uae e-transaction conference
TRANSCRIPT
“CopyrightandInnovationintheDigitalAge:TheUnitedArabEmirates”
ProfessorBrianFitzgeraldandMrRamiOlwanE‐commerceandE‐GovernanceConference
Abu‐Dhabi,UnitedArabEmirates19‐20May2009
Outline
• Introduction
• UAECopyrightLawfundamentals
• Issuestoconsider
• Summary
Introduction
• Overthelasttenyearswehaveseenenormouschangeinthewayweconstructprocessanddisseminateinformationforthepurposessuchaseducation,research,business,governanceandsocialdialogue.
• Itisnowpossibletocommunicateastory,messageorimageintheblinkofaneyetoaworldwideaudienceatverylittlecost.Thiscapacityhasbeenextendedinrecenttimesbythedevelopmentofbroadbandnetworksthatallowrichtextaudioandvisualmaterialtobecommunicatedatrapidspeedsandthirdgenerationmobiletechnologiesthatallowcommunicationfromanylocation.
Web2.0
• Alongwiththisgrowthincapacityoursocialpracticeshavealsoadaptedtothenewinformationenvironment.Collaborative,peerandusergeneratedknowledgeconstructionprojectslikeWikipedia,anonlineencyclopaediacreatedbyitsthousandsofusers,onlinesocialcommunitieslikeflickrausergeneratedonlinephotolibrarycontainingmillionsofphotosandsocialnetworkingplaceslikeMySpaceandFacebookareprominentexamples.ThesenewdevelopmentshavebeenunderpinnedbytheevolutionoftheSemanticWeb(makingtheWebamoredynamicinformationnetworkthroughbettermanagementandprocessingofmetadata)andWeb2.0(coveringinpartthegrowthofrichuserledapplications).
Importanceofcopyrightlaw
• However,muchofthedigitalcontentweaccessintheInternetworldissubjecttocopyrightandisownedbyaparticularpersonorcompany
• While,thehearrivalofthedigitaltechnologiesprovidesgreatopportunitiesfordevelopingcountriestoaccess,understand,acquire,andreuseinformation.
• Copyrightprotectsawiderangeoftools,whicharevitaltotheeducation,health,technicalliteracyanddevelopmentofdevelopingcountries.
Copyrightandinnovation:“theneedofinformationflow”
• Thedevelopmentoftheinternetandelectroniccommercehasmadepeoplemoreawareoftheimportanceofcopyrighttoinnovationpolicy.
• Inthedigitalenvironmenteveryinformationflowispotentiallyacopyrightinfringement–areproductionoracommunicationtothepublic.
• Toallowspaceforinnovationtooccurwehavetooptimisetheabilityforinformationflowswhilestillprovidingincentivesforpeopletocreate.
• Copyrightlawshouldpromoteinformationflows.• Openinnovation
Useofdigitaltechnologies
• TheUAEhasbeenattheforefrontwhenitcomestotheuseofdigitaltechnologiesintheMiddleEast.
• WewillconsiderhowtheUAECopyrightLawfitsthechallengesofthedigitalageandinparticularhowitmightbeimprovedtopromotethepossibilitiesforinnovation.
CopyrightLawfundamentals
• Copyrightlawprotectstheexpressionofideasandprovidescopyrightownerswith(economicorfinancial)rightstoamongstotherthingscontrolthereproductionandcommunicationtothepublicofcopyrightsubjectmatter.
• Copyrightsubjectmatterisoftendividedintotwocategories:copyrightandrelatedorneighbouringrights.
• TheCopyrightLawalsoprovidesauthorswiththemoralrightsofintegrityandattribution(paternity)andwiththeadditionalrightstodecidetofirstpublishthework(divulgation)andtowithdrawtheworkfromcirculationifseriousreasonsjustifyingsuchhaveoccurred(retraction)
Copyrightlawfundamentals
• Thetermofprotectionforbooksandmusicalcompositionwilllastforthelifeoftheauthorplusfiftyyears.
