[Ed Black] ... Contrary to the suggestions of the U.S. companies opposing fair use in South Africa, there is nothing inappropriate about the Copyright Amendment Bill’s inclusion of fair use. South African users and creators should be allowed to benefit from fair use, just as American users and creators are able to, along with the millions of citizens of the other jurisdictions that have adopted fair use.
[Christopher J. Morten and Amy Kapczynski] Leading drug pricing bills in Congress tackle the problem of leverage with two distinct solutions to improve the government’s bargaining position: a tax on drug manufacturers that refuse to agree on a fair price and “competitive licensing,” under which the government accelerates market entry of competitors when a deal cannot be reached. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has endorsed the first approach, recently announcing a bill that would impose a tax on drug manufacturers when they fail to reach an agreement with the government on price under Medicare Part D. Rena Conti and Paul Kleutghen recently argued in a Health Affairs blog post that the second approach—competitive licensing—is impractical because of purported manufacturing, regulatory, and legal hurdles faced by drug companies licensed under the competitive licensing scheme.