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Category: Policy
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…
Head of copyright committee wants to deny EU creators the right to share
by Timothy Vollmer CopyrightOver the last few years the European Union has been working on revising its rules on copyright. But the latest proposal from the head of the copyright committee would deny creators the right to refuse remuneration — the right to share a work without getting paid — which could undermine the use of CC licenses…
CC Will Host 2018-19 Ford-Mozilla Open Web Fellow
by Timothy Vollmer CopyrightOn Monday, Mozilla announced that Creative Commons is among 11 organizations selected to host the 2018-2019 Ford-Mozilla Open Web Fellows. We’re thrilled to be chosen as one of the host organisations alongside the following excellent organizations: Consumer Reports, Tor, Witness, Code for Science & Society, Bits of Freedom, Derechos Digitales, Astraea Foundation, Wikimedia Foundation, Privacy…
Tell the Canadian government to ignore Bell’s terrible idea to block websites
by Timothy Vollmer CopyrightEarlier this month Bell and a group of Canadian telecommunications and media companies submitted a proposal that asks the Canadian government to identify websites engaged in content piracy and compel internet service providers to block access to those sites. Specifically, the proposal asks the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to set up an “Internet…
Time is running out for net neutrality
by Timothy Vollmer CopyrightAct now and support the #OneMoreVote campaign to trigger Senate review of the FCC repeal In December 2017, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted along party lines to repeal the 2015 Open Internet Order that ensured net neutrality in the United States. Without net neutrality, broadband providers like Comcast and Verizon will have free reign…