Day November 18, 2019

Cracking the Copyright Dilemma in Software Preservation: Protecting Digital Culture Through Fair Use Consensus

[Brandon Butler, Patricia Aufderheide Peter A. Jaszi, and Krista Cox] Abstract: Copyright problems may inhibit the crucially important work of preserving legacy software. Such software is worthy of study in its own right because it is critical to accessing digital culture and expression. Preservation work is essential for communicating across boundaries of the past and present in a digital era. Software preservationists in the United States have addressed their copyright problems by developing a code of best practices in employing fair use.

90 Organisations Demand Reform of African Regional Patent Office (ARIPO) to Improve Access to Medicines

Monrovia, Liberia, 18th November 2019 — More than 90 civil society organisations are today calling for urgent reform of the Harare Protocol of the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) in order to ensure people have access to more affordable medicines. The organisations demand that Ministers representing ARIPO Member States — who are meeting for the ARIPO Administrative and Ministerial Councils from 18 to 21 November in Liberia to change how they grant patents on medicines, in order to promote cost cutting generic competition.