Law Commons^™

Limitations And Exceptions In The Wipo Instrument On Genetic Resources And Associated Traditional Knowledge, Sean Flynn

Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series

One of the hot topics in the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) diplomatic conference on an instrument on “Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Traditional Knowledge Associated with Genetic Resources” is whether and what exceptions language should be included in the text. At the brief public report from Committee I on May 15, 2024, the Chair reported: “There appears to be adequate support for eliminating Article 4, limitations and exceptions. Some parties opposed.” This Blog provides some background information on the Article and analysis of potentially applicable models and concepts for the provision, including analysis of similar treaties with no exceptions.

Sanctions For Non Disclosure, As Set Out In Article 6 Of The Wipo Basic Proposal On Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources And Traditional Knowledge, Should Include Possible Revocation Of A Patent, James Love, Claire Cassedy

Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series

The basic proposal for an international legal instrument relating to intellectual property, genetic resources and traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources prepared by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Secretariat (GRATK/DC/3) sets out in its Article 3 a narrow obligation to disclose (1) the country of origin of the genetic resource, or if not known, its source, and (2) the Indigenous Peoples or local community that provided traditional knowledge associated with the genetic resource, or the source of such knowledge.

Article 6 of the basic proposal sets out the sanctions and remedies for failures to make such disclosures. Among the …

Wipo Good Practice Toolkit For Collective Management Organisations 2021: Suggestions For Possible Amendment, Desmond Oriakhogba

Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series

Drawing examples from national and international legal instruments, and based on existing studies, this comment makes suggestions for possible amendment of the World Intellectual Property Organization’s Good Practice Toolkit for Collective Management Organisations 2021 (CMO Toolkit). The suggestions are for inclusion of good practices in the CMO Toolkit that can inform the regulation of CMOs to prevent them from constituting obstacles to open access non-commercial licensing and L&Es-enabled access for education and research. The suggestion also covers good practices that will prevent CMOs from impeding the smooth and effective development of artificial intelligence systems. Recommendations include protecting rightholders' ability to …

Briefing Note: 45th Meeting Of The Wipo Standing Committee On Copyright And Related Rights, Sean Flynn

Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series

This analysis provides a historical and legal overview of the principle agenda items to be discussed at the 45th meeting of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights.

Measuring Change In Copyright Exceptions For Text And Data Mining, Michael Palmedo, Momina Imran, Miguel Alvarenga, Luca Schirru, Duc Le

Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series

Copyright exceptions for researchers are under debate at the World Intellectual Property Organization and within domestic governments, yet empirical research in this area is rare. In this early working paper, we aim to add to this nascent body of research. We expand PIJIP’s previous review and classification of copyright exceptions in WIPO Members’ laws by tracing changes in the laws over time. We find that most countries have copyright exceptions allowing some unauthorized uses for research purposes. However, most countries’ exceptions restrict some mix of the users, uses, or types of works that are allowed. High-income countries tend to be …

The Wipo Broadcasting Treaty: Comments On The Second Revised Draft, Bernt Hugenholtz

Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series

From March 13 to 17, 2023, the WIPO Standing Committee will discuss, for the 43rd consecutive time, a possible Treaty on the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations. The draft treaty, which has featured high on the Committee’s agenda since its inception in 1998, would offer international protection to broadcasting organizations against unauthorized retransmission and related uses. Despite many years of discussion, stern opposition, countless redrafts and political setbacks, the controversial treaty project has never been abandoned. A Second Revised Draft Text, published on 11 January 2023, is now on the Committee’s agenda. This paper critically discusses the history, rationales, and examines …

The Trouble With The Wipo Broadcasting Treaty, James Love

Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is a specialized UN body that provides forums to discuss intellectual property policies and practices, provides technical assistance to its member states and engages in norm setting. Since 1997, WIPO has engaged in a series of activities to evaluate proposals advocated by some companies that are engaged in broadcasting. There is yet another effort to bring this proposal to a diplomatic conference. This article (i) provides background on the negotiations including the evolving rationales for broadcast right; (ii) describes the differences between the thin temporary signal protection model and the far more problematic vision …

Lost In Transit: How Enforcement Of Foreign Copyright Judgements Undermines The Right To Research, Naama Daniel

Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series

The ease of travel in the globalized, modern world is a double-edged sword for the right to research: while research opportunities are bolstered due to information and data traveling extremely easily in the digital world, the right to research may be undermined by the easy travel of foreign copyright judgments between countries. This article analyzes thoroughly, for the first time, the threats posed to the right to research by private international law instruments on recognition and enforcement of foreign copyright judgments. This article uses a theoretical and doctrinal perspective to analyze the matter, demonstrating that the right to research, aimed …

Limitations And Exceptions In International Copyright And Related Rights Treaties, Sean Flynn

Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series

Copyright limitations and exceptions have been an integral part of international copyright and related rights treaties since the original text of the Berne Convention in 1886, which protected the ability to adopt exceptions for uses for “educational” and “scientific” uses. Since that instrument, there has been great -- if uneven -- development of norms on limitations and exceptions. Currently, the World Intellectual Property Organization’s Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights is considering limitations and exceptions in the draft text for a treaty on broadcast organizations as well as a proposal from the African Group for a work programme on …

Implementing User Rights For Research In The Field Of Artificial Intelligence: A Call For International Action, Sean Flynn, Christophe Geiger, João Pedro Quintais, Thomas Margoni, Matthew Sag, Lucie Guibault, Michael W. Carroll

Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series

Last year, before the onset of a global pandemic highlighted the critical and urgent need for technology-enabled scientific research, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) launched an inquiry into issues at the intersection of intellectual property (IP) and artificial intelligence (AI). We contributed comments to that inquiry, with a focus on the application of copyright to the use of text and data mining (TDM) technology. This article describes some of the most salient points of our submission and concludes by stressing the need for international leadership on this important topic. WIPO could help fill the current gap on international leadership, …

Acta, Fool: Explaining The Irrational Support For A New Institution, Gabriel Michael

Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series

The key players in the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) negotiations were driven to establish a new institution for intellectual property enforcement because the traditional venues for such matters, the WTO and WIPO, had become inhospitable forums. Yet given the significant division in U.S. domestic economic interests over ACTA’s provisions and the lack of solid theoretical or empirical evidence supporting claims made by proponents of the agreement, it is puzzling that ACTA has commanded the support of the U.S. executive, even across two administrations from opposing political parties. I show why this support cannot be explained as a result of the …

Wipo And The Acta Threat, Sara Bannerman

Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series

The new Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) has been seen as a potentially existential threat to the existing World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) – as a new plurilateral institution that could replace the older multilateral organization. The ACTA threat to WIPO has a number of predecessors. WIPO’s centrality to international intellectual property norm-setting encountered its first major challenge in 1952 when the Universal Copyright Convention was established under UNESCO. It encountered a second major challenge with the establishment of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (the TRIPs Agreement). The ACTA challenge thus potentially represents a third instance where a …

Public Interest Representation In Global Ip Policy Institutions, Jeremy Malcolm

Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series

This paper compares the institutional and procedural arrangements that a range of global institutions make for civil society representation and input into policy development processes on intellectual property issues. The context for this analysis comes from two sets of norms for multi-stakeholder public policy development that exist in other regimes of governance: those of the Aarhus Convention (for environmental matters), and those of the Tunis Agenda for the Information Society (for Internet governance). These global norms, along with the actual practices of the institutions involved in global governance of intellectual property rights, are then contrasted with the proposed new institutional …