[Aram Sinnreich, Patricia Aufderheide and Donte Newman] Abstract: A comparison of the behaviors of two creative populations operating within cross-media environments in the U.S. and Australia tests the comparative effect of the two nations’ legal environments on the range of creative expression and on costs of production in increasingly digitized production processes.
[Carlos M. Correa and Nirmalya Syam] The 12th WTO Ministerial Conference adopted a Ministerial Decision on the TRIPS Agreement on 17 June 2022. This partially concluded almost two years of protracted discussions in response to a proposal by India and South Africa for a waiver from certain obligations under the TRIPS Agreement for health products and technologies for the prevention, treatment and containment of COVID-19. The adopted Decision only waives the obligation under article 31 (f) of the TRIPS Agreement. Developing country WTO members are now allowed to export any proportion of vaccines, including ingredients and processes, necessary for the COVID-19 pandemic that are manufactured under a compulsory license or government use authorization to other developing countries. It also contains some clarifications of relevant TRIPS provisions, while introducing a number of conditionalities that are not present in the TRIPS Agreement. This paper examines the object and scope of the Decision, the requirements established for its use, and the required actions to be taken by WTO members to implement it.
[PIJIP] A new paper by Desmond Oriakhogba and Dick Kawooya has been posted to the PIJIP/TLS Research Paper series. The Status of Reproduction Rights Organisations (RROs) in Africa analyzes collective management of copyright in all of the African Union Member States. It finds that most countries do not follow the best practices for RROs outlined by the World Intellectual Property Organization.