Copyright

South Centre Statement to the 64th WIPO General Assembly, July 2023

South Centre Statement to the 64th WIPO General Assembly (2023)

The South Centre, the intergovernmental organization of developing countries, actively promotes balancing public and private interests in the IP system. In accordance with the mandate of the 2007 Development Agenda (DA) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which WIPO as a UN specialized agency must contribute to, development, sustainability and human rights should be at the core of WIPO’s activities. WIPO should remain a Member State-driven, development-oriented organization.

The South Centre remains available to all developing countries’ delegations to provide further information and support on these matters, during and after the Assemblies.

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South Centre General Statement on L&Es to SCCR 43, 13-17 March 2023

South Centre General Statement on L&Es to SCCR 43

13-17 March 2023

The copyright system must be truly balanced. It means it should enable public interest purposes, particularly access to knowledge and education, a fair reward for creators, and real incentives – and not barriers – for creativity and research…

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SC Report on Copyright Week in South Africa, 23-27 January 2023

South Centre Supports Debates on Developments in Copyright Law and Access to Knowledge in Africa

By Vitor Ido

A conference “A Right to Research in Africa? A Week of Debates on Copyright and Access to Knowledge” took place on 23-27 January 2023 at the University of Pretoria and the University of Cape Town, South Africa. The gathering of scholars, artists, librarians, researchers and government officials had the objective to discuss the evolution of copyright law and the role of limitations and exceptions (L&Es) to advance research in Africa. The week of debates was co-organized by the South Centre, ReCreate South Africa, Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property (PIJIP) – American University Washington College of Law, Electronic Information for Libraries (EIFL), the University of Pretoria – Future Africa, the University of Cape Town – IP Unit, the Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Technology Law (CIPIT) – Strathmore University, Wikimedia Foundation and Masakhane.

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South Centre Repository of Copyright Limitations and Exceptions

 

South Centre Repository of Copyright Limitations and Exceptions

The South Centre is launching a repository of materials on copyright limitations and exceptions (L&Es) for the benefit of the diplomatic community in Geneva and capital-based delegates, with a focus on multilateral negotiations at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) on this matter, and to support regional and national laws and policies. The South Centre is committed to promoting a public interest-oriented copyright system which enables access to knowledge and is conducive to research, education, preservation, and other public goals. Please feel free to suggest further materials for this repository to Dr. Vitor Ido, Programme Officer of the South Centre (ido@southcentre.int).

You can access the repository here.

A Right to Research in Africa?, 23-27 January 2023

A Right to Research in Africa?

A Week of Events on Copyright and Access to Knowledge in South Africa

The Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property of the American University Washington College of Law (PIJIP) is co-organizing a week of debates on copyright and access to knowledge in South Africa the week of January 23rd, with a coalition of three university groups and four civil society organizations.

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SC-AU Workshop on WIPO Issues, 13-14 December 2022

South Centre – African Union Workshop on WIPO Issues

13-14 December 2022 at the Montreux Room – Centre de Conférences de Varembé (CCV), Geneva

In light of the Recommendations of the AU/AG workshop of December 2019 and the latest developments at SCCR/42, the African Group Coordinator, the South Centre and the African Union Permanent Mission in Geneva proposed a preparatory coordination workshop.

The workshop is co-organized by the South Centre, the African Union Permanent Representation in Geneva and the Permanent Mission of Algeria in Geneva (Coordinator of the African Group for WIPO issues).

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SC Statement to the WIPO Assemblies, 18 July 2022

Statement by the South Centre to the 2022 Assemblies of the Member States of WIPO

The South Centre is the intergovernmental organization of developing countries based in Geneva that supports developing countries’ efforts to build up a fair and inclusive multilateral system conducive to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We are of the view that a central objective of World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) as part of the United Nations (UN) UN system should be to support the achievement of such goals through the promotion of a balanced international intellectual property (IP) system that reflects the interests of countries at different levels of economic and technological development, and in line with the WIPO Development Agenda.

