Law Commons^™

The User Rights Database: Measuring The Impact Of Opening Copyright Exceptions, Sean Flynn, Michael Palmedo

Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series

International and domestic copyright law reform around the world is increasingly focused on how copyright exceptions — a.k.a. “user rights” —should be expanded to promote maximum innovation, creativity, and access to knowledge in the digital age. These efforts are guided by a relatively rich theoretical literature. However, few empirical studies explore the social and economic impact of expanding user rights in the digital era. One reason for this gap has been the absence of a tool measuring the key independent variable – changes in copyright user rights over time and between countries. We are developing such a tool, which we …

R&D Spending And Patenting In The Technology Hardware Sector In Nations With And Without Fair Use, Michael Palmedo

Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series

This working paper uses two common indicators of innovation to see how the technology hardware sector compares in countries with and without fair use. It illustrates that research and development spending by firms in these industries has been higher in countries with fair use, controlling for other firm- and country-level factors. It then shows more patents have been granted to the technology sector in countries that have adopted fair use, relative to patents granted to firms in the same industries in other countries, controlling for other country-level factors.

Fair Use Is Good For Creativity And Innovation, Bill Patry

Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series

Commenting on legal debates in other countries is usually bad manners. When, however, the debates concern a law from your own country, and that law is being misrepresented, it may be of service to set the record straight. The record, based on almost 300 years of Anglo-American case law and the experiences of those of us who apply fair use every day in our jobs, demonstrates that fair use is good for creativity and innovation, and in practice works well. You don’t have to take my word for it; if you are willing to put the time in, and have …

An Overview Of The International Treatment Of Exceptions, Eric Schwartz

Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series

This article is intended as a very brief overview and history of the international treatment of “fair use” or its equivalent — that is, a general summary of the treaty obligations and national law exceptions (in statute or by common law) to the exclusive rights of authors and owners of copyrights.

A Realist Approach To Copyright Law's Formalities, Michael W. Carroll

Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series

Rejecting the conventional story that formalities in copyright law were abolished by the Berne Convention, this Article demonstrates that privately administered systems of formalities play a significant role in the administration of copyright law worldwide. Indeed, they must because copyright is designed to support a transaction structure which requires rightsholders who seek to attract licensing partners to go through some formal step to identify themselves and the works in which they have a legal or beneficial interest. Canvassing the landscape of mandatory and voluntary public and private systems of formalities, this article argues that: (1) national policymakers retain more policy …

The Three-Step Test Revisited: How To Use The Test’S Flexibility In National Copyright Law, Christophe Geiger, Daniel Gervais, Martin Senftleben

Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series

The first version of the three-step test emerged at the 1967 Stockholm Conference for the Revision of the Berne Convention. With the inclusion of versions of the test in the TRIPS Agreement of April 1994, the two WIPO “Internet” treaties of December 1996, the more recent Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances of June 24, 2012, and the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled (VIP Treaty) of June 27, 2013, the test has taken on the central function of allowing and enabling tailor-made solutions at the national level. …

Intellectual Property Reform In Colombia: Future Colombian Copyright Legislation Must Not Place Overly Restrictive Burdens On Internet Service Providers That Unnecessarily Restrict Access To Information And Freedom Of Expression Of The People Of Colombia, Glushko-Samuelson Intellectual Property Clinic, Andrés Izquierdo, Fundación Karisma, Bogotá, Colombia

Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series

No abstract provided.

Intellectual Property Reform In Colombia: The Colombian Legislature Must Consider Local And International Conventions And Pass Balanced Copyright Legislation That Preserves The Fundamental Rights Of All Colombians, Glushko-Samuelson Intellectaul Property Clinic, Andrés Izquierdo, Fundación Karisma, Bogotá, Colombia

Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series

No abstract provided.

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 …

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.

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.

Why Full Open Access Matters, Michael W. Carroll

Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series

This Perspective argues that when authors or funders pay the full cost of publishing a scientific or scholarly journal article in an open access journal, the terms of reuse should require only attribution to some combination of the author(s), the original publisher, and the funder. Publications that charge authors and their financial backers the full cost of publication and then add other reuse restrictions are not fully open access publications.

Will Individuals Aboard The Cultural Pirate Ship Be Struck By The Acta's Cannon Ball?, Shalom Andrews

Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series

Combating internet piracy is a global challenge. Fundamentally, piracy lingers because it has become a culturally acceptable behaviour that is under-enforced. The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is the latest enforcement measure aimed at sinking the pirate ship.

The first part of this paper will explore piracy as a cultural phenomenon and how it interacts with Australian civil and criminal law. Pirates, who have awareness that their plundering is wrong, convince themselves that: there are moral grounds for their escapades; there is a government conspiracy to reduce internet freedom; they are fighting globalisation by attacking the corporations who reap disproportionate booty, …

The Impact Of The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (Acta) On Canadian Copyright Law, Elizabeth Judge, Saleh Al-Sharieh

Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series

With the advent of The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), the protection and enforceability of intellectual property rights will continue growing. Canadians, like other citizens whose countries may adhere to this treaty, would notice major changes to the legal systems regulating their rights and obligations with respect to intellectual property. With respect to copyright law, by deciding to be a party of ACTA, Canada would be facing a true challenge of fulfilling its international obligations and at the same time preserving its carefully drawn copyright law and policy. This paper argues that the impact of ACTA on Canadian copyright law would …

Untold Stories In South Africa: Creative Consequences Of The Rights-Clearing Culture For Documentary Filmmakers, Peter Jaszi, Sean Flynn

Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series

This report summarizes research on the perceptions of South African documentary filmmakers about copyright clearance requirements and the effect of such requirements on their work. This work was performed in the context of a larger project exploring how lessons learned from “best practices” projects with documentary filmmakers in the U.S. can help their counterparts in other countries identify and overcome barriers to effective filmmaking posed by escalating
copyright clearance requirements.