Day February 26, 2018

“Free Trade” Agreements Would Be More Fair With Fair Use At Their Core

... Copyright and other intellectual property rights will continue to be included in bilateral and multilateral trade negotiations, such as in the continuation of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (now renamed “CPTPP” to stand for Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership), the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and the talks on the Mercosur-EU trade agreement.  

A common theme across all these trade agreements is an increase in copyright protection, enforcement measures, and infringement penalties aimed to benefit incumbent industries and rights holders. What is usually missing? The necessary checks and balances that protect and defend the rights of users and the public interest to access, share, and re-use content in the public good.

Displacing the Dominance of the Three-Step Test: The Role of Global, Mandatory Fair Use

[Tanya Aplin and Lionel Bently] Abstract: Article 10(1) of the Berne Convention mandates a quotation exception that is broad in scope, one that is not limited by work, nor type of act, nor by purpose, and is only subject to the conditions in Article 10, namely, the work has been lawfully made available to the public, attribution, fair practice, and proportionality. We call this “global, mandatory fair use”. This overlooked norm in international copyright law is unaffected by and distinct from the three-step test and, as such, potentially dislodges its dominance. In turn, this creates different possibilities for how to conceive of and assess copyright exceptions at national level.

Fair Use Week 2018: Fair Use Promotes Creation of New Knowledge

Happy Fair Use/Fair Dealing Week 2018! I wanted to share ARL's 2018 infographic for Fair Use Week: Fair Use Promotes Creation of New Knowledge. You can also check out our previous fair use infographics here. There's tons of great resources and a list of some of this week's events on the Fair Use/Fair Dealing Week website: http://fairuseweek.org/.