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South Centre Contribution – UNCTAD eCommerce Week 2022

DATA FOR DEVELOPMENT: HOW TO LEGALLY CHARACTERIZE DATA?

SOUTH CENTRE’S CONTRIBUTION TO THE eTRADE FOR ALL LEADERSHIP DIALOGUE OF THE UNCTAD eCOMMERCE WEEK 2022

Radical technological changes have always challenged pre-existing legal frameworks as demonstrated, for instance, by the commercialization of computer software independently from hardware and the use of genetic information to develop biotechnological innovations in various areas such as health and agriculture. The emergence of big data is a new and outstanding example of such situations. With the growing digitalization of multiple activities, ranging from education and health to ‘smart farming’ and the supply of the most diverse goods, the production and storage of data have exploded. Individuals, businesses and governments are generating an immense amount of data and this will only continue to grow in the future. Yet, the legal characterization of data is still a matter of considerable divergencies and debate. Policy makers and scholars are still searching for legal approaches suitable to address the complex relationships among producers, processors, controllers and users of data…

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Workshop on L&E work programme & WIPO broadcasting treaty, 27 April 2022

 South Centre/KEI/PIJIP Workshop on the L&E work programme and the WIPO broadcasting treaty

27 April 2022, 14:00-16:00 CEST

On Wednesday, 27 April 2022 from 14:00 CEST to 16:00 CEST, the South Centre, Knowledge Ecology International (KEI), and the Washington College of Law’s Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property (PIJIP) will convene a workshop to prepare for the 42nd session of WIPO’s Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights. The workshop will address two themes: 1) Proposal by the African Group for a work programme on exceptions and limitations and 2) Appraising proposals for a WIPO broadcasting treaty in 2022 and its implications on access to culture and knowledge.

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Research Paper 150, 21 March 2022

The Liability of Internet Service Providers for Copyright Infringement in Sri Lanka: A Comparative Analysis

By Ruwan Fernando

The exclusive rights enjoyed by a copyright owner to reproduce his protected work in any material form, including any permanent or temporary storage in electronic form will have a direct impact on the lawful activities of an internet service provider (ISP). Any transmission of temporary copies of material protected by copyright law by their subscribers or third parties using the networks provided by an ISP may amount to unauthorised reproduction of such protected material. The exclusive rights granted to a copyright owner may, thus, place an ISP in a difficult position that may seriously affect the legitimate services and facilities provided by an ISP such as transmitting, routing and storing of information on their networks. It would be impracticable however, to equate the position of a person who engages in traditional copyright infringement with that of an ISP who may merely provide access to the internet and various services to its subscribers facilitated by its networks.

The making of temporary copies exception was developed in the copyright law to safeguard the legitimate interests of an ISP, which may under certain conditions, exempt an ISP from liability for copyright infringement on the internet initiated by its subscribers or third parties by using the system provided by an ISP. There are laws in force in many countries to limit the liability of an ISP for the infringement of copyright that takes place on its networks. An ISP in Sri Lanka may not enjoy the same privilege for the infringement of unauthorised material initiated by its users or third parties on their networks. The current law is unlikely to provide adequate protection for the legitimate activities of ISPs in an attempt to minimize the vulnerability against copyright infringement claims.

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Research Paper 131, June 2021

TRIPS Flexibilities and TRIPS-plus Provisions in the RCEP Chapter on Intellectual Property: How Much Policy Space is Retained? 

By Vitor Henrique Pinto Ido

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) was signed on 15 November 2020 by 15 Asian-Pacific countries (ASEAN—Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam—, and China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand), comprising about one third of the world’s population and economy. India was a crucial party to the negotiations but opted out of the agreement. Ratification of the agreement is still pending, subject to more Parties ratifying it at the national level. This paper provides a broad overview of the RCEP agreement and discusses the details of the intellectual property (IP) Chapter. Significantly, it does not contain substantive TRIPS-plus provisions that undermine public health in developing countries—although it does contain such provisions in other areas such as copyrights, trademarks, and IP enforcement.

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