Digital Rights Network - News and commentary on IP and the regulation of information in the digital environment

British Academy Report: Copyright and research in the humanities and social sciences

Wed, 20 Sep 2006 10:50:06 +0100

The British Academy has just published its report on "Copyright and research in the humanities and social sciences". They find a variety of problems (detailed below) and also provide an extensive set of recommendations (see the Executive Summary linked from the main report page.

The findings of the Review

* Copyright law generally provides exemptions for fair dealing for private study and non-commercial research, and for purposes of criticism and review. These exemptions should normally be sufficient for academic and scholarly use.

* The problems lie in narrow interpretation, both by rights holders and by publishers of new works which refer to existing copyright material. These problems are acute in some subjects, particularly music, and history and film studies.

* Copyright holders have become more sensitive in defence of their rights, as a result of the development of new media, and are more aggressive in seeking to maximise revenue from the rights, even if the legal basis of their claims is weak.

* Risk averse publishers, who are often themselves rights holders, demand that unnecessary permissions be obtained, and such permissions are often refused or granted on unreasonable terms.

* There is an absence of case law, because the financial stakes involved in each individual case are small relative to the costs of litigation.

* Publishers and authors are very uncertain as to the true position and misapprehensions are widespread.

* There are well-founded concerns that new database rights and the development of digital rights management systems (DRMs) may enable rights holders to circumvent the effects of the copyright exemptions designed to facilitate research and scholarship.

Joint Statement Opposing Broadcast Treaty by Broad-Based Coalition

Wed, 06 Sep 2006 11:21:11 +0100

Statement Concerning The WIPO Broadcast Treaty Provided By Certain Information Technology, Consumer Electronics And Telecommunications Industry Representatives, Public Interest Organizations, And Performers' Representatives

Released: 2006-09-05

The undersigned represent a broad and diverse group, united in a common belief that the WIPO Treaty on the Protection of Broadcasts and Broadcasting Organizations, as currently drafted, would harm important economic and public policy interests. This Statement offers comments on several key aspects of the treaty.

USPTO Meeting on the Broadcast Treaty

Wed, 06 Sep 2006 11:19:04 +0100

On the 5th of September the USPTO held a roundtable discussion on the Broadcast Treaty (list of participants below). Gigi Sohn of Public Knowledge has posted a summary.

List of Participants

Ben Ivins, Senior Associate General Counsel, Legal & Regulatory Affairs, National Association of Broadcasters
Bradley Silver, Counsel, Intellectual Property, Time Warner, Inc.
Chris Boam, Director, International Public Policy & Regulatory Affairs, Verizon Communications, Inc
Christopher Veith, General Counsel Office, Broadcasting Board of Governors

EC on Broadcast Treaty: Protections can Only Go Up

Fri, 16 Jun 2006 15:33:44 +0100

Manon Ress writes to the a2k list: In their answer to TACD re broadcasting treaty, the EC explains that the proposed treaty cannot depart from a previous treaty (Rome). This despite the fact that the US and many other countries have never signed!. Protection can only go up. Exceptions can only be narrow and optional.

QUOTE:
To that extent, the EU cannot agree with the TACD demands since it would not reflect the current level of protection that is already accorded to broadcasters in the Community copyright acquis and would have the effect of diluting that protection. Nor would it be feasible within the context of international negotiations for a new treaty updating the rights of broadcasting organisations in the intellectual property context under the auspices of the World Intellectual Property Organisations to depart from the substantive norms of previous treaties [i.e. protection cannot go down]. This is what the Brazilian and Argentinean proposals envisage, namely the provision of mandatory rights for users. This would be contrary to all previous relevant Treaties in this area. The traditional approach in this area and the one which reflects EU law as well is to introduce optional exceptions for certain users such as the disabled or for teaching and research purposes. [emphasis added]
END OF QUOTE

