WIPO asked to create new treaty on the resale right (droit de suite) for works of art

A new campaign (see www.resale-right.org) started today with an elegant lunch provided by the European Visual Artisits (EVA) representing the demandeurs of a brand new global right, the resale right (droit de Suite). It was followed by a panel of visual artists and their representative among them a very articulate DG of ADGO (Societe des auteurs dans les arts graphiques et plastiques), Marie-Anne Ferry-Fall.
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KEI Statement at WIPO SCCR 26 December 16, 2013 re the Casting Treaty

The Monday morning session of SCCR 26 went very fast. The agenda was approved in few minutes. Two days will be about the broadcasting treaty, two days will be about libraries and archives and one day on education. 6 side events: artists resale, authors forum launch, authorized entities, IP and video games study, Libraries and archives and Museum and IP, WIPO guide. Continue Reading

29 Organizations and More than 70 Individuals Sign Letter Opposing Life Plus Seventy Year Copyright Term in TPP

29 organizations and more than 70 individuals signed on to the final letter opposing copyright terms of life plus seventy years in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP). A PDF version of the final letter is attached below. An earlier version of the letter with a substantial number of signatures was sent to all lead IP negotiators and all chief negotiators in the TPP on Friday, 6 December 2013, in advance of the TPP ministerial.

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2009: Sign-on Letter – Against life + 70 year copyright term in the TPP

This is sign-on letter — Against life + 70 year copyright term in the TPP. See end of letter for details on how to sign.

<-------------------begin letter----------- December 9, 2013 Dear TPP negotiators, In a December 7-10 meeting in Singapore you will be asked to endorse a binding obligation to grant copyright protection for 70 years after the death of an author. We urge you to reject the life + 70 year term for copyright. Continue Reading

USTR FOIA, 127 pages of emails between industry and USTR TPP negotiators

Earlier this year, IP-Watch submitted two FOIA requests to USTR about the TPP negotiation. I am attaching two letters from USTR to IP-Watch about the FOIAs, and a file with 127 pages of emails between USTR and various industry lobbyists. (USTR provided KEI with copies of the files provdied to IP-Watch as part a separate KEI FOIA to USTR regarding communications involving the TPP).

A lot has clearly been withheld by USTR. According to USTR’s June 19, 2013 letter to IP-Watch

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GE’s Thaddeus Burns wrote to US Ambassador Betty King requesting US postpone Marrakesh Diplomatic Conference

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Thaddeus Burns of GE spent months trying to derail the WIPO treaty for the blind negotiations
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The letter opposing the treaty for the blind was signed by TABC Director General Tim Bennett

We just ran across this mean spirited letter by the Trans-Atlantic Business Council (TABC), a group that describes itself as follows:

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EPO and OHIM publish misleading report on intellectual property rights intensive industries in EU economy

In 2012 the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published a study titled “Intellectual Property and the U.S. Economy: Industries in Focus” which estimated the number of jobs if various “IP intensive” industries. The study was immediately panned by critics for its broad definitions — grocery stores were the top “ip intensive industry” in the United States, but it became a source of go-to-statistics for every PhRMA and publisher lobby group pushing new privileges and subsidies. (Commentary here: /node/1432)

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