Intellectual property: global issues

This edition of Consumer Policy Review looks at consumer issues from the perspective of intellectual property (IP) across the European Union (EU), Asia, and the US. Intellectual Property is not one thing, but an umbrella term that captures many different tools and rules, such as copyright, patents,

Harvard Professor Lawrence Lessig stated that Patents and Copyrights have always been aimed at finding a balance 'between rewarding creativity and allowing the borrowing from which new creativity springs'. There is an increasing debate about the shifting balance around IP rights, and this edition of Consumer Policy Review looks at aspects of IP that affect consumers. Fundamental arguments for both the potential positive and negative impacts of intellectual property protection are examined, while uncovering some of the complex issues around the implementation and usage of IP rights.

Jim Murray of BEUC, the European Consumers Organisation, discusses to what extent competition policy can be used to fix weak IP regimes that tend to suppress innovation. He makes a distinction between the positive benefits of IP - such as promotion of innovation and economic growth and the ways in which IP regimes can actually stifle competition and growth when administered improperly. Murray's article provides insight into the crucial debate around finding the right balance when implementing IP.

On the issues of copyright protection in the EU from a library perspective, Harald von Hielmcrone of the State and University Library of Aarhus discusses the transition of digital technology with respect to the creation of the internal market. He argues that various factors have lead to the considerable strengthening of authors' rights. Despite these attempts at single market harmonisation, he points out that the library lobby has secured exceptions which protect the societal role of the library. In addition, the European Commission is yet to succeed in fully harmonising present copyright laws, with Member States retaining many exceptions.

The article discussing the Consumers International study on 'Copyright and Access to knowledge' addresses how obligations on copyright law within international treaties are transposed into national copyright laws, looking at the situation of eleven developing countries in Asia. The study finds that copyright owners are being given far more protection than the IP treaties require, and suggests that this is partly caused by poor advice from the World Intellectual Property Organisation, which has an overall effect of reducing public access to knowledge.

Peter Drahos of the Australian National University distinguishes the concept of 'intellectual commons' from the public domain. This article argues for positive intellectual commons as a method of protecting the freedom of citizens from the tendency of governments to limit the rights of citizens to knowledge and information due to private monopolies and business interests.

The impacts of the 'digital revolution' are analysed by Mark Cooper, Director of Research at the Consumer Federation of America. Cooper places his argument in the context of US history and law to argue that the digital revolution within the last quarter century has brought about the emergence of a more economically dynamic, socially equitable, and politically democratic society which has resulted in the marriage between improved economic welfare with the political ideologies of intellectual theory.

The TransAtlantic Consumer Dialogue looks at some of the discussions from its March 2006 conference on the politics and ideology of intellectual property. The discussions stretched from the philosophical basis for intellectual property to the most concrete examples of the role of lobbying in changing the balance of intellectual property protection. The dominant message was that IP rules need profound reassessment, if they are to do more than defend vested interests.