Consumers International has published its annual “IP Watchlist,” a report that examines the copyright laws and policies of 30 countries, determining which are strongest (and weakest) at promoting access to knowledge. The list ranks each country according to 49 criteria,…
(with research by Marcela Palacio Puerta) The latest example of a rushed copyright reform process to implement an unbalanced law while stifling public debate occurred in Colombia last week. Over a scant 18 days (including a break for holy week)…
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA. At this week’s Melbourne round of TPP negotiations, the Computers and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) — representing tech companies like Google, Facebook, E-Bay and Yahoo — has been circulating a new proposal for adding copyright limitations and exceptions…
PIJIP Research Paper no. 2012-04 Author: Meera Nair Abstract: Despite global trends to expand the ambit of copyright, Canada and Israel both show promise in cultivating the principal of fairness when exercising exceptions to copyright. Their journeys were led by…
While the Ministry of Culture’s much-talked about, controversial copyright reform bill has yet to reach the Brazilian National Congress, a deputy from the Partido dos Trabalhadores, Nazareno Fonteles, has jumped the gun with his own take on the subject. Bill…
The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) announces the release of the Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Academic and Research Libraries, a clear and easy-to-use statement of fair and reasonable approaches to fair use developed by and for…
The UK plans to modernize intellectual property law by implementing the recommendations in the May 2010 Hargreaves report. It announcement highlighted reforms including exceptions to copyright for private copying, parody, and text and data mining by researchers, as well as…
UK Business Secretary Vince Cable is expected to announce legislation to change British copyright law tomorrow. Press reports in the Financial Times and the Guardian indicate that the news legislation adopt some of the recommendations of the Hargreaves Report, including…
On July 11, 2011, the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) presented the results of a study (prepared by Capital Trade, Inc.) on the value of fair use in the U.S. economy. The study—which was conducted using a methodology developed…
On May 24, 2011, the European Commission unveiled a new initiative to modernize intellectual property protection. Noting that “in the last few years, technological change and, in particular, the growing importance of online activities, have completely changed the world in…
Consumers International has published its third annual IP Watchlist, which “assesses the fairness of the world’s intellectual property laws and enforcement practices from an important yet under-represented perspective: that of an ordinary consumer.” The best-rated countries are Moldova, the U.S.,…
An international open letter to Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff in support of the work of the Brazilian society and government for the cultural commons is now online: It has been signed by international organizations, academics and activists. The letter…