Day June 3, 2019

Canada Introduces USMCA Implementation Bill…Without a General Copyright Term Extension Provision

The Canadian government tabled Bill C-100 yesterday, the bill to implement the Canada-US-Mexico Trade Agreement.... The bill also features several provisions related to copyright term but notably does not touch the current general copyright term of life of the author plus an additional 50 years. There are several new terms included in the bill with extensions for anonymous works, performances in sound recordings, sound recordings, and cinematographic works. The bill expressly states that none of the extensions are retroactive which means that the works that are currently in the public domain will remain there even after the new terms are established.

How Patent Law Reform Can Improve Affordability and Accessibility of Medicines in South Africa: Four Medicine Case Studies

[C. Tomlinson, C. Waterhouse, Y. Q. Hu, S. Meyer, and H. Moyo] Abstract: South Africa (SA) is in the process of amending its patent laws. Since its 2011 inception, Fix the Patent Laws, a coalition of 40 patient groups, has advocated for reform of SA’s patent laws to improve affordability of medicines in the country... In this article, we explore how reforms proposed in SA’s new intellectual property policy could improve access to medicine through four medicine case studies.