Brexit and Intellectual Property Rights
On Friday 31 January 2020 at midnight (or at 23:00 GMT), more than three years of various proceedings and discussions finally resulted in Brexit. Nevertheless, its consequences will not fully materialise at least until 31 December 2020, since the United Kingdom and the European Union concluded the Withdrawal Agreement, providing for the transition period during which the EU Law will continue to apply in the UK.
What implications will Brexit have in the area of intellectual property?
United Kingdom has already expressed their intention not to implement the new EU Copyright Directive. For other implications on intellectual property right, please see Timotej Kotnik Jesih and Tilen Zonta’s article (in Slovene), published in Pravna praksa no. 4, 30. 1. 2020.
The Internet Archive is a non-profit organization that maintains the Open Library, a digital library index, and is dedicated to preserving knowledge. As many of the works in the Internet Archive are under copyright, the Archive uses a system of controlled digital lending based on digital rights management to prevent unauthorized downloading or copying of copyrighted books. In March 2020, due to the circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, the Internet Archive established the National Emergency Library, eliminating the waiting lists used in the Open Library and expanding access to books for all readers. In June 2020, the Emergency National Library faced a lawsuit from four book publishers and was ultimately closed.
The 43rd session of the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (hereinafter SCCR) made substantial progress on the issues advocated by the A2K Coalition (Access to Knowledge Coalition), which IPI is a member of. This year’s session was the most productive on the issues of exceptions and limitations. James Love (Knowledge Ecology International), a long-time observer at WIPO, described the outcome and the impact of the public interest community as the strongest since the conclusion of the Marrakech Treaty, which brought global copyright exceptions for the benefit of the blind and visually impaired.
Today, March 17, 2023, a symposium on law in the information society is taking place in the golden lecture hall of the Faculty of Law in Ljubljana. Dr. Maja Bogataj Jančič will present copyright aspects of artificial intelligence at the symposium.
The third day of the 43rd session of the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights is intended for discussion on the topic of exceptions and limitations to copyright, especially in connection with the right to research.