[Infowarrior] - Michael Geist: US copyright lobby out-of-touch

[Richard Forno]

 US copyright lobby out-of-touch

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/technology/6379309.stm

Internet law professor Michael Geist takes a look at intellectual property
protection in the US and finds it somewhat out of step with the rest of the
world.

The International Intellectual Property Alliance, an association that brings
together US lobby groups representing the movie, music, software, and
publisher industries, last week delivered its annual submission to the US
government featuring its views on the inadequacy of intellectual property
protection around the world.

The report frequently serves as a blueprint for the US Trade
Representative's Section 301 Report, a government-mandated annual report
that carries the threat of trade barriers for countries that fail to meet
the US standard of IP protection.

The IIPA submission generated considerable media attention, with the
international media focusing on the state of IP protection in Russia and
China, while national media in Canada, Thailand, and Taiwan broadcast dire
warnings about the consequences of falling on the wrong side of US lobby
groups.

While the UK was spared inclusion on this year's list, what is most
noteworthy about the IIPA effort is that dozens of countries - indeed most
of the major global economies in the developed and developing world - are
singled out for criticism.

The IIPA recommendations are designed to highlight the inadequacies of IP
protection around the world, yet the lobby group ultimately shines the
spotlight on how US copyright policy has become out-of-touch and isolated
from much of the rest of the globe.

The IIPA criticisms fall into three broad categories. First, the lobby group
is very critical of any country that does not follow the US model for
implementing the World Intellectual Property Organisation's Internet
Treaties.

Those treaties, which create legal protection for technological protection
measures, have generated enormous controversy with many experts expressing
concern about their impact on consumer rights, privacy, free speech, and
security research.

Double standards?

The US implementation, contained in the 1997 Digital Millennium Copyright
Act, represents the world's most aggressive approach to the WIPO Internet
Treaties, setting very strict limits on the circumvention of digital rights
management systems and establishing a ban on devices that can be used to
circumvent DRM, even if the circumvention is for lawful purposes.

Given the US experience, it is unsurprising that many countries have
experimented with alternate implementations.

This experimentation invariably leads to heavy criticism from the IIPA as
countries such as Canada, New Zealand, Japan, Switzerland, Hong Kong, South
Korea, Israel, Mexico, and India are all taken to task for their
implementation (or proposed implementation) of anti-circumvention
legislation.

Further, countries that have not signed or ratified the WIPO Internet
treaties (which still includes the majority of the world), face the wrath of
the US lobby group for failing to do so.

Second, in a classic case of "do what I say, not what I do", many countries
are criticised for copyright laws that bear a striking similarity to US law.
For example, Israel is criticised for considering a fair use provision that
mirrors the US approach.

The IIPA is unhappy with the attempt to follow the US model, warning that
the Israeli public might view it as a "free ticket to copy." Similarly, the
time shifting provisions in New Zealand's current copyright reform bill
(which would permit video recording of television shows) are criticised
despite the fact that US law has granted even more liberal copying rights
for decades.

The most disturbing illustration of this double standard is the IIPA's
criticism of compulsory copyright licensing requirements.

Countries around the world, particularly those in the developing world
(including Indonesia, the Philippines, Lebanon, Kuwait, Nigeria, and
Vietnam) all face demands to eliminate compulsory licensing schemes in the
publishing and broadcasting fields.

Moreover, the report even criticises those countries that have merely raised
the possibility of new compulsory licensing systems, such as Sweden, where
politicians have mused about an Internet file sharing license.

Long list

Left unsaid by the IIPA, is the fact that the US is home to numerous
compulsory licenses.

These include statutory licenses for transmissions by cable systems,
satellite transmissions, compulsory licenses for making and distributing
phonorecords as well as the use of certain works with non-commercial
broadcasting.

Third, the IIPA recommendations criticise dozens of efforts to support
national education, privacy, and cultural initiatives.

For example, Canada, Brazil, and South Korea are criticised for copyright
exceptions granted to students and education institutions.

Italy and Mexico are criticised for failing to establish an easy method for
Internet service providers to remove allegedly infringing content (without
court oversight), while Greece is viewed as being offside for protecting the
privacy of ISP subscribers.

Greece is also taken to task for levying a surcharge at movie theatres that
is used to support Greek films.

Moreover, countries that have preserved their public domain by maintaining
their term of copyright protection at the international treaty standard of
life of the author plus an additional fifty years are criticised for not
matching the US extension to life plus 70 years.

There are literally hundreds of similar examples, as countries from Europe,
Asia, Africa, North and South America are criticised for not adopting the
DMCA, not extending the term of copyright, not throwing enough people in
jail, or creating too many exceptions to support education and other
societal goals.

In fact, the majority of the world's population finds itself on the list,
with 23 of the world's 30 most populous countries targeted for criticism
(the exceptions are the UK, Germany, Ethiopia, Iran, France, Congo, and
Myanmar).

Countries singled out for criticism should not be deceived into thinking
that their laws are failing to meet an international standard, no matter
what US lobby groups say.

Rather, those countries should know that their approach - and the criticism
that it inevitably brings from the US - places them in very good company.

Michael Geist holds the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law
at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/technology/6379309.stm

Published: 2007/02/20 15:01:57 GMT

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