Category Multilateral Fora

What’s Next with WIPO’s Ill-Advised Broadcast Treaty?

[Tim Vollmer] ... The current text contains many of the same damaging provisions, such as long term of protection (possibly 50 years) and little to no support for limitations and exceptions to the right which could provide needed protections for activities such as news reporting, quotation, education, personal use, and archiving. But the dealbreaker for CC is the fact that the treaty would essentially invalidate the permissions that users of Creative Commons grant when they share their creativity under open licenses, and instead gift new and unwarranted rights to broadcasting organizations that have added little or no value to the underlying work being transmitted.

South Centre Statement to the Third High-Level Meeting on the Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases

[Carlos Correa, South Centre]... More progress needs to be made to improve access to affordable, good-quality essential medicines and vaccines for all. In addition to increasing investment in access, governments should put in place supportive policies and effective regulation. In this context, it is significant that the Declaration reaffirms the right of countries to the full use of the flexibilities of the World Trade Organization’s Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), in line with the recommendations by the UN High Level Panel on Access to Medicines. The South Centre offers its technical support for the effective use of TRIPS flexibilities to promote access to medicines.

Projected Savings Through Public Health Voluntary Licences of HIV Drugs Negotiated By The Medicines Patent Pool

[Sandeep Juneja, Aastha Gupta, Suerie Moon, and Stephen Resch] Abstract: ... While robust data on the savings generated by MPP and other major global public health initiatives is important, it is also difficult to quantify. In this study, we estimate the savings generated by licences negotiated by the MPP for ARV medicines to treat HIV/AIDS in LMICs for the period 2010–2028 and generate a cost-benefit ratio–based on people living with HIV (PLHIVs) in any new countries which gain access to an ARV due to MPP licences and the price differential between originator’s tiered price and generics price, within the period where that ARV is patented.

Action at WIPO!

[Teresa Hackett] ...The 36th meeting of the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR), the global body that sets international copyright law and policy, ...took place from 28 May to 1 June 2018. During the busy week, EIFL engaged in discussions on libraries and archives, made interventions in plenary sessions, met with member state delegates and collaborated with NGO partners. During SCCR/36, member states approved an action plan on libraries, archives, museums, and education, delegates heard about the ‘teachers’ dilemma’ for quality education, NGOs issued an open letter to negotiators on the proposed broadcast treaty, and the Secretariat held a consultation meeting on the WIPO Good Practice Toolkit for CMOs.

EU Files WTO Case Against China Over Intellectual Property Rights Protection

[William New, IP Watch] The European Union has filed a World Trade Organization dispute settlement complaint against China for unfair treatment of foreign intellectual property rights holders. The case follows a similar filing by the United States against China. The EU says in its filing, available here, that a series of measures employed by China violate the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).

Statement on Limitations and Exceptions for WIPO Broadcast Treaty

Thank you chair. I want to speak quickly to the issue of limitations and exceptions for the Broadcast treaty should one proceed. We should not be using a 20 year old model that ignores the many advancements in this area. With all due respect, both the chair’s text and the proposal by Argentina and Brazil at the last round are unduly limited. They do not include mandatory exceptions from other agreements, including Berne and Marrakesh. Nor do they consider the needs of libraries, archives, museums or for education or research activities currently in discussion in this committee. Nor do they include the best examples of provisions protecting domestic policy space.

Joint NGO Letter on the Proposed WIPO Treaty on Broadcasting

[Letter signed by 14 NGOs] We are concerned that negotiations on a broadcasting treaty have not clarified a number of important issues, nor addressed core concerns from civil society and copyright holders. At the outset, we are supportive of measures to address the legitimate concerns of broadcasters as regards piracy of broadcast signals. We are looking forward to seeing appropriate measures to address such challenges, provided they are well defined and limited to solving those problems, and avoid unintended consequences to impede access to and use of works, or harm copyright holders. Our primary concerns are the following:

Lesotho Becomes the 37th Country to Join the Marrakesh Treaty for Persons With Print Disabilities

[Electronic Information for Libraries] On 30 April 2018 the Kingdom of Lesotho became the 37th country in the world and the ninth country in Africa to join the Marrakesh Treaty. The Treaty will enter into force in Lesotho on 30 July 2018. Speaking at the 39th Session of the General Conference of UNESCO on 1 November 2017, the Honourable Mokhele Moletsane, Minister of Education and Training in Lesotho, explained why his country would be joining the Treaty: “Access to knowledge is a human right. It is necessary to achieve full human potential and inclusive development because it opens doors to education, employment, improved health, and social and political participation. However, the lack of published works in formats that are accessible to persons with print disabilities (known as the ‘book famine’), means that the right to read and acquire knowledge is often out of reach for those who are blind, visually impaired or otherwise print disabled.

The Plain Packaging of Tobacco Products – a Special Issue of the QUT Law Review – Open Access

The QUT Law Review has officially published the final version of Volume 17 (2) – Special Issue on the Plain Packaging of Tobacco Products. This issue looks at important legal and regulatory issues surrounding plain packaging reforms and the ways in which other jurisdictions have approached plain packaging reform and policy. In particular, it covers Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, and Ireland.

Marrakesh in Action: History Is Made in Kyrgyzstan

[EIFL press release] EIFL (Electronic Information for Libraries) and the University of Toronto (U of T) Libraries are proud to announce the first international transfer of accessible format books to beneficiaries in Kyrgyzstan. The transfer, that took place on the occasion of a National Seminar with the IP Office of Kyrgyzstan on the Marrakesh Treaty on World Book and Copyright Day, was in response to requests from two beneficiaries: Dastan Bekeshev, a lawyer and member of parliament (MP) who lost his sight at six years of age, and Gulnaz Juzbaeva, an MBA student at the American University of Central Asia (AUCA) who was born with low vision and later became blind.