Showing posts with label WIPO. Show all posts
Showing posts with label WIPO. Show all posts

Saturday, April 24, 2021

Size Matters

If yours is small, April 26th is your day to shine.  

"Yours" meaning your IP enterprise. Why, because April 26th is World Intellectual Property Day, and for the entire week, the world is promoting and celebrating small and medium-sized IP- related enterprises.

https://www.wipo.int/ip-outreach/en/ipday/

If you offer services to copyright owners, you can visit an interactive world map and add your details. So far, there are a smattering of IP attorneys, but if you support authors, this is a great promo opportunity.

https://smesupportmap.wipo.int/map

Don't wait for Monday to put yourself on the map. You might not be seen by the early birds.

Authors, maybe scramble to do a blog or organize an Event in celebration of Intellectual Property Day 2021.  You can promote it to the world here:

https://www.wipo.int/ip-outreach/en/ipday/2021/events_calendar.html

The Copyright Alliance is hosting a couple of events. 

On Tuesday April 27th, at 1.00 pm Eastern, they have "Creative Enterprises: Small  Business, BIG Impact", and on April 28th, at 1.00 pm Eastern, they have "Small Enterprises Making a BIG Difference; Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts." If you did not know that there are lawyers who will help creators for  free, look out for the VLA panel discussion.

For lots more information, events, ideas, and possible promo ops for members of the Copyright Alliance, click here: 

https://copyrightalliance.org/trending-topics/world-ip-day-week-2021/

If you only watch one message from a politician, check out Thom Tillis who has been a strong supporter of IP rights for authors. He is on the copyright alliance page, second down and is very succinct.

All the best,

Rowena Cherry 

Saturday, June 20, 2020

This 'n That (And On Your Face... Or Not)

A laconic young male of my acquaintance, when asked by his father where he had been and what he had been doing, would reply evasively, "This 'n That."

This is not about him.

It's a heads up about author-related items of interest to writers, but there is no uniting theme.

A few years ago, as an indirect result of affordable medical care legislation, TEIGIT (an entertainment industry collective) found it unaffordable to offer group dental insurance to entertainment industry professionals.

Now, Authors Guild members are able to join the Book Industry Health Insurance Program (BIHIP) to buy health insurance with the Lighthouse Insurance Group (LIG).

https://www.authorsguild.org/industry-advocacy/authors-guild-partners-with-lig-solutions-to-provide-members-health-insurance-options/

Authors Guild dues are on a sliding scale according to the writing income of the member, but most members pay the minimum annual dues of  around $150 per annum.

Refer a friend link. (I have no idea whether or not this benefits this author. I doubt it, but disclose it.)
https://go.authorsguild.org/join?rc=57e0498b09194644

Additional disclaimer: Authors Guild is borderline political, but so far, not so much that dues are not tax deductible.

Authors and other creators who feel like they are being mugged every day by pirates might enjoy the Authors Guild ongoing advocacy against the allegedly lawless Internet Archive.
https://www.authorsguild.org/industry-advocacy/ia-national-emergency-library-update/

The law office of Littler Mendelson PC has a rather useful, State by State chart of where face mask wearing is recommended or required... or not at all.  You don't have to have anything sitting on your face in Oklahoma, Iowa, or Montana. Which is good to know.
https://s3.amazonaws.com/documents.lexology.com/57310a69-1d92-460f-a21f-72a9929052c7.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAVYILUYJ754JTDY6T&Expires=1592693204&Signature=JJNC%2FUj6pwS0%2BSne2uCIKWZp9J4%3D

Talking of good-to-know stuff, the law office of Frankfurt Kurnit Klein and Selz PC, has a need-to-know breakdown of the recent DMCA report.
https://ipandmedialaw.fkks.com/post/102g8rz/copyright-office-dmca-report-what-you-need-to-know

Kudos to Craig Whitney, Caren Decter, and Christina Campbell. It's actually a very comprehensive article, with hot topics such as the meaning of red flag knowledge, repeat offenders, safe harbors, and an OSP or ISP's ability to control.

For our United Kingdom readers comes a really great analysis of WIPO and poor man's copyright from Dr. Catherine Cotter of Slaughter and May, with kudos to the researcher Emily Costello (no link to Emily available at this time.) Any English-writing writer might like this. (Not "like" in the Facebook sense.) If you are beyond wanting to snail mail a sealed envelope to yourself and preserve it in its intact state, check this out... (and forgive my grammar.)

https://thelens.slaughterandmay.com/post/102g9cb/wipo-brings-poor-mans-copyright-into-digital-age

All the best,


Sunday, June 19, 2016

Copyright And Sovreignity

Some people opine that the best writers and musicians and photographers and artists have always starved,  and are willing to starve (aka not be paid fairly) because they love what they do, and will do it regardless of whether or not they are paid.

Some businesses seem to feel that it is morally acceptable to exploit musicians and writers, and to monetize the works of creative people without permission, in effect forcing creative people to involuntarily subsidize their start-ups. And governments and courts support the exploiters!

There are international copyright treaties: Berne, and those who administer: WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization). However, around the world there are also small groups of judges, who are making rulings and decisions that may undermine what has been agreed in international treaties.

