Copyright Exceptions Needed To Ensure Balance In Africa, Panellists Say

"International copyright laws do not take into account the reality of the conditions of accessing knowledge in Africa and clearer limitations and exceptions are needed to achieve a balanced copyright regime at the national level, panellists said at a seminar on development research on 20 May.
The seminar organised by research organisation IQsensato focused on copyright and access to educational and learning materials in Africa, and presented the research findings of the African Copyright and Access to Knowledge (ACA2K) Project on the subject."

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Elsevier Journal Scandal Provokes Significant Librarian Response

Elsevier admits total of six problematic publications; Progressive Librarians Guild issues call for action.

Merck's financial backing of the Australasian Journal of Bone & Joint Medicine (AJBM) through Elsevier's Excerpta Medica subsidiary came to light during testimony of a class-action lawsuit against the drug company. Fewer details of the other five titles are known. according to an article in The Scientist, Elsevier has declined to provide the names of the sponsors of these titles. Though it appears that the sponsored publication, AJBM, was not sold or licensed to libraries as part of standard subscription packages, the scandal is nevertheless galvanizing librarians across the academic community

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Elsevier published fake journals

Scientific publishing giant Elsevier put out a total of six publications between 2000 and 2005 that were sponsored by unnamed pharmaceutical companies and looked like peer reviewed medical journals, but did not disclose sponsorship, the company has admitted."[Elsevier called these pseudo-journals "sponsored article publications." --MES]

From the Publishing Archaelogy blog

Copyright Debate Goes Online

LONDON - David Lammy MP, Minister of State for Intellectual Property, took the copyright debate online, on May 15, 2009, with the launch of a micro website encouraging consumers and stakeholders to join the debate and help shape the future of copyright, a press release by the UK Intellectual Property Office (UK-IPO) stated.
The site brings together all of the evidence that the UK-IPO has collected since the copyright strategy was launched in December 2008. It also outlines some of the key emerging issues which will be the focus of further work over the next few months.
Speaking about a copyright agenda for the 21st century Lammy said:
"Copyright affects everyone. The technological changes we have seen over recent years have fundamentally altered the way we distribute and share works, bringing new opportunities for us all and new challenges as well.

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Experts Aim To Balance Intellectual Property Rights And Human Rights

The United Nations human rights framework is being brought to bear on intellectual property law, in the hopes that the weight of expert voices in human rights can lead IP regimes toward a better balance between the needs of industry and the needs of public policy.The Working Group on the Right to Development, an intergovernmental political body, in August 2008 took on the task of examining two intellectual property-related development partnerships that could influence the work of policymakers in at least two UN institutions.

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Pirated pop keeps stars popular

From the bbc

File-sharing sites help make popular acts more popular, finds a study.
The research, by industry body PRS for Music, showed the most pirated pop songs tend to be those at the top of the music charts.

Conference alerts: Preserving the Cultural Legacy of Serials

From Conservation (Print & Manuscript) to Reformatting (many formats)
to
Digital (Bytes)

19-21 August 2009, Bolzano, Italy

More information available here

Open Access Directory celebrates its first year online

Increasing demand drives success of Open Access resources

Canada: Open Access : promises and challenges

Public Library of Science (PLoS) FAQ on Open Access

The importance of Users' Rights on World Book and Copyright Day

Librarians highlight the importance of Users' Rights on World Book and Copyright Day. You can find the press release here.

Also see: eIFL handbook on Copyright and Related Issues


The Uneasy Case for Intellectual Property Rights in Traditional Knowledge. Should traditional knowledge - -the understanding or skill possessed by indigenous peoples pertaining to their culture and folklore and their use of native plants for medicinal purposes - receive protection as intellectual property? Stephen R. Munzer and Kal Raustiala debate the issues