• Exclusiveeconomicorfinancialrightsofthecopyrightownerarenormallysubjecttolimitationsandexceptions.Theselimitationswillusuallypermitvarioususesofcopyrightmaterialfornocostandwithoutthepermissionofthecopyrightownerindefinedcircumstances.
Theadequacyofcurrentlimitationsandexceptions
• TheUAEcopyrightlawhasanumberoflimitationsandexceptionsasoutlinedinarticles22and24.
• Theselimitationsarecriticaltoavibranteducation,researchandinnovationsystem.
• Aretheyfitthedigitalenvironment?
• IftheUAEsignsaFTAwiththeU.Sitshouldtakethebenefitofthefairusedoctrine.
Intermediaryliability
• TheUAEcopyrightlawcontainsnoprovisiondealingexpresslywithsecondaryliability.
• TheUAEcopyrightlawcontainsnosafeharbourprovisionsdesignedtoimmuniseintermediariesfromliabilityforcopyrightdamages.
• TheUAEneedstoconsiderlegislatingsafeharbourprovisionsthatwillsensiblyprotectintermediariesespeciallyifitwantstocreateindustriesprovidinginformationservices.
Termextension
• TermextensionhasoccurredinanumberofArabcountriesthathavesignedanFTAwiththeUSincludingBahrain,MoroccoandOman
• ThereisnosensibleeconomicreasonforextendingthetermofcopyrightinanycountryandUAEshouldbewaryofextending
copyrightterm
Anti‐circumventionlaw
• CurrentlytheUAElawdoesnotincludeprovisionsthatregulatethesaleanddistributionofdevicesthatcircumventtechnologicalprotectionmeasuresordealingwiththeactofcircumventingsuchmeasures.
• ItiscriticallyimportantfortheUAEtoincludeappropriateexceptionsinanyproposedanti‐circumventionprovisions.
Thepromotionofvoluntarymechanisms
• Thetaskofmakingcopyrightlawmoresuitableforthedigitalagewill‐asoutlined‐aboveinvolvelookingatandreformingtheprovisionsofthecopyrightlaw.
• Howevermanypeoplehaverealisedthatamoreimmediaterouteistotryandusethecopyrightsystemasitcurrentlyexistsalongwithvoluntarymechanismstoimprovethesituation.TheCreativeCommonsandFreeandOpenSourceSoftwareprojectsarekeyexamplesofthis.
Educationandresearch
• Theeducationandresearchsectorisvitaltothedevelopmentofallcountries.
• UAEwillneedsensiblepoliciesonthedevelopmentofInternetbasedresourcesthatitsresearcherscanbuildandaccessinordertostimulateinnovation.
• Itwillneedtolookatandpromote:‐thedevelopmentofuniversityandgovernmentrepositoriesforresearchdata
andpublications‐incentivesforresearcherstosharetheirresearchontheInternetand
publishingagreementsthatpermitthistohappen‐datamanagementplans‐conditionsonresearchfundingthatpromoteopenaccesstoresearch.‐educationonhowtocreateopenlicensedmaterialsandhowtofindanutilise
suchmaterials
Educationandresearch
• Implementcopyrightprovisionson:
‐ orphanworks
‐ digitalpreservation
‐ libraryaccess,managementandlending‐ educationaluseandreusemoregenerally
AccesstoGovernmentmaterial
• Article3oftheUAECopyrightLawprovidesthatofficialdocumentsarenotprotectedhowevertheselectionandarrangementofsuchmaterialsifitinvolvesinnovationmaybeprotected.
• Itisnotclearwhetherofficialdocumentsincludegovernmentreportsorresearchgenerallyandthisshouldbeclarified.
Summary• Ineverycountrycopyrightlawandnotjustpatentlawshouldbe
seenasakeyingredientoftheinnovationsystem.Itisfundamentaltothegenerationandtransferofknowledge.
• TheUAEneedstobemindfuloftheimportanceofinformationflowinthemoderneconomy.
• Itneedstobealerttothefactthatoverlyrestrictivecopyrightlawwillslowdowndevelopmentandinnovationwhereascopyrightlawthatcanharnessthepowerofthetechnologywillprovideacompetitiveadvantage.
ThankYou!
CRICOS No. 00213J