WIPO General Assembly 2006

Fri, 16 Jun 2006 15:11:14 +0100

Start:
Mon, 2006-09-25 09:00

Location:
WIPO, Geneva, Switzerland

what: WIPO Annual General Assembly
url: http://www.wipo.int/meetings/en/details.jsp?meeting_id=10264
start: 2006-09-25 (25th September 2006)
end: 2006-10-03 (3rd October 2006)

DRM Standardization as Part of DG Enterprise 2006 Work Programme

Thu, 15 Jun 2006 12:29:31 +0100

The European Commission's DG Enterprise section as part of their 2006 work programme in the area of Technology for Innovation/INFORMATION & COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRIES and E-business are looking at ICT Standardization: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/ict/policy/standards/ict_index_en.htm

Full details of the ICT Standardization Work progamme are in this pdf: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/ict/policy/standards/wp2006.pdf which contains the following section referencing to DRM (p.11):

7. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS AND COUNTERFEITING

Action 31: Further to the standardisation work already initiated, additional efforts are required with regard to interoperability of different DRM systems. Although Directive 2001/29/EC limits itself, inter alias, to the legal framework applicable to technological protection measures, these provisions can only deliver their intended effect if user- friendly, reliable and interoperable DRM systems are available to the creative industries. In this context, a follow-up of already achieved standardisation work should be considered with a focus on particular markets such as current and next generation consumer electronics, including DVB-Content Protection & Copy Management (DVB-CPCM), as well as mobile handheld devices, including their interoperability with computer and consumer electronic devices. [emphasis added]

WIPO-Sponsored-by-the-Industry Broadcasting Seminar in Barcelona

Wed, 14 Jun 2006 09:45:27 +0100

what: WIPO Seminar on Broadcasting Treaty (sponsored by Broadcasters)
url: http://www.wipo.int/edocs/prdocs/en/2006/wipo_ma_2006_23.html
registration: http://www. wipo.int/copyright
when: 2006-06-21 (21st June)
where: Barcelona

From http://www.wipo.int/edocs/prdocs/en/2006/wipo_ma_2006_23.html

BARCELONA SEMINAR TO DISCUSS BROADCASTING ISSUES

International experts, business leaders, academics, government delegates and policy makers will come together on June 21, 2006, in Barcelona, under the auspices of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the Catalan Broadcasting Council and the Barcelona Bar Association, to examine current technical, economic and legal realities in the field of broadcasting and identify areas for development.

OSCAR the Open-Source Car

Mon, 12 Jun 2006 13:34:31 +0100

I was impressed by the radical design principles espoused in this article about fuel-cell vehicles, and heartened when I reached the end to see it was an example of open-source principles being harnessed to power the green revolution. And all reported in the Daily Telegraph...

EU Consultation on Copyright Levy Reform

Mon, 12 Jun 2006 12:32:10 +0100

subject: copyright levies and private copy exception
url: http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/copyright/levy_reform/index_en.htm
start: 2006-06-06 (6th June)
end: 2006-07-14 (14th July)

From the Website

Copyright levy reform is included in the Commission Work Program for 2006. In October 2004, the Commission consulted Member States on the scope of the private copying exception and existing systems of remuneration. Replies from Member States were due by March 2005. Where relevant, Member States were asked to update their replies and return them by January 2006. Member States have authorised the publication of these replies. Some Member States are still updating the replies submitted in 2005 and once these are received, these replies will also be published.

Stakeholder Consultation

The attached questionnaire on "Copyright levies in a converging world" is submitted for public consultation to ensure that later Commission proposals are technically viable, practically workable and based on a bottom-up approach. Stakeholders and Member States already provided valuable input in the process and this additional follow-up consultation serves the dual purpose to help to further improve the quality of the policy outcome and at the same time enhancing the involvement of interested parties and the public at large. This additional follow-up consultation period will run from 6 June through 14 July 2006. (Questionnaire PDF - http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/copyright/docs/levy_reform/stakeholder_consultation_en.pdf)

