Category US Domestic Policies

U.S. Copyright Office Finds That Ancillary Copyright May Violate the Berne Quotation Right

[Jonathan Band] The U.S. Copyright Office’s recently released study Copyright Protections for Press Publishers raises serious questions about the compatibility of ancillary copyright regimes with international copyright treaty obligations. The Copyright Office conducted the study at the request of members of Congress to assess the viability of establishing ancillary copyright protections in the United States similar to protections now being implemented in Europe. Under such regimes, online news aggregators must pay for publishers for excerpts of content they provide for others to view.

Farmers, Seeds & the Laws: Importing the Chilling Effect Doctrine

[Saurav Ghimire] As an increasing number of countries are formulating Plant Variety Protection (PVP) laws, a growing number of farmers are affected by plant breeders’ rights. In addition, the seed certification law also affects farmers’ relations with seeds. Discussing the farmers’ interaction with the PVP law and seed certification law in Indonesia, this article establishes that the farmers have internalised the law beyond the scope of the legal text, such that they self-limit breeding, saving, and exchanging of seeds even in legally permissible situations. Based on the chilling effect doctrine, this article argues that the related laws should be relaxed to ensure that they do not over deter farmers from exercising their rights. This article calls for both negative and positive state obligations to address the chilling effect on farmers arising from both state and private actors.

100 Members of Congress Write Biden Administration Urging Compulsory Licenses for Drugs Produced with Taxpayer Funding

[Mike Palmedo] A group of 100 Members of Congress led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Lloyd Doggett has sent a letter to DHHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, asking him to take actions to lower U.S. drug prices. The letter specifically asks him to "utilize administrative authorities, including government patent use compulsory licensing under 28 U.S.C. 1498 and march-in and royalty-free rights under the Bayh-Dole Act." These actions would introduce generic and biosimilar competition for drugs developed with U.S.-taxpayer funding.

20 New Copyright Policy Recommendations

[Communia Association] This page lists the 20 policy recommendations launched in May 2022. These supersede the 14 policy recommendations that we published in 2011 and that we evaluated in 2021. The policy recommendations have been developed though a consultation process that gathered input from more than 60 academics, activists and other experts that ran from late 2021 to early 2022. This process was made possible though a generous donation by Pam Samuelson and Bob Glushko. Our policy recommendations concern themselves with measures to defend and expand the public domain, measures that protect and promote usage rights, measures to empower creators and their audiences and measures that create safeguards against copyright abuse.

Progress as Impact: A Contemporary View of the Copyright and Patent Clause

[Alina Ng] Abstract: The Constitution grants Congress the power to promote the progress of science and the useful arts through the intellectual property clause. ... This article argues that intellectual property laws need to have a more contemporary understanding of progress, one that reflects the reality and practicality of how progress actually unfolds and shows how construing progress as making an impact on social and economic welfare through entrepreneurial activities may be a more contemporarily appropriate understanding we should strive for.

The Liability of Internet Service Providers for Copyright Infringement in Sri Lanka: A Comparative Analysis

[Justice Dr. Ruwan Fernando] There are laws in force in many countries to limit the liability of an ISP for the infringement of copyright that takes place on its networks. An ISP in Sri Lanka may not enjoy the same privilege for the infringement of unauthorised material initiated by its users or third parties on their networks. The current law is unlikely to provide adequate protection for the legitimate activities of ISPs in an attempt to minimize the vulnerability against copyright infringement claims.

Webinar on Artificial Intelligence, Text- and Data Mining, and Big Data in Kenya

[Electronic Information for Libraries] EIFL is delighted to partner with the Kenya Copyright Board (KECOBO) for a webinar on emerging technologies of Text and Data Mining (TDM), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Big Data. The webinar is organized in cooperation with the Kenya Libraries and Information Services Consortium (KLISC), EIFL’s partner in Kenya, and the Right to Research in International Copyright Law project.

Protection of Copyright and Accessing Education Materials at Low Prices: Finding a Sustainable Solution for Bangladesh

[Mohammad Towhidul Islam and Moniruz Zaman] Abstract: This research article explains the intricate relationship between the copyright law and education and finds out that ‘the rudimentary hurdle’ posed by copyright as depicted in writings of intellectual property scholars like James Boyle is the cost of learning materials compared to the affordability in developing countries and LDCs. It also tries to strike a balance between copyright protection and access to education materials in an LDC like Bangladesh. While outlining the periphery of copyright protection, this article considers the scenario of the Bangladeshi book shops. It largely suggests that a ‘fairness’ model for the copyright landscape of Bangladesh can promote access to education and learning. Finally, this article concludes by illuminating new strategies for accessing education materials at low prices.

The Complexity Dialectic: A 2021 Update

[Jonathan Band] In March 2015, I published The Complexity Dialectic: A Case Study From Copyright Law, where I argued that the nature of the U.S. political system encourages increasingly complex regulatory frameworks, which benefit those with more resources to navigate those frameworks. I used the triennial rulemaking under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) as a case study to demonstrate this point. I showed that the rule issued by the Librarian of Congress (upon the recommendation of the Copyright Office) had grown increasingly complex. The number of words in the exemptions increased from 35 words for two exempted classes of works in the 2000 rulemaking cycle to 1,172 words for five exempted classes in the 2013 cycle. The most recent set of exemptions continues this trend.

Joint Submission by 14 Scholars to the Government of Canada, re: Copyright, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet of Things

This submission concerns the interaction between copyright and AI. The recommendations herein reflect the shared opinion of the intellectual property scholars who are signatories to this brief... In what follows, we explain: The importance of approaching the questions raised in the consultation with a firm commitment to maintaining the appropriate balance of rights and interests in Canada’s copyright system, consistent with a robust principle of technological neutrality; The importance of ensuring that text and data mining (TDM) activity can be undertaken in Canada without the threat of potential copyright liability. We therefore propose both an opening up of Canada’s fair dealing doctrine to better accommodate TDM activities, and the enactment of a specific statutory provision to confirm that uses of copyright works and other subject matter for TDM (whether commercial or non-commercial) do not infringe copyright; The importance of resisting calls to extend copyright protection to AI-generated outputs. We therefore propose maintaining and confirming the existing principled requirements of human authorship and original expression as preconditions of copyright protection, and we caution against any move to establish new neighbouring or sui generis rights in respect of AI outputs. Works generated by AI should remain in the public domain.

BLIND S.A. AND SECTION 27 CELEBRATE COURT ORDER DECLARING South Africa’s COPYRIGHT ACT UNCONSTITUTIONAL, AND ADVANCE TO CONSTITUTIONAL COURT FOR CONFIRMATION

BlindSA and SECTION27 welcome an order of the High Court of South Africa (Gauteng, Pretoria Division) declaring that the Copyright Act of 1978 is invalid for violating the rights of people who are blind or visually impaired. The case BlindSA v Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition (and others) was heard on the unopposed roll before Judge Mbongwe yesterday 21 September 2021, who made our draft order an order of the court. This is a massive victory for people who are blind or visually impaired, as well as learners with disabilities, who will now be able to access works under copyright in accessible formats more easily!

Applause as Australia Backs Covid Vaccine Patent Waiver

[Julia Conley] Vaccine equity advocates on Wednesday cheered as the Australian government bowed to a months-long pressure campaign demanding a suspension of intellectual property rights for Covid-19 vaccines, after the country's top trade official said he officially supports the push for a "people's vaccine." Trade Minister Dan Tehan told a group of advocates in a private meeting on Tuesday that the Australian government would support a trade-related aspects of intellectual property (TRIPS) waiver proposal, and later confirmed the news to the press.