Copyright, Covid-19, and the TRIPS IP Waiver

When: October 27, 2021 at 2:00pm - 3:00pm EDT - This event has passed

ABOUT THE PROGRAM:

The global Covid-19 pandemic continues to impact our daily lives and to upend norms and expectations in places both likely and unlikely—including copyright. Starting in spring 2020, international groups, on behalf of researchers and educators, sent open letters to WIPO and others seeking support for voluntary license-restriction waivers and for compulsory licensing of works like scholarly publications and datasets that might prove useful in Covid-19 research and development. Last fall, the governments of India and South Africa proposed to the World Trade Organization (WTO) that members’ obligations under the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS) be waived with respect to patents, copyrights, trade secrets, and design rights related to Covid-19 research and treatment (TRIPS Waiver).

In May 2021, the Biden administration weighed in with support for the TRIPS Waiver. While the discussion has largely focused on vaccine development and manufacturing patents and trade secrets, the Waiver could also reach copyrighted material and data.

In our program, two distinguished international copyright and IP scholars offer a balanced look at the proposed TRIPS waiver and its implications for copyright. Our panel will provide a refresher on the history and background of the TRIPS regime and its copyright-oriented provisions, before delving into an assessment of the primary copyright scenarios a TRIPS waiver may cover. The panel will conclude with an update on the status of the TRIPS waiver discussions and with their predictions about whether the copyright issues raised in the TRIPS Waiver context will persist.

SPEAKERS:

Lucie Guibault is Professor of Law and Associate Director of the Law & Technology Institute at the Dalhousie University Schulich School of Law in Halifax, Canada. A core focus of Prof. Guibault’s copyright scholarship examines, from a comparative international law perspective, the interplay between copyright protection and licensing, on the one hand, and open access to scholarly, educational, and cultural-heritage resources, on the other. Prof. Guibault’s publications in this area include Open Content Licensing – From Theory to Practice and The Future of the Public Domain. Prof. Guibault serves as a research-team member for a project coordinated by American University’s Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property that is mapping the world’s copyright laws and their research-use exceptions for advanced technologies like text-and-data mining and machine learning. In that capacity, Prof. Guibault signed onto a March 22, 2021 statement of 149 scholars, researchers, and advocacy groups supporting a TRIPS waiver covering copyrighted material.

Mark F. Schultz is the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company Endowed Chair in Intellectual Property Law and the Director of the Center for Intellectual Property Law & Technology at the University of Akron School of Law. Prof. Schultz is a widely recognized scholar and policy expert on the law and economics of the global intellectual property system. Prof. Schultz has testified before the U.S. House and Senate on copyright law and has worked on IP programs hosted by WIPO, the WTO, the USPTO, the U.S. Trade Representative, and the U.S. Copyright Office. He was also the co-founder of the Center for Protection of Intellectual Property at George Mason University, where he remains a senior scholar, and is a senior fellow of the Geneva Network, a UK-based think tank focused on international IP and health policy. Prof. Schultz is currently chair of the Academic Advisory Board of the Copyright Alliance.

Aleksander Goranin (moderator) is an intellectual-property litigator at Duane Morris LLP. Alex specializes in copyright and patent litigation, particularly in the areas of enterprise software, internet, telecommunications, and medical devices. He brings over twenty years of trial and licensing experience to the resolution of technology-driven disputes. Alex has also taught intellectual property courses at the Villanova University School of Law and, before entering private practice, clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. He currently co-chairs the Copyright Society’s Pennsylvania Chapter.

COST:

Members: $55

Non-Members: $95
Student Members: Free

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Cancellation Policy

Refunds must be requested in writing at least three business days before the event. Refunds will not be issued after that point. Unfortunately we will not be able to credit your registration payment toward a future event, but you may allow another person to attend in your place. Please email bcohen@csusa.org and let us know that person’s name, affiliation, city and state, and email address.

Financial Aid

The Copyright Society is dedicated to making its programming accessible by providing a limited number of scholarships each year to students, law clerks, unemployed attorneys, and nonprofit and government employees. For information on how to apply, please click here.

CLE CREDIT:

California: 1.0 Participatory
New York: 1.0 Areas of Professional Practice / This intermediate program is transitional and appropriate for both newly admitted and experienced attorneys.
Pennsylvania: 1.0 General

CLE Credit Details

The Copyright Society is an Accredited Continuing Legal Education Provider in California, New York and Pennsylvania. Instructions for verifying attendance will be emailed to registrants prior to the program. California: 1.0 Participatory New York: 1.0 Areas of Professional Practice / This intermediate program is transitional and appropriate for both newly admitted and experienced attorneys. Pennsylvania: 1.0 General