Copyright Act needs reform: must balance benefits for creators against a range of public interests [Australian Digital Alliance, Link (CC-BY)] It has been a big week for Australian Copyright. On Thursday the Attorney-General, the Hon George Brandis QC, tabled the…
[Official Release, Link] The ALRC was asked to consider whether the current exceptions and statutory licences in the Copyright Act are adequate and appropriate in the digital era. The Report, tabled on 13 February 2014, is the result of an…
[Lotti Rutter, TAC, Link (CC-BY-SA)] This updated research paper from the Treatment Action Campaign seeks to respond with reasoned analysis to a number of inaccurate claims that have been made by the pharmaceutical industry particularly in light of the PharmaGate…
[Reposted from Digital Rights LAC, Link, (CC-BY-SA)] At Digital Rights LAC we wanted to ask different specialists in the region about their personal appraisals on digital rights issues. This is the case of Carolina Botero from Colombia. We asked her…
[Lotti Rutter, Treatment Action Campaign, Link (CC-BY] Achieving the National Strategic Plan (NSP) objectives depends on the effective use of the national health budget. But is there sufficient emphasis on value for money in the health sector at a time…
Mariana Giorgetti Valente (@mrnvlnt) Pedro Nicoletti Mizukami (@p_mizukami) Creative Commons Brazil, Link, (CC-BY-SA) Center for Technology and Society @ FGV Law School, Rio [Versão em português/Portuguese version] While open licensing can be a powerful strategy to correct some of the…
[Tim Vollmer, Creative Commons, Link (CC-BY)] Both the U.S. House of Representative and Senate have passed the 2014 omnibus appropriations legislation (2.9 MB PDF). President Obama is expected to sign the bill shortly. What’s so special about this legislation? Federal…
PhRMA (Pharmaceutical Researchers and Manufacturers of America) is putting $350,000 on the table to stop proposed patent law reform in South Africa and instead to lobby for even more monopoly protections for medicines. Why would a pharmaceutical association from the…
[Cross posted from CCUSA, Link (CC-BY)] Much of what we hear about the globalization of copyright law around the world does not favor users. The dominant trend of lengthening terms, increasing criminalization and “deterrent” penalties and expanding third party liability…
[Treatment Action Campaign, Link, (CC-BY-SA)] Today the Mail & Guardian published a story entitled – “Motsoaledi: Big pharma’s ‘satanic’ plot is genocide” regarding leaked documents revealing that the international pharmaceutical industry planned a $450,000 campaign against the proposed patent law reforms…
Today, President and First Lady Obama met with university and higher education leaders to promote efforts “to help more students afford and graduate from college with the skills they need.” A White House press release highlighted the President’s efforts to…
Senators Baucus and Hatch (the Chairman and Ranking Minority Member of the Senate Finance Committee) have introduced Trade Promotion Authority legislation, formally titled the Bipartisan Congressonal Trade Priorities Act of 2014. The legislation grants the executive branch the authority to…