A high-ranking advisor to the European Court of Justice has opined that ebooks are the same as print books as regards public lending, therefore libraries may lend ebooks without the permission of the author(s).

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/06/16/ebooks_same_as_printed_says_ecj_advisor/
Advocate General Maciej Szpunar said e‑books should be covered by the Rental and Lending Rights Directive, which means libraries don't need an author's permission to provide them to the public.
Leading to the questions

Does someone need to physically appear at a library in order to take out an e‑book?
How does a library ensure to authors' and publishers' satisfaction that old copies of e‑books do not remain readable?

This may sound reasonable, but under the copyright law, authors should have the right to consent to the lending or renting of their works.

This discussion reminds me a little of the compulsory "consent decrees" imposed on songwriters by the US government (by unelected judges) which is partly why popular musicians are unable to prevent their songs being exploited by politicians with whom the particular musicians disagree vehemently.

http://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/application/pdf/2016-06/cp160064en.pdf

It is conditional upon "fair remuneration" to the author(s). Ah, but who decides what is "fair remuneration"?  This could be the camel's nose under the tent, couldn't it?

Also, do the unelected European judges define what is a "library"? Could "Pirate Bay" or "Google Books" or "Amazon" call themselves "lending libraries" or "subscription libraries" and rent out ebooks without paying the authors for more than the first ebook?

Perhaps, like musicians receiving $0.00058 per spin from Spotify, a writer would be paid $0.00058 per borrow??? (I'm not suggesting that that is at all fair.)

Perhaps the EU has too much power, especially when authors, photographers, musicians and members of the public apparently can be stripped of their rights to privacy and intellectual property owing to an error in translation from one language to another!

This article suggests some alarming consequences if hyperlinks cannot be subject to a takedown.  Summarizing a summary of a case, apparently, a well-respected publication that specializes in tasteful photography of scantily clad models was hacked or else someone without authorization discovered where the magazine was storing the as-yet-unpublished images, and that someone created a hyperlink are made the images available over the internet to his audience.

When pondering articles on copyright, take time to read the comments. It gives the reader an insight into how a little encouragement will open a Pandora's box of piracy.  Give an inch, they'll take a mile.

All the best,
Rowena


Sunday, December 01, 2013

What's WIPO And Why Should Writers Care?


WIPO is the World Intellectual Property Organization.

Writers ought to care because copyright is the only legal protection that writers have to ensure that writers are able to profit from their time, expertise, and creativity.

WIPO defines "Intellectual Property" thus:

Intellectual property (IP) refers to creations of the mind, such as inventions; literary and artistic works; designs; and symbols, names and images used in commerce.
IP is protected in law by, for example, patentscopyright and trademarks, which enable people to earn recognition or financial benefit from what they invent or create. By striking the right balance between the interests of innovators and the wider public interest, the IP system aims to foster an environment in which creativity and innovation can flourish.

You can check out its resources on copyright here: http://www.wipo.int/copyright/en/

There are many free reports including "

which can be downloaded using this url, or directly from the WIPO site by searching for 893.
http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/freepublications/en/copyright/893/wipo_pub_893.pdf 

In my view, Report 893 gives the lie to self-serving assertions --made by people who profit or benefit from piracy-- that content posted on the internet "should be free" and that writers, photographers, musicians, actors, artists and others should give away their intellectual property (free), allow others to monetize the creators' intellectual property without compensating the creators, and that the creators should find other ways to make a living.

 "In the global economy, copyright protection creates the basis for entire industries such as those for music, publishing, film, broadcasting and software, and affects as well many other business activities. Thus copyright is a powerful source of economic growth, creating jobs and stimulating trade."
The Guide is quite lengthy, but it sets out to establish a methodology for assessing the financial impact of copyright (the contribution to the GDP) and of copyright-protected individuals and businesses.

"80. A number of conditions need to be met in order for copyright to perform its properfunctions. Among those particular attention should be paid to appropriate monitoring andcontrolling misuse by consumers as well as the existence of appropriate valuation ofcopyright, which has to balance the true cost of production and efficient protection."
And
"...creators must be sufficiently compensated, or they will find another employment...."
And
"If the intellectual property is not protected it will be easily reproduced and some other delivery media will compete with the original on the market. This will undermine the profits and could imply insufficient compensation for the creator. Under a system of legal protection the marginal cost of reproduction will be increased and the market price will not fall so far as when originals and copies compete and creators can thus enjoy compensation.45" 
I am grateful to Joseph Harris for drawing my attention to the WIPO site and the free Guide, and also for his excerpts, some of which I have used as a matter of convenience instead of taking the trouble on my own to cut and paste them from the free .pdf.

Rowena Cherry

Credit:  Joseph Harris, author/publisher, S P Publications, jcrharris.com

Joseph Harris is completing a number of books, the first of which he hopes to publish before the year is out [Crimes and Ciminals of Old series], as well as a historical revision biography and othe longer works. He will also republish books not currently available; all initially ebooks. His website is visitable but not yet pretty! After service in the Royal Air Force his career spanned financial and related  journalism, horticulture and negotiating, with  few byways. His interests and writings range from humorous poetry to economics to people and politics; and he is devloping a "New Reform" political philosophy. 


All the best,
Rowena Cherry

SPACE SNARK™ http://www.spacesnark.com/