for decision-making. When individuals and groups make the right choices, based on good information, their chances of…
[Arul George Scaria and Anubha Sinha for LiveLaw.in, Link] Negotiators from sixteen countries are currently meeting in Hyderabad for discussing a free trade agreement titled Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). Looking at the latest available IP chapter (leak dated October…
[Andy, TorrentFreak, Link (CC-BY-NC)] A copyright amendment approved by the Italian authorities breaches the EU convention on human rights, an ISP organization has warned. The law allows the Italian Communications Regulatory Authority to issue “take down, stay down” instructions to…