Law Commons^™

The Bellagio Global Dialogues On Intellectual Property, Joe Karaganis

Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series

This paper is an account of the Bellagio conferences and of their place within the larger arc of Rockefeller intellectual property work since 2002. In a more limited fashion, it is also an account of the transformation of IP from an obscure legal specialty into a major discourse of power and debate about the shape of globalization. The broadest achievement of the Bellagio series—and of Rockefeller Foundation work more generally in this area—has been to make this debate more open, participatory, and engaged with questions of poverty and human development.

Confronting The Crisis In Scientific Publishing: Latency, Licensing And Access, Jorge L. Contreras

Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series

The serials crisis in scientific publishing can be traced to the long duration of copyright protection and the assignment of copyright by researchers to publishers. Over-protection of scientific literature has enabled commercial publishers to increase subscription rates to a point at which access to scientific information has been curtailed with negative social welfare consequences. The uniformity costs imposed by such over-protection can be addressed by tailoring intellectual property rights, either through legal change or private ordering.

Current open access channels of distribution offer alternative approaches to scientific publishing, but neither the Green OA self-archiving nor the Gold OA author-pays models …

Workshop On Research And Resource Commons In Scientific Research: Final Report, Michael W. Carroll

Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series

In November of 2011, the Washington College of Law at American University convened and hosted a two-day workshop in collaboration with the Creative Commons to develop a strategy for promoting a commons or scientific research and related resources. The workshop brought together interested stakeholders from across the scientific research enterprise: scientists, administrators, librarians, publishers, societies, technologists, lawyers, policy makers, students, funders, and Open Science advocates, including both U.S. and international representatives. This diverse group discussed the current state of policy and technology as it relates to a scientific research commons, and identified key opportunities and challenges, as well as next …

One Step Ahead Two Steps Back: Reverse Engineering 2nd Draft For 3rd Revision Of The Chinese Copyright Law, Hong Xue

Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series

On July 6, 2012, the National Copyright Administration of China released the 2nd Draft of the 3rd Revision of the copyright law, in which 81 provisions were changed from the 1st Draft. It does contain a few improvements, but it contains more compromises and even steps backward under the pressure of interest groups. It is unfortunate that China, the largest country by both population and Internet users, despite its fast-growing economy, seems missing the opportunities to craft a 21st-Century Copyright Law, but instead follows the old path of “the more the better” (more copyright protection and enforcement, the better economic …

A Pragmatic Approach To Intellectual Property And Development: A Case Study Of The Jordanian Copyright Law In The Internet Age, Rami Olwan

Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series

On October 4, 2004, Brazil and Argentina requested that WIPO adopt a development-oriented approach to IP and to reconsider its work in relation to developing countries. In October, 2007, WIPO member States adopted a historic decision for the benefit of developing countries, to establish a WIPO Development Agenda. Although there have been several studies related to IP and development that call for IP laws in developing countries to be development-friendly, there is little research that attempts to provide developing countries with practical measures to achieve that goal. This article takes the copyright law in Jordan as a case study and …

Beyond The Unrealistic Solution For Development Provided By The Appendix Of The Berne Convention On Copyright, Alberto Cerda Silva

Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series

The standards of copyright protection promoted by the Berne Convention are highly problematic for developing countries because these countries need to ensure a wide dissemination of works for teaching, scholarship, and research purposes. In order to accommodate these needs and to promote accession to this Convention, the 1971 Paris Act of the Berne Convention, included an Appendix that allowed developing countries to issue compulsory licenses for translating and/or reproducing foreign works into languages of general use in their territories. Unfortunately, the Appendix has not met the needs of developing countries, which, instead, have relied on idiosyncratic solutions. Additionally, the instrument …

The Sopa-Tpp Nexus, Jonathan Band

Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series

The controversy in the United States over the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) has profound implications for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement. The SOPA debate underscores the importance of striking the proper balance in intellectual property laws to promote creativity and innovation. It demonstrates that over-protection can stifle free expression and the effective operation of the Internet as a medium of communication and commerce not only within a jurisdiction, but also extraterritorially. Additionally, the debate reveals the ability of the Internet community to mobilize quickly to defeat policies that it believes threaten its existence. TPP negotiators should understand the SOPA …

Canada And Israel: Cultivating Fairness Of Use, Meera Nair

Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series

Despite global trends to expand the ambit of copyright, Canada and Israel both show promise in cultivating the principal of fairness when exercising exceptions to copyright. Their journeys were led by their highest courts; each sought to shift the dialogue of exceptions from stringent allowance to robust application. Both countries began from the rigidity of fair dealing and considered expansion into the realm of fair use. This exploration is intriguing given that both countries show an uncanny similarity in terms of the manner by which their nation states came into being, their ensuing diversity of population, the mixture of common …

The Morning After: Trips-Plus, Ftas And Wikileaks - Fresh Insights On The Implementation And Enforcement Of Ip Protection In Developing Countries, Mohammed El Said

Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series

Leaked diplomatic cables related to the United States’ foreign policy implementing and enforcing intellectual property in developing countries draw a bleak picture. U.S. interest groups and local agents collaborate to achieve higher levels of intellectual property protection without taking into consideration the public interest and consumer rights of local communities. This "act of state-sponsored violence," as some have proclaimed it, jeopardizes the lives of millions of citizens across the globe. It also undermines the foundations of the global multilateral trading regime and its institutions, particularly the World Trade Organization (WTO), which was created by the global community in 1995 in …

Positive Proposals For Treatment Of Online Intermediaries, Margot E. Kaminski

Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series

In the past several years of free trade agreement negotiations, a number of proposals for establishing an international standard of liability for copyright infringement by online intermediaries have emerged. These proposals consistently lack consideration of their implications for Internet users. Building off a public stakeholder presentation given by the author at the ninth round of negotiations of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement, held in Lima, Peru, this paper aims to identify both general principles and specific user-protecting provisions that should be considered when discussing proposals for intermediary liability.

Settlement Of India/Eu Wto Dispute Re Seizures Of In-Transit Medicines: Why The Proposed Eu Border Regulation Isn't Good Enough, Brook K. Baker

Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series

European Customs officials have used fictive patent rights to justify the seizure of lawful generic medicines produced in India and destined for non-European markets. Following a public outcry and initiation of two WTO complaints, the EU has proposed amendments to Border Regulations Measure 1383/2003. The Proposed Border Regulation in its current form will not adequately resolve the risk of interception in Europe of medicines lawfully manufactured and exported from India and destined for lawful import and consumption in a non-EU country. This analysis concludes that multiple weaknesses remain in the Border Regulations, including: (1) continued coverage of alleged patent and …

Acta & Access To Learning Materiols In Morocco: An Examination Of How Acta Impacts The Creation Of A Moroccan Orphan Works Regime, Caroline B. Ncube

Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series

This paper briefly examines the current regime of copyright law in Morocco and seeks to examine the status of orphan works in Morocco, in lieu its membership as the sole African country in the recently signed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). The paper concludes that Morocco can, and ought to, enact exceptions and limitations that facilitate meaningful access to orphan works in both analogue and digital formats.