OECD Calibrates Role In Fast-Changing Internet Society 15/10/2007 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment OTTAWA – The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Paris-based club of 30 of the world’s largest economies, is moving fast to keep up with the newest trend on the Internet: user-generated content. Referred to generally as ‘Web 2.0’, this trend includes collaboratively developed websites such as Wikipedia and YouTube, social networking platforms such […]
US Requests Second WTO Panel On China’s IP Protection 11/10/2007 by David Cronin for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By David Cronin for Intellectual Property Watch The United States has decided to step up its challenge to China’s restrictions on copyright-protected books, music and films by asking the World Trade Organization to establish a dispute settlement panel. During June and July, the US and China held formal talks over trade restrictions applied by the […]
EU Copyright Levies Extend To New Media As Harmonisation Lags 11/10/2007 by Alicia Martin-Santos for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment By Alicia Martin-Santos and Dugie Standeford for Intellectual Property Watch European Union countries are imposing copyright levies on a whole new range of digital media, including digital music players, USB flash sticks, hard drives and, potentially, mobile phones and wireless connections, as efforts to harmonise Europe’s heterogeneous copyright landscape continue to languish. Copyright levies are imposed on blank material (such as blank CDs, DVDs or paper) or digital recording media (used to store digital content) in order to compensate authors for end-users’ private copying. They first appeared in the 1960s and were charged on paper, photocopying equipment and tapes. New recording media, such as mp3 players (like iPods) or even mobile phones are being examined for potential levying.
Open Letter From Staff To The Director General Of WIPO 08/10/2007 by Intellectual Property Watch 16 Comments Pour la version française, cliquer ici Where are you Director General? For the first time in WIPO’s history, the Assemblies were unable to agree on the adoption of the budget of the Organization. For the first time, the member states had to have recourse to a fratricidal vote on these questions and thereby to abandon […]
The Idris Dilemma And The WIPO Development Agenda 02/10/2007 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Sisule F. Musungu On Friday, 28th September 2007 the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) General Assembly finally adopted a development agenda for WIPO. The Assembly adopted a set of 45 proposals under six clusters, namely: technical assistance and capacity building; norm-setting, flexibilities and public domain; technology transfer, ICTs and access to knowledge; assessment, evaluation […]
WIPO Panel: Rights Management Information At Core Of IP Protection 01/10/2007 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment By Catherine Saez The growing volume of audiovisual, musical or text-based content online offers opportunities and challenges to copyright owners, intermediaries such as search engines, and users, according to panellists at a recent World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) seminar. Among the challenges are the ownership, licensing and management of intellectual property. Rights Management Information (RMI), as defined in the 1996 WIPO “Internet” treaties, identifies content protected by copyright or related rights, the rights owners for such content and the terms and conditions of use associated with it. RMI is playing an essential role in protecting copyrights in the network environment, according to panellists, most of whom were from an industry perspective.
WIPO Group On DG At Impasse As Idris Defence Challenged 28/09/2007 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment A special panel of member states of the World Intellectual Property Organization appears to have reached impasse on its mandate this week of examining reports on possible wrongdoing involving the WIPO director general. The group, formed after key members called for the WIPO head to step down, has been working in an atmosphere of accusations […]
WTO Inquiry Launched Into US Complaints Against China’s IP Record 27/09/2007 by Paul Garwood for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment By Paul Garwood A World Trade Organization panel will formally investigate United States complaints that China has failed to adequately protect intellectual property rights on goods such as software and movies, a move criticised by Beijing. WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) on 25 September established a panel following Washington’s second request to look into its […]
High-Level Group Debates Idris Issue As WIPO Assails Charges 24/09/2007 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments By William New The annual General Assemblies of the UN World Intellectual Property Organization member states snagged the first day on a proposed agenda to discuss potential wrongdoing by the WIPO director general. By day’s end, a high-level group formed earlier in the day to address the issue was continuing closed-door negotiations. Among those in […]
Pressures High On Eve Of WIPO General Assembly; DG Under Fire 20/09/2007 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment By William New Tensions are high at the World Intellectual Property Organization leading up to the annual General Assemblies next week with member states discussing the fate of the WIPO director general, who developed country member states claim has lost the ability to govern the organisation. Other issues under debate include budget overruns and surpluses […]