Category: Legislation and Government Regulation

Getting Started: Implementing the Marrakesh Treaty for Persons with Print Disabilities: A Practical Guide for Librarians

IFLA has released Getting Started: Implementing the Marrakesh Treaty for Persons with Print Disabilities: A Practical Guide for Librarians.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

This guide, edited by Victoria Owen, and with the welcome support of the World Blind Union, the Canadian Association of Research Libraries, Electronic Information for Libraries, and the University of Toronto, offers answers to frequently asked questions. It can also be adapted by national actors to their own laws—IFLA encourages this, in order to get the largest possible number of libraries involved

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"’It Is for Publishers to Provide Plan S-compliant Routes to Publication in Their Journals.’: An Interview with Robert-Jan Smits, with Preface"

Richard Poynder has published "'It Is for Publishers to Provide Plan S-compliant Routes to Publication in Their Journals.': An Interview with Robert-Jan Smits, with Preface" in Open and Shut?.

Here's an excerpt:

That publishers do not like Plan S is, of course, no surprise. That was doubtless what the architects of the initiative anticipated. What they perhaps did not anticipate was that they would face pushback from researchers. Yet just a week after the announcement nine researchers published a critical article entitled, A Response to Plan-S from Academic Researchers: Unethical, Too Risky! This appears to have shocked the Plan S architects as thoroughly as their plan must have shocked publishers.

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US Signs Treaty: "The Marrakesh Treaty Implementation Act"

Karyn A. Temple has published "The Marrakesh Treaty Implementation Act" in Copyright: Creativity at Work.

Here's an excerpt:

The MTIA amends section 121 of the Copyright Act, which has already established limitations and exceptions allowing certain authorized entities, like the Library of Congress’s National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, to provide published works in accessible formats to those who have print disabilities. The MTIA reinforces section 121's mission and changes some of its key terms and definitions to comply with the text of the Marrakesh Treaty. For example, the term "blind or other persons with disabilities" is now "eligible persons," which is then defined as someone who is blind, has a perceptual or reading disability, or has a physical disability affecting their ability to read.

The MTIA also adds a new section—121A—to the Copyright Act allowing authorized entities to both export and import works in accessible formats between the United States and other countries who have signed the Marrakesh Treaty. Finally, section 121A provides guidance to authorized entities engaged in exporting or importing on establishing and following certain practices and procedures. For a more detailed summary of what the MTIA does, please visit the Office’s FAQ.

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"What’s Next with WIPO’s Ill-Advised Broadcast Treaty?"

The Creative Commons has released "What's Next with WIPO's Ill-Advised Broadcast Treaty?" by Timothy Vollmer.

Here's an excerpt:

Six years ago we wrote a blog post titled WIPO's Broadcasting Treaty: Still Harmful, Still Unnecessary. At the time, the proposed treaty—which would grant to broadcasters a separate, exclusive copyright-like right in the signals that they transmit, separate from any copyrights in the content of the transmissions—had already been on WIPO’s docket for several years. It’s still on the table today, and now some countries are calling for actions to finalise the agreement.

The current text contains many of the same damaging provisions, such as long term of protection (possibly 50 years) and little to no support for limitations and exceptions to the right which could provide needed protections for activities such as news reporting, quotation, education, personal use, and archiving.

But the dealbreaker for CC is the fact that the treaty would essentially invalidate the permissions that users of Creative Commons grant when they share their creativity under open licenses, and instead gift new and unwarranted rights to broadcasting organizations that have added little or no value to the underlying work being transmitted. This is because the rights provided to broadcasters in the treaty would apply separately from copyright, thus permitting them to restrict how the content is shared even if the creator of the video or audio content has already released it under a Creative Commons license, or if it's already in the public domain.

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European Commission’s OA Plan S: "Academic Freedom and Responsibility: Why Plan S Is Not Unethical"

Stephen Curry, has published "Academic Freedom and Responsibility: Why Plan S Is Not Unethical" in Reciprocal Space.

Here's an excerpt:

Since its announcement on 4th September the European Commission's plan to make a radical shift towards open access (OA) has caused quite a stir. Backed by eleven* national funding agencies, the plan aims to make the research that they support free to read as soon as it is published. This is a major challenge to the status quo, since the funders are effectively placing subscription journals off limits for their researchers, even if the journals allow green OA (publication of the author-accepted manuscript) after an embargo period; Plan S also specifically excludes hybrid open access except in cases where journals have an agreed schedule for flipping to OA. The plan has been welcomed as "admirably strong" by OA advocate Peter Suber, though he has also offered cautionary notes on some aspects. Others have been less enthusiastic. A central charge, from some publishers and some academics is that Plan S is an infringement of academic freedom to choose how and where your work is published and it therefore unethical.

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US-Mexico-Canada Agreement: "From Copyright Term to Super Bowl Commercials: Breaking Down the Digital NAFTA Deal"

Michael Geist has published "From Copyright Term to Super Bowl Commercials: Breaking Down the Digital NAFTA Deal" in his blog.

Here's an excerpt:

Yet the major copyright change for Canada is the extension in the term of copyright beyond the international standard of life of the author plus 50 years to life of the author plus 70 years. The term of copyright was never going to hold up a major trade agreement and Canada did agree to an extension in the original TPP. However, the cost will be significant, locking down works from the public domain for decades and potentially increasing educational costs by millions of dollars. From a domestic policy perspective, the change should impact the current copyright review as term extension has been one of the top requests from rights holders and areas of concern for users. The extension shifts the copyright balance in Canada and should be factored into future reforms, including the benefits of extending fair dealing to restore the balance.

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