Authors and authors’ groups from Australia, Canada, Britain and the US have filed a copyright infringement suit against the HathiTrust (a consortium of universities) and five US universities – the Universities of Michigan, California and Wisconsin, Cornell University and Indiana University. According to one of the plaintiffs – The Authors Guild – the universities obtained unauthorized scans […]
This week the EU extended copyright protection for performers and record producers from 50 to 70 years. The EU Council’s justification for the extension – performers often start their careers young, and the current 50-year term means that many are not protected for their entire lifetimes and may be cut off from sources of income at the stage they need it the most.
Not everybody is jumping for joy. Intellectual Property Watch reports that eight EU member states (notably Belgium, Czech Republic, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Sweden) voted against the extension. The Open Rights Group (ORG) do not mince words and label the extension “a cultural disaster”.
Neither the rain nor cold could dampen the spirit at the International Intellectual Property Law Conference recently hosted by Stellenbosch University (SU) to inaugurate the Anton Mostert Chair of Intellectual Property established at SU under the patronage of Dr Johann Rupert.
The Conference was addressed by an impressive panel of local and international intellectual property (IP) experts on interesting topics ranging from Confucius philosophy to the protection of handbags, but the message was loud and clear – IP faces many challenges and the time for change is now. Professor Owen Dean, the first incumbent of the Chair, is an outspoken proponent of the view held by many experts, that South African IP law has not kept pace with modern developments and essential amendments are urgently needed. Professor Dean’s vision for the Chair is to become a custodian of IP law and to actively assist in restoring IP law to its former glory.
