“Critics of intellectual property law are apt to resort to sweeping generalisations about the unacceptable social costs of intellectual-property protection. First, as is the case with many issues concerning indigenous knowledge, these critics, who seek to undermine the property rights established by intellectual property law, often resort to making rather emotive, and sensational, claims, but find it difficult to substantiate their criticisms with good evidence, other than for anecdotal tales. Second, critics of intellectual property fail to realise, or acknowledge, that intellectual property law is continually being refined in an effort to maintain an appropriate balance. It is not appropriate today to make broad generalisations about the social costs of any particular species of intellectual property, such as, for example, copyright protection.”
This observation, expressed by Prof Karjiker during his inaugural lecture at Stellenbosch University, underpins his work entitled “IP:Politics and Beyond” and reviews, inter alia, the 2017 Draft Intellectual Property Policy and the Copyright Amendment Bill 2017 in light of its overtly political foundations.
The full text of his address is available here.
You can watch the video recording of the lecture here.
From left: Prof Eugene Cloete (Vice-Rector: Research, Innovation and Postgraduate Studies), Prof Sadulla Karjiker (Chair of Intellectual Property Law), Prof Nicola Smit (Dean of the Faculty of Law)
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