infojustice

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

Patents and Coronavirus – Compulsory Licensing, Government Use And March-In Rights

The United States has two viable statutory mechanisms for addressing situations in which patent holders are unable or unwilling to supply sufficient quantities of goods or services to combat the coronavirus crisis: march-in rights under the Bayh-Dole Act and governmental use under 28 U.S.C. § 1498. Though each of these mechanisms presents challenges, these should be surmountable in many cases

Society’s Dependence on the Internet: 5 Cyber Issues the Coronavirus Lays Bare

[Laura DeNardis and Jennifer Daskal] ... While the online world is often portrayed as a societal ill, this pandemic is a reminder of how much the digital world has to offer. The pandemic also lays bare the many vulnerabilities created by society’s dependence on the internet. These include the dangerous consequences of censorship, the constantly morphing spread of disinformation, supply

Creative Commons South Africa Letter to President in Support of the Copyright Amendment Bill

[Paul G. West, Derek Moore, Klaus Beiter and J.A.K. Olivier] Hereto our urgent request for the signing of the Copyright Amendment Bill, as was passed by both Houses and sent to your Office for assent after it was approved on 28 March 2019. We wish to specifically address the significance of the proposed amendments to the South African Copyright Act

Rationale for Supporting Costa Rica’s Proposal for Emergency COVID-19 Technology IP Pool for All Countries

The world is behind in developing and being able to supply the diagnostics, vaccines, therapeutics, medical devices, and other well adapted medical supplies [medical technologies] needed to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic which is sweeping across the globe. Although scientific and medical urgency are building, we need to ensure that the needed medical technologies will be developed and tested urgently,

Reading Aloud: Fair Use Enables Translating Classroom Practices to Online Learning

[Meredith Jacob, Peter Jaszi, Prue Adler, Michael Carroll, Will Cross, Kristina Ishmael, Pernille Ripp and Carrie Russell] In recent days, as many teachers have faced an abrupt shift to online teaching, there have been questions about how copyright law applies to the translation of classroom-based practices of reading aloud to students to the digital environment. While many well-intentioned commentators have

Public Statement of Library Copyright Specialists: Fair Use & Emergency Remote Teaching & Research

[Statement signed by over 150 librarians] This Statement is meant to provide clarity for U.S. colleges and universities about how copyright law applies to the many facets of remote teaching and research in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak. We write this as copyright specialists at colleges, universities, and other organizations supporting higher education in the U.S. and Canada who