On Tuesday, 29 April 2014, Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) will convene a panel at WIPO headquarters entitled, The Tunis Model Law on Copyright for Developing Countries: Is it Time for an Update?
What is on the table for the next Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights: Twenty-Seventh Session (SCCR/27) April 28 to May 2, 2014 (Geneva, Switzerland)?
The US Copyright Office held a two day roundtable event on the topic, “Orphan Works and Mass Digitization.” The two days were split into ten sessions, with extensive panels convened for each roundtable discussion. The meetings were held in the Montpelier Room at the Madison building of the Library of Congress, with the exception of the afternoon panels on the second day, which was held downstairs in the hearing room of the Copyright Office. Continue Reading
29 organizations and more than 70 individuals signed on to the final letter opposing copyright terms of life plus seventy years in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP). A PDF version of the final letter is attached below. An earlier version of the letter with a substantial number of signatures was sent to all lead IP negotiators and all chief negotiators in the TPP on Friday, 6 December 2013, in advance of the TPP ministerial.
On December 5, 2013, Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) participated in a press conference where she criticized the copyright provisions in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP). In particular, she noted three specific concerns including exporting lengthy copyright term, restrictions on copyright limitations and exceptions, and locking in bad provisions on technological protection measures (TPMs). The full press release is reprinted below:
Rep. Zoe Lofgren on Emerging & Controversial Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) Trade Treaty2009: Sign-on Letter – Against life + 70 year copyright term in the TPP
This is sign-on letter — Against life + 70 year copyright term in the TPP. See end of letter for details on how to sign.
<-------------------begin letter----------- December 9, 2013 Dear TPP negotiators, In a December 7-10 meeting in Singapore you will be asked to endorse a binding obligation to grant copyright protection for 70 years after the death of an author. We urge you to reject the life + 70 year term for copyright. Continue Reading
KEI TPP Note: Damages language in IP Chapter conflicts with US copyright law, blocks Green Paper reforms
Subject: TPP, damages, US copyright law
KEI TPP Note: IP Chapter language on damages conflicts with US copyright law, and blocks reforms being considered by the USPTO Green Paper
20 November 2013
KEI: WIPO should update 1976 Tunis Model Law on Copyright for Developing Countries
The twelfth session of the WIPO’s Committee on Development and Intellectual Property (CDIP) is taking place from 18 November 2013 to 21 November 2013. This Committee, squeezed into just four days of discussions, has a heavy workload. Continue Reading
The Commerce Department Green Paper on digital copyright is soft on action, kicks cans down the road
In July 2013, the Department of Commerce Internet Policy Task Force published its awaited Green Paper on Copyright Policy, Creativity, and Innovation in the Digital Economy. It is over 100 pages long and 540 footnotes and a good read for anyone interested in copyright and the online environment. Continue Reading
Evolving Copyright and the Relationship With the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP)
Table of Contents:
Introduction
I. Parallel Importation
II. Copyright Terms
III. Technological Protection Measures
IV. Fair Use
V. Marrakesh Treaty
VI. Libraries, Archives and Museums
VII. Statutory Damages
VIII. Orphan Works
ConclusionIntroduction
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