In 2005 Ghana introduced copyright legislation that protects folklore against unregulated use by Ghanaian nationals. effect, this means any national wishing to engage with their own cultural heritage in order develop a new commercial work must register intent and pay an undetermined fee the Copyright Office or National Folklore Board prior use. This is particularly problematic for Ghana’s indus...

In the past few years, policymakers, academic commentators, consumer advocates, civil liberties groups, and user communities have expressed grave concerns about the steadily increasing levels of enforcement of intellectual property rights. Taking note of these concerns, this Occasional Paper brings together two recently published essays discussing the ongoing efforts to strengthen intellectual ...

Language revitalization, oral tradition and epistemology are expressions of Native peoples intellectual sovereignty, and thus the foundation for indigenous intellectual property rights. As the people of California move towards language and cultural revitalization the question arises: What constitutes or constructs the definitions of intellectual property and how can appropriation of indigenous ...

We debate whether intellectual property (IP) protection of medical products and devices required to prevent, treat contain COVID-19 should be waived, as proposed by South Africa India, under the World Trade Organization (WTO)’s Agreement on Trade-related aspects Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement). discuss existing public policy mechanisms TRIPS how these have been implemented at nat...

The Internet is an iconoclastic system which has introduced exciting new concepts in commerce and communications, whilst upsetting a number of traditional principles, including principles associated with intellectual property law. Intellectual property is a term coined to describe to the collective set of exclusive rights which creators can obtain for their works. The rights are provided by pat...

T he Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (the TRIPS Agreement, Box 1) has to a large extent harmonized standards for intellectual property rights, including patents. For many countries, the TRIPS standards were higher than their previous standards. For example, TRIPS obliges countries to allow patenting of pharmaceuticals and imposes a minimum duration of 20 years...

This article focuses on the Brazilian policy for distribution of medicines to persons living with HIV/AIDS. It attempts to present readers with the social scenario in which this policy has been developed and implemented, and describes the history of how the epidemic has been dealt with in Brazil. Some historical references are mentioned in order to provide a better understanding of the principl...