UKPO: Consultation on the Patent Office strategy for supporting innovation

Mon, 12 Jun 2006 12:23:31 +0100

deadline: 2006-08-21
email: innovation@patent.gov.uk
url: http://www.patent.gov.uk/about/consultations/support/

From the UKPO Site

Introduction

1. The Patent Office has been considering how it can deploy its considerable knowledge, resources and expertise to support innovation in the UK beyond our existing support activities and core statutory functions of granting IP rights, serving as a tribunal and providing advice on IP policy to Ministers. To this end, we have prepared a strategy for supporting innovation which is the subject of this consultation. Annex 1, describes how the Office intends contributing to the Government’s innovation support agenda by building on its existing support activities and pursuing new initiatives.

Qualcomm sues Nokia in the UK

Thu, 25 May 2006 10:06:21 +0100

From the Register:

"Qualcomm has brought the patent infringement allegations it has made against mobile phone giant Nokia to the UK. The US company has asked the English High Court to ban certain Nokia products and to force the Finnish firm to cough up damages."

"Qualcomm's complaint cites two UK patents that Nokia is alleged to have infringed - rather less than the 12 US patents the company alleges Nokia has infringed Stateside. Qualcomm launched legal proceedings against Nokia in the San Diego District Court in November 2005."

Parliamentary debate: "(c) is not a pension fund"

Mon, 22 May 2006 14:06:46 +0100

Don Foster MP organised a parliamentary debate last week on the Gowers review into intellectual property policy (via dooooooom.blogspot.com):

"Opponents also challenge the idea that back catalogue revenues provide investment for new ventures and to support new artists. Peter Jameson of the BPI argued in The Guardian on 24 April that such investment had contributed to a boom in new British music, citing artists such as Arctic Monkeys, James Blunt and Kaiser Chiefs. However, Arctic Monkeys are with Domino Records, which was founded in 1993 and rarely re-releases records that predate itself, and James Blunt was signed by the US label Custard Records, which was set up only in 2004 and so has little back catalogue material to release; the same is true of Kaiser Chiefs, who are signed to B-Unique, which was also founded in 2004. Those are hardly good examples of recording companies that rely on significant revenue from the back catalogue profits that would be under threat if we were to stick at the 50-year copyright term." ( More info here.)

Groklaw: The British Library - "The world's knowledge" DRM'd and for a price

Tue, 09 May 2006 12:28:28 +0100

As the EU Commission seeks to build the European Digital Library
PJ, of the award winning Groklaw website, sets her sights on the world leading British Library and in particular on its increasingly controversial attitude to DRM, fair-dealing and copyright in the digital age.

"If [the EU] duplicate what they have done at the British Library, I think it's fair to say that it is the death of public libraries as we have known them, and the world's knowledge will be available only DRM'd and for a price."

Full article here

Apple Vs Apple: Beatles lose in the UK

Mon, 08 May 2006 12:10:09 +0100

The UK high court has ruled that Apple Computers was not guilty of breaking a 1991 agreement with Apple Corps - the company owned by Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and the families of John Lennon and George Harrison - who had argued that the iTunes music store was in breach of its terms.

In making his ruling the judge said that the apple logo was only used in association with the company's online shop, and not with the music itself, and therefore dismissed the case brought by the Beatles' label.

More details at the Guardian here.

Private Eye: The Unedifying Cliff Richard

Mon, 08 May 2006 11:51:33 +0100

Private Eye magazine this week comments on ageing pop star Cliff Richard's campaign for copyright extension.

"The sight and sound of Sir Cliff Richard pleading for an extension in the 50-year copyright period in sound recordings is an unedifying one. Mainly because it represents a successful and rich artist arguing for a law that will benefit him, the complacent record companies and a few other successful performers at the expense of less-fortunate acts."

"Extending the copyright period would mean that record companies have no incentive to discover new talent. When Cliff Richard signed to EMI in 1958, the company wasn't relying on the smash hits of 1908 to fund the deal."