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

Broad coalition to TPP governments: Pull provisions that restrict access to knowledge and open innovation

[Fair Deal Coalition, Link (CC-BY-SA)] Today the Fair Deal Coalition has called on Governments involved in the TPP negotiations to reject copyright proposals that would limit the open Internet, access to knowledge, and curtail economic opportunity. The Coalition, made up of Internet users, schools, universities, artists, libraries and archives, the visually-impaired, consumers, information technology firms […]

Statement by CCUSA Director Michael Carroll on the Introduction of the Affordable College Textbook Act in the House

[Creative Commons U.S.A. Link (CC-BY)] Yesterday, Representatives Hinojosa and Miller introduced the Affordable College Textbook Act. The text mirrors that of the Senate bill introduced last week by Senators Durbin and Franken (see CCUSA’s statement on the Senate bill here). The Affordable College Textbook Act would provide funding for the creation of textbooks, which would […]

South Africa Department of Trade and Industry: Intellectual Property Should Support the Country’s Developmental Goals

[Reposted from Department of Trade and Industry website, Link] The Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Rob Davies says Intellectual Property (IP) if it is correctly used and implemented can assist the country to achieve its developmental goals. He was speaking at the Intellectual Property Conference hosted by the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) […]

Medical Procedure Patents in the TPP: A Comparative Perspective on the Highly Unpopular U.S. Proposal

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Intellectual Property Chapter published by WikiLeaks reveals that after years of negotiations, the United States still seeks to impose medical procedure patents on Asian and Latin American countries. All eleven other negotiating countries oppose the proposal. Medical procedure patents raise healthcare costs. Health providers, including surgeons, could be liable for the […]

The TPP and Copyright

[Cross posted from Concurring Opinions] This is my second post about the leaked draft of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement. Here, I address some of the copyright provisions. This is not an exhaustive analysis, and I’ve tried to make it complimentary to what’s already out there. For analysis of additional provisions, see KEI, Public Citizen, Ars […]

English Translation of the New Version of Brazil’s Marco Civil

Thanks to Carolina Rossini for sending an English translation of the new version of Brazil’s Marco Civil legislation. Intellectual Property Watch reports that the bill has hit a roadblock in the legislature, and “pressure from industry had already resulted in the draft legislation being shelved at the end of last year.” However, Rossini, writes that […]