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Rethinking Global Copyright Restrictions
by Danielle Belopotosky
Copyright laws in 11 Asian countries have resulted in prohibitive prices for educational materials, according to a Consumers International report released last week.
The report further condemned the World Intellectual Property Organization for providing "thoroughly inadequate" technical assistance to developing nations when negotiating copyright exemption in treaties. And it addressed studied international instruments on copyright, such as the World Trade Organization's Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights agreement, or TRIPS; the Berne Convention; and the WIPO copyright treaty.
The 11 nations in question include Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and Thailand. The report argues that the nations have given greater protection to copyright owners than the IP treaties require.
"In order to develop, poorer nations need access to affordable learning materials," Richard Lloyd, CI's director-general, said in a statement. Yet immense pressure from the developed world has meant many of the copyright laws ... are tougher than they need to be."
With much of the population in developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region living on as little as $2 a day, access to education is critical, the group said. But selling the imported book International Accounting for $27 in Indonesia, for instance, would be like selling it for $1,048 in the United States in terms of gross domestic product per capita, according to CI.
The report found that all 11 nations have expanded the scope of copyright protections required by the treaties. And 10 of those countries have extended the duration of copyright protections.
The international standard for copyright protection of a literary work is 50 years after the death of an author. India has extended that duration to 60 years. For movies, Cambodia has extended it to 75 years, while India's protection is for 60 years. The European Union also has extended the duration of the protection of literary works to 70 years, 20 more than required.
While printed text materials remain the most important source of educational materials, digital material is playing a greater role in education. Still, access to online libraries, databases and multimedia materials "is denied by the high cost of the materials available," the report said.
Ten of the countries covered in the report have yet to adopt legislative language to "impose a requirement for works to be 'fixed in some material form' before they become qualified for copyright protection," as the Berne Convention permits. Narrowing that requirement to mean "material form" would exclude digital materials from copyright protection, the report said.
Furthermore, only six of the nations link provisions that forbid attempts to bypass anti-piracy technologies to copyright infringement, as required by the WIPO copyright treaty. Doing so would let users access certain digital works, the study said.
The report also addresses the lack of protection of data compilations and the use of copyrighted works in broadcasts for education purposes in those countries.
International standards for copyright protections in the past decade have further pushed the scope and duration of copyright protection, as seen in trade deals and the TRIPS agreement, CI said. The protections, which typically side with the "powerful lobby of copyright owners," have weakened the authority of national lawmakers to develop their own copyright laws. "Even the advice [developing nations] are being given" by agencies such as WIPO "is wanting," CI said.
To restore a balance, some have called for a review of TRIPS, a campaign for an "Access to Knowledge Treaty," greater availability of information in online libraries of developing countries, and the promotion of open-access journals. Other efforts include greater protection of works in that are free for public use and flexible copyright licenses, such as under the Creative Commons.
CI urged national lawmakers to offer only the minimum copyright protections required by treaties in an effort to "keep as much of the works in the public domain as possible."
The organization provided WIPO with its study last week during a committee meeting on the development agenda in Geneva. CI called on WIPO to review its draft laws on copyright to ensure that its "legislative advice to developing countries contain all the available flexibilities for access to knowledge in the public domain," which is permitted under international treaties.
WIPO, meanwhile, will hold an open forum on patent law in Geneva this week in an effort to revive negotiations for a draft Substantive Patent Law Treaty. The meeting will cover five themes, including the harmonization of patent law, technology transfers and licensing practices, and new technologies.
Negotiations were launched in May 2001 but hit an impasse over outstanding issues on the future work plan of the Standing Committee on the Law of Patents. The forum begins Wednesday.
Services Talks AT WTO Continue
Trade negotiations on various services sectors, including computer services, telecommunications and temporary workers, began at the World Trade Organization on Tuesday.
The step aims to advance the WTO negotiations that began in Doha, Qatar, in 2001. Trade ministers met in Hong Kong in December, where they agreed to the current negotiations.
The U.S. proposal on temporary foreign workers calls for WTO nations to "promote competitive access" of information to laws and regulations regarding work authorization. It also calls for "procedural transparency" of government responses to visa applications and to provide the reason for denied applications.
India, on the other hand, has proposed categories of temporary workers and the restrictions they face, including quantitative limits on visas, wage parity and procedural barriers.
Subsequently, Indian trade negotiators have proposed new categories for professionals who are not linked to immigration or to long-term employment. Mirroring a guest program, the categories include business visitors, contractual service providers and independent professionals, who would be limited to a one-year stay.
The outcome of the negotiations will be discussed in more meetings slated for the end of March.
Intel To Expand Into Vietnam
Intel on Tuesday announced that it will invest $300 million to build Vietnam's first semiconductor manufacturing facility.
Vietnam regulators last week approved Intel's plans to build the assembly and testing facility in Ho Chi Minh City. It represents the country's single-biggest technology project to date.
"We applaud the progress the country has made in building up their technology infrastructure and the support of education programs to advance the capabilities of the local workforce," Intel Chairman Craig Barrett said in a statement.
By the end of the year, Intel plans to invest more than $6 billion in its worldwide expansion to boost production capacity. Vietnam will be the company's seventh global site. Other facilities are located in Chengdu and Shanghai, China; San Jose, Costa Rica; Penang and Kulim, Malaysia; and Cavite, Philippines.
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