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Category: Copyright
It’s now or never: EU copyright must protect access to knowledge and the commons
by Timothy Vollmer CopyrightWe’re coming up on a crucial decision on changes to copyright in the European Union that will govern how creativity is accessed and shared for years to come. On 12 September the European Parliament will vote on the draft Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market. If you’re in the EU, go to https://saveyourinternet.eu/…
European Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee Gives Green Light to Harmful Link Tax and Pervasive Platform Censorship
by Timothy Vollmer CopyrightIf you’re in the EU, go to saveyourinternet.eu and tell your MEPs to stop the proposal and reopen the debate. Today, the European Parliament the Legal Affairs Committee voted in favor of the most harmful provisions of the proposed Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market. The outcome reflects a disturbing path toward increasing…
Act now to stop the EU’s plan to censor the web
by Timothy Vollmer CopyrightAs the Legal Affairs Committee of the European Parliament is nearing a vote on the proposed reform of the EU copyright rules, time is running out to make your voice heard. The vote will take place on June 20. The final copyright directive will have deep and lasting effects on the ability to create and…
Red Alert for Net Neutrality
by Timothy Vollmer CopyrightToday Creative Commons is joining dozens of organisations in the Red Alert for Net Neutrality. The action calls on individuals to contact Congress with phone calls, emails, and tweets in support of the upcoming Senate vote on a Congressional Review Act resolution to block the FCC’s repeal of net neutrality. The open internet protections must…
Mexican Senate passes changes to copyright law that would censor content online
by Timothy Vollmer CopyrightDigital rights organisations in Mexico are sounding the alarm after the Senate approved changes to the copyright law that would censor information online. The measures would allow for the preemptive removal of content without having to prove that a copyright infringement has actually taken place. Yesterday the Senate approved the modifications to the Federal Copyright…
56 organisations tell EU legislator to delete the absurd link tax
by Timothy Vollmer CopyrightCreative Commons and 55 organisations sent a letter to the head of the European Parliament’s legal affairs committee, MEP Axel Voss, urging him to remove the harmful and counterproductive press publishers right from the EU copyright reform docket. Last month, we wrote about the proposal floated by Voss that would take the already-harmful press publishers…
A Thank You to Everyone Who Supported Diego and Open Access to Knowledge
by Timothy Vollmer Copyright, Open AccessIn December Diego Gómez was finally cleared of the criminal charges levied against him for sharing an academic research paper on the internet. The Tribunal de Bogotá—the Colombian appellate court—affirmed the lower court’s acquittal. Gómez is a scientist from Colombia who had been criminally prosecuted for the last three years for sharing an academic paper…
Derecho de autor en el tratado de libre comercio Mercosur-Unión Europea: pocas mejoras y muchos retrocesos
by Timothy Vollmer CopyrightPublicado originalmente en inglés el 6 de abril de 2018. Traducción: Equipo de CC Uruguay. Un borrador recientemente filtrado del tratado de libre comercio Mercosur-Unión Europea muestra pequeñas mejoras en el capítulo sobre propiedad intelectual. Parece que la extensión innecesaria e injustificada de 20 años de duración del derecho de autor ahora se elimina del acuerdo, y…
Direito autoral no tratado comercial Mercosul-UE: poucas melhoras e muitos retrocessos
by Timothy Vollmer CopyrightPublicado originalmente em inglês em 6 de abril de 2018. Tradução: Ana Luiza Araújo Uma proposta recém vazada do tratado de livre comércio entre o Mercosul e a União Europeia mostra pequenas melhorias no capítulo sobre propriedade intelectual. Agora parece que a extensão desnecessária e injustificada dos prazos de direito de autor por 20 anos não…
Copyright in Mercosur-EU trade agreement: A little better, but mostly worse
by Timothy Vollmer CopyrightA recently-leaked draft of the Mercosur-EU free trade agreement shows minor improvements to the chapter on intellectual property. It appears that the unnecessary and unwarranted 20 year copyright term extension is now dropped from the agreement, and the parties have introduced some flexibility for users to get around technical protection measures in order to leverage…