Category Multilateral Fora

Declaration from Members of the European Parliament to urge the Commission and Member States not to block the TRIPS waiver at the WTO and to support global access to COVID-19 vaccines

[Joint statement by 100 MEPs] We, Members of the European Parliament, urge the European Commission and the European Council to review their opposition to the TRIPS waiver proposal at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which serves to enable greater access to affordable COVID-19 health technologies, including vaccines, in particular for developing and middle income countries. This call comes in view of the European Council meeting of 25 February 2021 and the crucial decision to be made by all Member States at the WTO General Council on 1-2 March 2021.

EIFL CALLS ON WTO TO SUPPORT LDC REQUEST

[Electronic Information for Libraries] EIFL has called on the World Trade Organization (WTO) to grant a request by Least Developed Countries (LDCs) to extend the LDC TRIPS exemption for as long as a country remains an LDC. Article 66.1 of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) grants Least Developed Countries (LDCs) an exemption from implementing the substantive obligations for protection and enforcement of IP rights, including copyright... It shields LDCs from having to adopt higher standards of copyright protection, provides policy space to craft copyright exceptions, such as for libraries and education, to support national priorities on education, literacy, research and innovation, and it avoids costly obligations with regard to the establishment of new criminal procedures, border controls, and other enforcement measures.

WIPO Negotiations for an International Legal Instrument on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources

[Nirmalya Syam] Abstract: Over the past few years, Member States of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) have engaged in negotiations for concluding an international legal instrument on intellectual property and genetic resources. While developing countries have a major interest in securing through this instrument a mandatory requirement for applicants of IP rights over innovations that utilize genetic resources or associated traditional knowledge to disclose their source or origin, certain developed countries that are major markets for such products are absolutely opposed to recognizing the disclosure requirement as an objective of the legal instrument under negotiation. Other developed countries are agreeable to a disclosure requirement with a narrow scope, broad exceptions, and weakened remedies against non-compliance.

WIPO’s missed opportunity to produce guidance on copyright exceptions hits education during pandemic

[Education International] A legal instrument on copyright exceptions for the use of materials for teaching, learning, research, and the work of cultural heritage organisations is still not available. According to Education International, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) missed an opportunity at its recent Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) to show leadership on this issue.

Urgently waive intellectual property rules for vaccine

[Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch] Governments should stop blocking a temporary waiver of some global intellectual property rules that will help boost global access to COVID-19 vaccines, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said today ahead of a key World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting in Geneva on December 10, 2020. If adopted, the waiver proposal would enable more governments to fulfil their obligations to respect the rights to life and health. The warning comes as vaccinations for COVID-19 begin in the United Kingdom, and are likely to begin in other countries in the near future.

Copyright and COVID-19: Has WIPO learned nothing from the pandemic?

[Teresa Nobre] In November, Communia participated in the World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) 40th session of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR), the most important forum at the global level for copyright rulemaking... Communia and other civil society observers were expecting the Committee to consider the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on these public interest activities, and take appropriate action. However, WIPO member states had previously decided that, due to the format of the meeting, they would not engage in negotiations on any of the items on their agenda. Therefore, despite references to the problems caused by the pandemic in several Delegations’ statements, none put forward any proposal to deal with these issues. Click here for more.

A Path to Progress at WIPO: Tackling Confusion, Complexity, and a Can’t-Do Attitude

[IFLA] The 40th meeting of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights was far from what was expected when IFLA and others last left Geneva in October 2019, at the end of the 39th meeting. The dates had changed (the meeting had been planned for July), the WIPO Director General had changed (Daren Tang took over on 1 October), and of course the format had changed, with all but a handful of those involved doing so via an online platform. Despite all that was different, the meeting nonetheless brought clarity around the long-standing challenges that the SCCR will need to overcome if it is to prove its relevance as a forum for delivering on fundamental rights and the Sustainable Development Goals.

A Doha Declaration for COVID-19? Professor Calls for Positive Agenda at WIPO SCCR

[PIJIP] Covid-19 has forced schools and universities around the world to abruptly move online, necessitating the reproduction and sharing of works in the digital environment. Yet many nations' copyright exceptions for education fail to protect user rights online. In his statement before the 40th World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR), Professor Sean Flynn proposed a "Doha Declaration for Covid" to "explain and promote the current flexibilities in the international system, and encourage their expansive interpretation to fulfil human rights."

15 Years and a Pandemic Later: Are We THere Yet?

[Teresa Nobre] In our capacity of permanent observers of the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR), we are attending the 40th session of the Committee, which is taking place in a hybrid format of in-person and online participation from 16 to 20 November 2020. The following is the statement made on behalf of Communia on limitations and exceptions for educational and research institutions and for persons with other disabilities.

Over 100 civil society organisations call on the European Parliament to support COVID-19 WTO waiver proposal

[Médecins Sans Frontières] On 19 November 2020, more than 100 civil society organisations, including MSF Access Campaign, sent an open letter to European Parliament calling for support for India, South Africa, Eswatini and Kenya´s landmark proposal for a temporary waiver from certain intellectual property (IP) provisions under the Agreements on Trade-related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) for COVID-19 medical technologies.

European Copyright and Human Rights in the Digital Sphere

[Christina Angelopoulos] Abstract: For a long time, copyright and human rights took little account of each other. The emergence of digital technology, however, has forced a more intimate interaction. This interaction raises questions about both the nature of copyright and its relationship with other interests: is copyright a human right and, if so, how can clashes with other human rights be resolved? In the European context, the answer to the first question has so far been ‘yes’, raising the stakes as to the second. Both the CJEU and ECtHR have approached the matter as one requiring a ‘balance’.

Conflicting Interests, Competing Perspectives and Policy Incoherence: Covid-19 Highlights the Significance of the UN High-Level Panel Report on Access to Medicines

[Muhammad Abbas] ... The UN High-Level Panel Report on Access to Medicines is a great help in identifying and articulating the nature of the public policy problems faced by countries in response to COVID-19. After analysing the Report and its key recommendations, this paper evaluates the diverging responses to the Report which clearly highlight the conflicting interests of stakeholders. This article concludes that WTO Member States need to revive the spirit of the Doha Declaration which was arguably the best multilateral effort to accommodate the conflicting interests.