Category Domestic Policy

Statement of the South African Youth Council on the Copyright Amendment Bill

[South African Youth Council] ... It is time we protect our future by ensuring that where educational literature and or material is concerned no archaic pieces of legislation should be an impediment for the acquisition of knowledge. In the same breath we must ensure that our heritage, the works of our forebears, are given the necessary stature and protection. This can only happen if President Cyril Ramaphosa assents to the Copy Rights Amendment Bill.

Over 60 Health Organisations Demand ARIPO Reform to Increase Access to More Affordable Medicines in Eastern & Southern Africa

[KLIEN and Health GAP] More than 60 health organisations are calling for rapid reform of the Harare Protocol of the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) in order to protect public health across its 18 Eastern and Southern African member states. Representing people living with cancer, tuberculosis, HIV, and many other diseases and conditions—the organisations are demanding that ARIPO takes urgent steps to amend the Harare Protocol and introduce public health safeguards that will significantly improve access to medicines in the region.

Oh Canada! True Patriot Love (for Thy Copyright Act Review)

Readers in Europe and around the world may have heard some refreshingly contented murmurings recently about a new—and, “miraculously, an eminently sensible”—copyright policy report coming out of Canada. The report of the Standing Committee on Industry, Science & Technology, released earlier this month, was the culmination of a statutorily mandated parliamentary review of Canada’s Copyright Act, commenced five years after the coming into force of the Copyright Modernization Act 2012.

The New Copyright Directive: A tour d’horizon – Part I

On 17 May 2019 the official version of the new Directive (EU) 2019/790 on copyright and related rights in the Digital Single Market was published in the Official Journal of the EU (CDSM Directive). This marks the end of a controversial legislative process at EU level. It also marks the beginning of what will surely be a contentious process of national implementation. Indeed, the Polish government has already filed an action for annulment under Art. 263 TFEU, apparently focusing on the most problematic aspects of Article 17.

Concern Grows Over Spread of EU Copyright Filtering Rules

Earlier this year, the EU passed a sweeping new copyright directive that includes new requirements that Internet platforms filter social media uploads for potential copyright violations. Some creator groups – especially in the music sector – have been applauding the law and proposing that it be adopted elsewhere. But a growing number of copyright experts from around the world have begun preaching caution. `

The Authoritative Canadian Copyright Review: Industry Committee Issues Balanced, Forward-Looking Report on the Future of Canadian Copyright Law

In December 2017, the government launched its copyright review with a Parliamentary motion to send the review to the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology. After months of study and hundreds of witnesses and briefs, the committee released the authoritative review with 36 recommendations that include expanding fair dealing, a rejection of a site blocking system, and a rejection of proposals to exclude education from fair dealing where a licence is otherwise available. The report represents a near-total repudiation of the one-sided Canadian Heritage report that was tasked with studying remuneration models to assist the actual copyright review. While virtually all stakeholders will find aspects they agree or disagree with, that is the hallmark of a more balanced approach to copyright reform.

South Africa’s Copyright Amendment Bill: Its Genesis and Passage through Parliament

[Denise Rosemary Nicholson] The reform of copyright law in South Africa, particularly for the library and educational sectors, has been a long and bumpy road since 1998. Our copyright law is 41 years old - and broken! The exceptions for education, research, and libraries and archives have not been amended since 1978. The Act has no provisions for people with disabilities, nor provisions for galleries and museums. Being so old, it obviously does not address the digital world. "Fair dealing" in Section 12 of the Act is outdated, limited and not 'future-proof'.

Senate HELP Committee Seeks Comments on Lower Health Care Costs Act of 2019

The leaders of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions have released draft healthcare legislation for comment. The Lower Health Care Costs Act of 2019 contains five titles, one of which is titled Lowering the Costs of Prescription Drugs. This title contains sections meant to speed the introduction of biosimilars to the the market; to reduce abuses of citizen petitions to block generic entry; to enhance the transparency of IP for biologics through changes to the Purple Book; and to "modernize" the Orange Book.

A Shared Digital Europe

[Keynote address to the 2019 CC Summit] ... A Shared Digital Europe is our vision of a digital space that facilitates diversity, empowers communities and favours an overall people-centric and public-interest approach to technology development and innovation.

Search Site Blocking – Hiding in Plain Sight

I am spending this week in Lisbon for the Creative Commons 2019 Global Summit. It has been a great few days of conversation, sharing, meeting new friends and exchanging ideas with friends new and old. A lot of the focus in the copyright discussions has been on the enforcement provisions in the recently passed EU Directive. However it, has been clear during many of my discussions that a recent Australian reform expanding the site blocking regime to search engines may have “slipped through to the keeper” (Australian slang for ‘we missed that one’, or ‘that one fell through the cracks’!).

The Changing Academic Publishing Industry: Implications for Academic Institutions

[Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition] Academic publishing is undergoing a major transition as some of its leaders are moving from a content-provision to a data analytics business. This is evidenced by a change in the product mix that they are selling across higher education institutions, which is expanding beyond journals and textbooks to include research assessment systems, productivity tools, online learning management systems – complex infrastructure that is critical to conducting the end-to-end business of the university... Data about students, faculty, research outputs, institutional productivity, and more has, potentially, enormous competitive value. It represents a potential multi-billion-dollar market (perhaps multi-trillion, when the value of intellectual property is factored in), but its capture and use could significantly reduce institutions’ and scholars’ rights to their data and related intellectual property.