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

Statement on South Africa’s Copyright Amendment Bill [B13-2017]

The Bill is exceptional in including what will be the world’s most well considered and detailed fair use right. The fair use and education rights are eminently reasonable for a country founded on the principle that all laws must promote the Bill of Rights, including rights to freedom of speech, to receive information, and to education.

Statement by Michael A. Carrier to Health Subcommittee of House Committee on Energy & Commerce

[Michael Carrier] My testimony to the Health Subcommittee of the House Energy & Commerce Committee supports legislation being considered to lower high drug prices. First, I support the CREATES Act and FAST Generics Act, which would ensure that generic companies receive the samples they need to enter the market. Second, I support the FAIR Generics Act, which would ensure that

Laos Copyright Law: EIFL Review and Recommendations

[Electronic Information for Libraries] The updated copyright law, replacing the previous law adopted in 2011, came into effect in Laos in June 2018. WIPO’s Study on Copyright Limitations and Exceptions for Libraries and Archives (SCCR/35/6) found that while the 2011 law in Laos had some basic exceptions allowing certain uses of copyright protected works, there were no explicit library exceptions.

ReCreate South Africa Comments on the Copyright Amendment Bill [B13-2017]

[ReCreate South Africa] ReCreate South Africa (“ReCreate”) is a non-profit association, established in 2018 to advocate for a balanced Copyright Act that includes modern creators’ rights. ReCreate is a coalition of writers, filmmakers, photographers, educational content producers, software and video game developers, technology entrepreneurs, artists, poets, producers of accessible format materials, freedom of expression advocates, and other South African creators...

Digitization and the Demand for Physical Works: Evidence from the Google Books Project

[Abhishek Nagaraj and Imke Reimers] Abstract: The age of digitization promised to deliver a centralized, digital repository of all knowledge. Copyright holders, however, concerned about reduced demand for physical works, have blocked the realization of this vision. We investigate the effect of digitization on demand for physical works using novel data tracking the timing of the digitization of individual books