Trans-Pacific Partnership Leaks Again – Copyright Limitations and Exceptions

There’s been a new development with the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). A portion of the agreement detailing the copyright terms and exceptions has been leaked. This is certainly of particular interest given that the US reacted to the defeat of ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting trade Agreement) by saying that there would be new limitations and exceptions inserted into the agreement. How has the agreement really turned out in this area? We investigate.

There were many rights holders who may have believed that ACTA would usher in a new era of restricted copyright with laws considerably tipped towards multinational corporate entities in an unprecedented way. ACTA may not have been the be-all end-all agreement that would accomplish everything these corporate entities were hoping for, but it would be a start of an unprecedented wave of reforms. What happened was that ACTA did indeed usher in a new era surrounding copyright – an era where society can fight back against agreements that would unfairly restrict the local population and push out unwanted laws under the guise of it simply being a “trade agreement”.

The tide really turned when, after months of protest and campaigning by various societies within Europe, ACTA was ultimately rejected by the European Parliament. It was a move that many say was the final fatal blow to the agreement. Even though other countries outside the European Union had yet to take a position, some countries are showing signs of backing away in light of the decision by Europe.

Of course, the effects were not just limited to one agreement. In the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA), another agreement between Canada and Europe, similar concerns were raised over the overly restrictive copyright provisions thanks to a leaked copy that surfaced online. In light of the defeat of ACTA, John Clancy swiftly denied that the contents of the leaked document do not reflect the current version of CETA. No doubt, there may have been internal fears that the momentum against pro-corporation/anti-consumer copyright laws would spill over into other agreements.

The TPP was certainly not spared either. Amongst many advocates for balanced copyright laws, the TPP was seen as largely a wishlist of everything corporate entities ever wanted in a copyright law – a three strikes law and site blocking to name two possibilities that were so vigorously fought against around the world with varying degrees of success in different countries. Many say that the defeat of ACTA triggered some serious scrambling by negotiators to retool the copyright provisions within the agreement. The natural fear, of course, is a similar backlash hitting the TPP over concerns of overly restrictive copyright laws. So, in response, US negotiators said that they were adding in consumer protections to the agreement as well. It was pretty obvious that the US wanted to quell fears in an effort to take some heat off of the TPP.

August 5, 2012

Source: Zeropaid