Archive for July 10th, 2012

The Inclusion of ACTA Within CETA: Why The Concern Is Warranted

My post yesterday on how the EU plans to use the Canada – EU Trade Agreement (CETA) as a backdoor mechanism to implement the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) provisions has attracted considerable attention with coverage from European media and activists. The European Commission refused to comment, stating that it does not comment on leaks.

Some have noted that since the leaked CETA IP chapter dates from February 2012, the concern is premature since the current EC position may change in light of the recent European Parliament vote to reject ACTA. According to this view, “it’s more than likely that the European Parliament will kill CETA just as (and because of) ACTA was killed last week.”

While a change to the IP chapter would be welcome (I argued it should be removed from CETA altogether), I think the concern is warranted for several reasons.

Access Copyright: 40 Percent Of Non-Quebec University Students Outside Model Licence

Access Copyright’s Executive Director Maureen Cavan tells University Affairs magazine that 40 percent of university students outside of Quebec are currently at institutions that have not signed the Access Copyright model licence. Carleton University, which opted-out of the licence last year, reports that “roughly 80 percent of requests to use […]

Copyright and Innovation: The Untold Story

Professor Michael Carrier has published the results of a remarkable initiative on copyright and innovation that uses the music industry and Napster as the case study. Carrier interviewed leading executives at major record labels and technology companies in an effort to better understand the implications of the litigation strategy against […]