A movement emerges to challenge the tightening of intellectual property law around the world. At the end of the twentieth century, intellectual property rights collided with everyday life. Expansive copyright laws and digital rights management technologies sought to shut down new forms of copying and remixing made possible by the Internet. International laws expanding patent rights threatened the lives of millions of people around the world living with HIV/AIDS by limiting their access to cheap generic medicines. For decades, governments have tightened the grip of intellectual property law at the bidding of information industries; but recently, groups have emerged around the world to challenge this wave of enclosure with a new counter-politics of "access to knowledge" or "A2K." They include software programmers who took to the streets to defeat software patents in Europe, AIDS activists who forced multinational pharmaceutical companies to permit copies of their medicines to be sold in poor countries, subsistence farmers defending their rights to food security or access to agricultural biotechnology, and college students who created a new "free culture" movement to defend the digital commons. Access to Knowledge in the Age of Intellectual Property maps this emerging field of activism as a series of historical moments, strategies, and concepts. It gathers some of the most important thinkers and advocates in the field to make the stakes and strategies at play in this new domain visible and the terms of intellectual property law intelligible in their political implications around the world. A Creative Commons edition of this work will be freely available online.

Jeffrey Matsuura examines the challenges and opportunities associated with the development, distribution and use of intellectual property and knowledge assets.

This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. "This book is an important contribution to recovering a nuanced, contextually aware view of access to knowledge and global knowledge governance" Yochaie Benkler, Harvard Law School "This is a 'must read' for scholars and practioners interested in economic devlopment, cultural production and access to knowledge" Susan Sell, George Washington University This volume features five chapters on current issues facing intellectual property, innovation and development policy from the Egyptian perspective. These include: information and communications technology for development, copyright and comparative business models in music, open source software, patent reform and access to medicines, and the role of the Egyptian government in promoting access to knowledge internationally and domestically. Together these chapters offer an overview of the challenges and opportunities facing efforts to promote access to knowledge. Combining both theoretical and empirical approaches, the work will be of interest to scholars and practitioners dealing with intellectual property and innovation property the world over.

In today’s modern age where information is constantly being shared, intellectual property and protection remains a crucial aspect in economic development. Open access has emerged as a cutting-edge tool that allows writers and authors to share their work freely while still holding protection and security over it. With technology playing a crucial role in economic growth, open access practices could be a key contributor in the innovation and development of information and public policy. What researchers need is a comprehensive approach to the concept of open access practice, its foundations, and current status. Building Equitable Access to Knowledge Through Open Access Repositories provides emerging research exploring the theoretical and practical aspects of open access publishing practices in the digital age and applications within scientific and academic research. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics such as copyright protection, social justice, and European Copyright Framework, this book is ideally designed for researchers, scientists, policymakers, librarians, IT specialists, authors, publishers, academicians, and students seeking current research on the advancement of intellectual property rights in today’s technologically driven world.

Drawing on ancestral cosmology of Australia's indigenous people, this book develops a theory of indigenous peoples' innovation and intellectual property.

Much of the debate around the parameters of intellectual property (IP) protection relates to differing views about what IP law is supposed to achieve. This book analyses the object and purpose of international intellectual property law, examining how international agreements have been interpreted in different jurisdictions and how this has led to diversity in IP regimes at a national level.

A provocative introduction to the interconnected roles of intellectual property, information, and privacy--and the rules that govern them--in our lives and our global society.

As technological developments multiply around the globeâ€"even as the patenting of human genes comes under serious discussionâ€"nations, companies, and researchers find themselves in conflict over intellectual property rights (IPRs). Now, an international group of experts presents the first multidisciplinary look at IPRs in an age of explosive growth in science and technology. This thought-provoking volume offers an update on current international IPR negotiations and includes case studies on software, computer chips, optoelectronics, and biotechnologyâ€"areas characterized by high development cost and easy reproducibility. The volume covers these and other issues: Modern economic theory as a basis for approaching international IPRs. U.S. intellectual property practices versus those in Japan, India, the European Community, and the developing and newly industrializing countries. Trends in science and technology and how they affect IPRs. Pros and cons of a uniform international IPRs regime versus a system reflecting national differences.

Imagine sending a magazine article to 10 friends-making photocopies, putting them in envelopes, adding postage, and mailing them. Now consider how much easier it is to send that article to those 10 friends as an attachment to e-mail. Or to post the article on your own site on the World Wide Web. The ease of modifying or copying digitized material and the proliferation of computer networking have raised fundamental questions about copyright and patentâ€"intellectual property protections rooted in the U.S. Constitution. Hailed for quick and convenient access to a world of material, the Internet also poses serious economic issues for those who create and market that material. If people can so easily send music on the Internet for free, for example, who will pay for music? This book presents the multiple facets of digitized intellectual property, defining terms, identifying key issues, and exploring alternatives. It follows the complex threads of law, business, incentives to creators, the American tradition of access to information, the international context, and the nature of human behavior. Technology is explored for its ability to transfer content and its potential to protect intellectual property rights. The book proposes research and policy recommendations as well as principles for policymaking.

The principle of Access to Knowledge (A2K) has become a common reference point for a diverse set of agendas that all hope to realize technological and human potential by making knowledge more accessible. This book is a history of international copyright focused on principles of A2K and their proponents. Whilst debate and discussion so far has covered the perspectives of major western countries, the author's fresh approach to the topic considers emerging countries and NGOs, who have fought for the principles of A2K that are now fundamental to the system. Written in a clear and accessible style, the book connects copyright history to current problems, issues and events.