REPOST

REPOST

  • Joined: March 14, 2011
  • Articles: 419

EU COPYRIGHT REFORM SHOWS NEED FOR GLOBAL REFORM

[Teresa Hackett] ... a closer look at European copyright legislation, including the Directive adopted by the European Parliament on 26 March 2019, demonstrates that both blocs clearly recognize the inadequacy of the current international framework to address barriers created by national copyrights for cross-border activities by educational and cultural heritage institutions. And they have addressed the problem through the adoption of pan-European legislation. In other words, European copyright reforms demonstrate the need for global copyright reform.

Say YES to Copyright and NO to Article 13

[Communia Association] Earlier today, on the eve of tomorrow’s vote, we distributed 750 copies a journal titled “Say YES to copyright and NO to Article 13” to the offices of the MEPs in Strasbourg. This is part of a last ditch effort by civil society organisations to prevent MEPs from approving a new copyright directive that includes the disastrous Article 13. You can download our journal here (pdf) and we are re-publishing the text of the editorial below.

ReCreate South Africa and Wikimedia ZA Panel on Copyright Amendment Bill

[ReCreate South Africa] The Copyright Amendment Bill has provoked a number of negative reactions in the wake of its passing before the National Assembly, with summits and symposiums by Copyright elitists claiming that the Bill will infringe on their copyrights. ReCreate in partnership with Wikimedia ZA feel that there is a need to remind the public of the true benefits and reasons we support the Copyright Amendment Bill.

Acting Public Advocate and Speaker Johnson, Elected Officials, The Prep4all Collaboration, and Advocates Rally for Affordable HIV Prevention Medication

[NYC Councilmember Press Release] cting Public Advocate and New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, Council Member Carlina Rivera, Assembly Member Dick Gottfried, former State Senator Tom Duane, founders of the PrEP4All Collaboration (and organizers of the #BreakThePatent campaign), and advocates held a rally to call on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to exercise its march-in rights and break Gilead’s patent of Truvada, the brand name medication for pre-exposure prophylaxis, also known as PrEP. March-in rights, as granted by the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980, allow the federal government to break patents in certain cases involving patents that resulted from publicly funded research. Breaking the patent in this case would make PrEP more affordable and accessible by allowing generic versions to enter the market.

Education International Submission to the Select Committee on Trade and International Relations Concerning the Copyright Amendment Bill [B13B -2017]

[David Edwards] Education International (EI) would like to support the progressive proposals to amend the South African Copyright Act. Education International (EI) is a Global Union Federation that represents organisations of teachers and other education employees. It is the world’s largest, most representative sectoral organisation of unions with more than 32 million trade union members in about 400 organisations in 170 countries and territories. Our African regional office is based in Accra and brings together approximately 121 member organisations from countries across the continent.

The Text of Article 13 and the EU Copyright Directive Has Just Been Finalised

[Julia Reda, MEP] In the evening of February 13, negotiators from the European Parliament and the Council concluded the trilogue negotiations with a final text for the new EU Copyright Directive. For two years we’ve debated different drafts and versions of the controversial Articles 11 and 13. Now, there is no more ambiguity: This law will fundamentally change the internet as we know it – if it is adopted in the upcoming final vote. But we can still prevent that!

Updated Study Finds Revenues from the New Creative Economy Grew 15% To $7 Billion In Just One Year

[Re:Create Coalition] Today the Re:Create Coalition released the second annual report on the economic value of the New Creative Economy, documenting that 16.9 million independent, American creators earned a baseline of $6.8 billion from posting their music, videos, art, crafts and other works online in 2017. Building upon last year’s study, the updated report found the number of new creators grew by 2.4 million (16.6%) and total revenues grew by 14.8%. Moreover, these results cover only nine leading online platforms for Americans participating in the New Creative Economy: Amazon Publishing, eBay, Etsy, Instagram, Shapeways, Tumblr, Twitch, WordPress and YouTube.

New Database Documents the Power of TRIPS Flexibilities

[Ellen 't Hoen] Medicines Law & Policy has published an on-line database of instances of the use of TRIPS flexibilities in public health contexts, titled the TRIPS Flexibilities Database. The publication of the TRIPS Flexibilities Database merits sharing a bit of its history because it has been a work in progress for some time. The database includes cases of actual use of TRIPS flexibilities and instances in which countries planned or threatened to use them.

Communia Endorses Treaty on Education and Research, And Asks Others to Follow Suit

[Teresa Nobre] Communia has endorsed the Civil Society Proposed Treaty on Copyright Exceptions and Limitations on Education and Research Activities (TERA), and asks others to follow suit, ahead of the 37th session of WIPO’s Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR). SCCR/37 will take place from 26 – 30 November in Geneva, and civil society advocates will propose that the treaty’s provisions be considered as a model for future text-based work by the committee... The proposed treaty aims to establish minimum standards for copyright exceptions for educational and research purposes, while at the same time affording countries significant flexibility in how to implement these obligations.

Ciencia Abierta y Conocimiento Libre Para un Futuro Incluyente y Justo

[Alex Argüelles] Especialistas y activistas de la cultura libre en América Latina y El Caribe están buscando nuevas maneras de incidir en las políticas públicas ligadas al acceso a la cultura en todas sus variantes. A través de una declaración producida colectivamente, buscan establecer un referente para el avance de la región en torno a la ciencia abierta.

Civil Society Letter to Indian Minister of Commerce & Industry Suresh Prabhu, re: RCEP and Access to Medicines

Dear Mr. Prabhu: We are writing to you as concerned people living with HIV and civil society organizations working on the issues of intellectual property (IP), trade, and access to medicines to express our serious discontent over the IP provisions in the ongoing negotiations of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). These provisions in RCEP are referred to as TRIPS-plus, and go way beyond India’s obligations under the World Trade Organization’s Agreement on Trade Related Aspect of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). We call on the Government of India to protect the flexibilities available under TRIPS agreement in larger public interest.