Law Commons^™

Government Role In Realising A ‘Right’ To Research In Africa, Chijioke Okorie

Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series

Development agendas and plans such as World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) Development Agenda, African Union Agenda 2063, South Africa’s National Development Plan 2030 and Nigeria’s National Development Plan 2021 – 2025, etc. indicate the need for and benefits of research for development. Research as an activity is needed for countries to sharpen their innovative edge and contribute to global scientific and technological advancement. Recent scholarship has highlighted the positive impact on national development of copyright exceptions implementing a right to research in the form of either a complete defence to copyright infringement, or, as user rights. However, the realisation of …

Not The African Copyright Pirate Is Perverse, But The Situation In Which (S)He Lives-Textbooks For Education, Extraterritorial Human Rights Obligations, And Constitutionalization "From Below" In Ip Law, Klaus Beiter

Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series

Printed textbooks remain crucial for education, particularly in developing countries. However, in many of these countries, textbooks are unavailable, too expensive, or not accessible in learners’ native tongues. Digital content, for many reasons, does not prove a wondrous solution. Cheaply (translating and) reproducing textbooks would be a strategy. However, reprography is highly regulated under copyright law. Copyright also adds to the cost of textbooks. The availability, accessibility, and acceptability of learning materials constitute essential elements of the right to education under international human rights law.

Intellectual property (IP) law has so far refrained from endorsing the concept of extraterritorial state …

The Domestic Effect Of South Africa's Treaty Obligations: The Right To Education And The Copyright Amendment Bill, Sanya Samtani

Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series

On 16 June 2020, the President of South Africa returned the Copyright Amendment Bill [B-13 of 2017] to Parliament, expressing reservations regarding its constitutionality and compliance with international law. In this paper, I describe the constitutional implications of compliance with international law and the binding international obligations incumbent upon South Africa in respect of copyright and international human rights law. In doing so, I argue that the Bill of Rights acts as a magnet, compelling all organs of state to give greater normative weight to those international obligations that map onto the Bill of Rights as compared to those …

The New Social Contracts In International Supply Chains, David Snyder

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

This Article considers, from legal, practical, moral, and policy perspectives, Model Contract Clauses (MCCs) to protect the human rights of workers in international supply chains. The product of the ABA Business Law Section Working Group to Draft Human Rights Protections in International Supply Contracts, the MCCs are an effort to provide companies with carefully researched and well-drafted clauses to incorporate human rights policies into supply contracts (purchase orders, master vendor agreements, and the like). The Article discusses the impetus, goals, and strategies of the MCCs and explains the paradigm of the corporate, operational, and political landscape for which they are …

Special 301 Of The Trade Act Of 1974 And Global Access To Medicine, Sean Flynn

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

Since its inception in 1988, the United States Trade Representative’s “Special 301” adjudication of foreign intellectual property law standards has been used to promote policies restricting access to affordable medications around the world. President-elect Obama released a platform promising to “break the stranglehold that a few big drug and insurance companies have on these life-saving drugs” and pledged support for “the rights of sovereign nations to access quality-assured, low-cost generic medication to meet their pressing public health needs.” The 2009 and 2010 Special 301 reports, however, indicate that the Obama Administration has not yet implemented this pledge into administration trade …