“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