Advocating for a world where intellectual
property law serves the public interest.

An Open Letter to the Government of South Africa on the Need to Protect Human Rights in Copyright

[Cory Doctorow] Five years ago, South Africa embarked upon a long-overdue overhaul of its copyright system, and, as part of that process, the country incorporated some of the best elements of both U.S. and European copyright. From the U.S.A., South Africa imported the flexible idea of fair use -- a set of tests for when it's okay to use others'

From Struggle to Surge: China’s TRIPS Experience and Its Lessons for Access to Medicines

[Peter Yu] Abstract: The WTO TRIPS Agreement has imposed unprecedented burdens on countries in the developing world. Although many developing and least developed countries continue to struggle with the Agreement's high intellectual property protection and enforcement standards, large or populous emerging economies, such as Brazil, China, India, South Africa, Thailand, have managed to adapt the Agreement with some success. As

Expanding Access to Patents for COVID-19

[Jorge L. Contreras] Abstract: Two competing and linked sets of goals must be addressed when considering patent policy in response to a public health emergency. First is the allocation of existing resources among potential users (hospitals, patients, etc.); second is the creation of new technologies over time (innovation).

Uneducating Copyright – Member States Can Choose Between ‘Full Legal Certainty’ and Patchworked Licensing Schemes for Digital and Cross-Border Teaching Activities

Author: Bernd Justin Jütte Abstract: The Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market supplements the existing exception for teaching of the Information Society Directive. The new exception focuses on digital and cross-border teaching, but fails to provide a legal framework that ensures full legal certainty and addresses the concerns of those engaged in teaching. […]

Webinar: Presentation of the MedsPaL Database by AMINA MAILLARD, Medicines Patent Pool

[Webinar - Sep 15, 2020; 10:00am] MedsPaL is the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP)’s patents and licenses database, a free resource provides information on the intellectual property status of selected patent essential medicines in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The database includes patent and licensing data covering over 8,500 national patent applications on 110 priority medicines (220 formulations) in more than

SOUTH AFRICA’S COPYRIGHT AMENDMENT BILL – 5 YEARS ON

[Denise Nicholson] ... On 16 June 2020, the President elected to refer the Bill back to Parliament on the grounds of “constitutional concerns”. What is very disappointing and surprising is that the President ignored a Senior Counsel’s Opinion on the Bill, sent to his office, as well as hundreds of submissions, letters, messages, and public presentations in favour of these