Ensure fundamental rights by limiting copyright
Yesterday, Communia published a new Policy Paper on fundamental rights as a limit to copyright during emergencies.
The document presents a response to the state of emergency brought by COVID-19 pandemic, which significantly disrupted society organisation across the EU. The author, Teresa Nobre, presented her view on how the fundamental rights can provide legal basis for limitation of copyright in these extreme times.
Copyright exceptions and limitations should support education, research and other activities in the public interest, which should be exercised remotely in cases of emergency, when normal society organisation is disrupted. It cannot be said that current national copyright legislation which does not allow for temporary adaptation to the new reality that was introduced with COVID-19 pandemic appropriately incorporates fundamental rights contained in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. In such cases, the rights to freedom of information, freedom of science and education should be respected in order to enable limitation to exclusive copyright. Copyright limitations should be broad enough to provide security for activities equivalent to those carried out on the premises of educational establishments, research organizations and cultural heritage institutions during periods when the physical premises of those institutions are being forced into closure.
The Grand Board of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) finally ruled that the figurative sign ‘COVIDIOT’ cannot be registered as an EU trademark.
The 4th Open Knowledge Day took place on Tuesday 17 October 2023, with an accompanying workshop on 18 October 2023. This year it was organised by the Open Data and Intellectual Property Institute (ODIPI) and supported by Knowledge Rights 21 (KR21).
We invite you to the fourth Open Knowledge Day and the workshop, which will take place this year within the framework of the programme and with the support of Knowledge Rights 21. The event will bring together experts from different European countries to discuss two topics: the first part will deal with the legal basis for data analytics, which is a key part of machine learning and related artificial intelligence, and the general exception for research. In the second part, open science in theory and practice will be presented both in Slovenia and in some Western Balkan countries. Representatives of research and educational institutions from Slovenia and the Western Balkan countries, as well as interested members of the public, are invited to attend.
Dr. Maja Bogataj Jančič, a renowned expert in copyright law, has joined the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, where she will serve as an affiliate researcher for the next two years.