On April 17, several generations of experts gathering at American University law school to remember, retell and relive highlights of 25 years of public interest advocacy around copyright and information access, and to look ahead – all with a focus on the unifying guidance of library advocate Prudence Adler, known to all as “Prue.”
[Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition] SPARC..., an international alliance of academic and research libraries working to broaden access to knowledge, today applauded the reintroduction of the Affordable College Textbook Act in the U.S. Congress. The bill aims to make higher education more affordable for students by expanding the use and awareness of open educational resources (OER) — high quality academic materials that can be freely downloaded, edited and shared to better serve all students.
The one issue that unifies our divided America is the high cost of prescription drugs... On of the solutions currently working its way through Congress would permit patients to obtain lower-cost medication from pharmacies in Canada and other countries, where drug prices are frequently as much as 80 percent lower than those at US pharmacies. Americans haven’t waited for Congress to act, however: Despite the fact that it’s federally prohibited under most circumstances, an estimated 19 million Americans have already imported medicines for personal use because of cost.
[Frederick Abbott] Abstract: During the past year various members of the United States Congress have introduced legislation intended to ameliorate the high cost of pharmaceuticals, as well as to stimulate innovation using alternative mechanisms to the traditional patent system model. Several of the legislative proposals would authorize third-party importation of prescription pharmaceutical products from one or more countries. One issue considered by drafters of these legislative proposals was whether to include amendment of the United States Patent Act to authorize importation of pharmaceutical products first put on the market under the authority of the patent owner outside the United States. In other words, whether to provide for international exhaustion of patent rights, at least as to pharmaceutical products.
South Africa took another step toward enactment of a Copyright Amendment Bill focused on improving the lot of creators. On March 20, the committee of jurisdiction in the National Council of Provinces voted 6-3 in favor of reporting the bill to the full house next week without amendment. The full house is likely to pass the bill, clearing the last hurdle before the President can sign the bill into law.
The Bill is exceptional in including what will be the world’s most well considered and detailed fair use right. The fair use and education rights are eminently reasonable for a country founded on the principle that all laws must promote the Bill of Rights, including rights to freedom of speech, to receive information, and to education.
[Michael Carrier] My testimony to the Health Subcommittee of the House Energy & Commerce Committee supports legislation being considered to lower high drug prices. First, I support the CREATES Act and FAST Generics Act, which would ensure that generic companies receive the samples they need to enter the market. Second, I support the FAIR Generics Act, which would ensure that the 180-day exclusivity period is serving the purpose it was intended to by rewarding not just the first generic filer (who could settle with the brand by agreeing to delay entering for years) but also the first generic to win in court, demonstrating that the patent is invalid.
South Africa and other countries are currently considering proposals to convert from a “fair dealing” to a “fair use” user rights system. Some critics of the change fill their arguments with hyperbole without describing the facts about what is really at stake. This note attempts to dispel some common myths about fair use by describing what fair use is, and what is not.
[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.
[Ellen t'Hoen] On 1 February 2019, article 53(3), second sentence of the Dutch Patent Act 1995 came into force introducing a patent exemption for the preparation of medicines in a pharmacy. Article 53(1) of the Dutch Patent Act provides the usual list of exclusive acts reserved for the patent holder: to make, use, put on the market or resell, hire out or deliver the patented product, or otherwise deal in it in or for his business, or to offer, import or stock it for any of those purposes. The law now provides an exemption for pharmacy preparation to these exclusive acts.
[Sean Flynn and Peter Jaszi] We commend the Copyright Amendment Bill’s proposed introduction of an innovative, forward-thinking and South Africa-specific open general exception for “fair use.” The enclosed comments make the following main points: Fair use promotes innovation and free expression - as shown in the experience of other countries who have adopted it; The fair use provision, and the other limitations and exceptions in the bill, are fully compliant with the international “three step test”; The fair use clause will increase predictability under the law by adding an explicit fairness test; Experience in other countries does not support allegations that adopting fair use will increase litigation, shift burdens of proof onto copyright holders, decimate thepublishing industry or authorize widespread piracy.
[Singapore Ministry of Law] The Ministry of Law (MinLaw) will amend the Copyright Act to update Singapore’s copyright regime to better support creators and the use and enjoyment of creative works in the digital age. The proposed changes include better recognising creators for their work, allowing easier access to copyrighted materials for educational purposes and supporting creators and users in the collective licensing of copyrighted works. These changes are outlined in the Singapore Copyright Review Report released by MinLaw and the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) today.