Category Academic Resources

The Copyright Experience of the University of the South Pacific: a Union Perspective

[Elizabeth Reade Fong] Legislation is meant not only to protect but to bring equity. And copyright legislation is not meant to be any different. However, the reality on the ground in a developing country like Fiji has only reinforced the inequity of access to and, more importantly, the use of information for learning and teaching and research for libraries and educational institutions. The pandemic exacerbated the situation!

Creative Action under Two Copyright Regimes: Filmmaking and Visual Arts in Australia and the U.S.

[Aram Sinnreich, Patricia Aufderheide and Donte Newman] Abstract: A comparison of the behaviors of two creative populations operating within cross-media environments in the U.S. and Australia tests the comparative effect of the two nations’ legal environments on the range of creative expression and on costs of production in increasingly digitized production processes.

The Status of Reproduction Rights Organisations (RROs) in Africa

[PIJIP] A new paper by Desmond Oriakhogba and Dick Kawooya has been posted to the PIJIP/TLS Research Paper series. The Status of Reproduction Rights Organisations (RROs) in Africa analyzes collective management of copyright in all of the African Union Member States. It finds that most countries do not follow the best practices for RROs outlined by the World Intellectual Property Organization.

Publishers and Copyright

[Enrico Bonadio and Anele Simon] Abstract: ...After giving a historical perspective showing how book publishers have traditionally held the reins of powers in their relationship with authors, the chapter focuses on the tension between publishers’ rights, on the one hand, and the moral rights of authors and rights of users, on the other. It then delves into a short analysis of a related and a sui generis right offered to publishers, namely the right in typographical arrangement of published editions (protected in UK and Australia) and the EU publishers’ right aimed at controlling the use of online press and publications.

Switzerland and Mexico’s Communication to the TRIPS Council Is Replete with Disinformation and Their Questions Easily Answered

[Brook Baker] Switzerland and Mexico have recently filed a communication entitled “TRIPS Council discussions on COVID-19 therapeutics and diagnostics: Evidence and questions on intellectual property challenges experienced by Members” at the TRIPS Council. This communication (IP/C/W/693) purportedly provides evidence on the supply and demand landscape of therapeutics and diagnostics, voluntary licensing and the affordability and accessibility of these products, but it does so on a highly misleading basis. Switzerland and Mexico claim, based on their self-selected information, that the international community is not facing a situation where there is an IP-induced lack of manufacturing capacity or affordable access to COVID-19 therapeutics and diagnostics. As a consequence, they argue that no adjustments to the IP system are required and further that the WTO TRIPS Decision, if extended, would have a significant detrimental effect leaving the world ill-equipped to fight the COVID-19 and future pandemics effectively.

Avengers Assemble! When Digital Piracy Increases Box Office Demand

[Klaus Ackermann, Wendy A. Bradley, Jack Francis Cameron] Abstract: Using the film industry, we show how the content of information goods changes the substitutability or complementarity effects of copyright infringement. Leveraging the quasi-random timing of the appearance of a high-quality pirated movie after its release in-theaters, we find for “spectacle”-oriented films, where the value of the good is linked to in-theater viewing, piracy complements box-office sales. For “story”-oriented films, where the value of the good is inherent—unenhanced by in-theater viewing—piracy displaces sales. Our findings suggest the value of creative content is linked to its distribution context, with relevance for commercialization strategies of digital goods in creative industries.

Innovation and Social Welfare: A New Research Agenda

[Fulvio Castellacci] Abstract: Innovation research is motivated by the understanding that new technologies contribute to address societal challenges and foster welfare. Extant research in the economics of innovation has, however, adopted a narrow definition of social welfare, which focuses on economic performance and material well-being, and that mostly disregards distributional impacts of innovation. This paper critically reviews the concept of social welfare in the economics of innovation literature, and it outlines a new research agenda that will investigate the impacts of innovation on individuals’ well-being and aggregate social welfare.

Harnessing the Multilateral Patent and Plant Variety Protection Regimes to Advance Food Security: Implications of the EU-ECOWAS Economic Partnership Agreement

[Uchenna Felicia Ugwu] This thesis analyzes the provisions of contemporary intellectual property (IP) and trade agreements to explore whether these provisions advance, or compromise, food security in West Africa. The agreements have been examined for how their provisions integrate IP and food security norms and policies, and the extent to which the IP frameworks are adaptable to the regional conditions that determine food security in the West African context.

Reforming Copyright or Toward Another Science? A More Human Rights-Oriented Approach Under the REBSPA in Constructing a “Right to Research” for Scholarly Publishing

[Klaus Beiter] Abstract: This article identifies copyright impediments existing in the sphere of science, to then make (tentative) suggestions as to how these may be overcome. It focuses on scholarly publishing only, and here primarily on digital content, specifically asking whether expensive commercial scholarly publishers continue to “add value” to research in the digital era. The deficits of copyright law and potential solutions thereto are assessed in the light of the right of everyone “to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and its applications” (REBSPA) as laid down in Article 15(1)(b) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) of 1966. A substantial part of the discussion examines whether and, if so, in what ways, the REBSPA gives rise to a “right to research,” also in an extraterritorial sense that would require the right to be respected beyond borders, and what the normative implications of such a right would be for copyright and science.

From Patents to Secrets

[Michael Risch] Abstract: Beginning in 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court limited the type of inventions that were patentable. In the aftermath of these limits, patent plaintiffs began to lose cases—especially software patent cases—in a way they had not before. Commentators predicted that, faced with waning patent protection, inventors would look to trade secrecy to protect their creations. This chapter is the first to empirically test this prediction.

Zooming in on Education: An Empirical Study on Digital Platforms and Copyright in the United Kingdom, Italy, and the Netherlands

[Bernd Justin Jütte, Guido Noto La Diega, Giulia Priora, Guido Salza] Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a significant change in the types of teaching infrastructure used in higher education. This article examines how the use of commercial digital platforms for educational purposes impacted on teaching practices. At the same time, it shines a light on the experiences and (legal) perceptions of educators as an essential category of stakeholders within the EU copyright legal framework. Against the background of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the study reflects on the process of ‘platformisation’ of education and delves into copyright-related aspects of the online teaching and learning environments.