Looking for help with the Online Safety Act  - Ofcom consultation & guidelines? Please get in touch. 

International trade agreements and intellectual property

ACTA showed us how intellectual property and copyright policy may become embroiled in trade policy. Since the demise of ACTA in the European Union, following the European Parliament's rejection of it, there have been attempts to slide it in to other trade agreements. Notably, the US in its update of the NAFTA agreement known as USMCA, has an updated chapter on IPR enforcement. It was under discussion for the proposed US-UK agreement, but this has been put on hold under the Biden Administration. I have likewise put any posts on this deal on hold.

If you like the articles in this section and you are interested in ACTA and copyright enforcement policy, you may like my books A Copyright Masquerade: How Corporate Lobbying Threatens Online Freedoms and The Copyright Enforcement Enigma - Internet Politics and the 'Telecoms Package'

A June deadline is looming for the EU Council of Ministers to give its blessing to a mandate for EU -US trade talks. That's when European Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht would like to have it settled. The issue that may delay the mandate is what to do about support for the European film industries. It's an issue that splits the Commission internally. The elephant in the room is copyright and IPR. Both issues lead to Hollywood.

Read more: EU-US trade talks - the Hollywood question

Following the demise of the Anti-counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) the EU and the US are having another go at it. Only now it is within the wrapper of an EU-US Trade Agreement. Intellectual property rights (IPR) remain at the heart of it, although this time it seems they will take a more softly-softly approach.

Read more: EU-US Trade agreement - where we diverge, let's talk

mh.2.kiev.november2015.s.jpg

Find me on LinkedIn

About Iptegrity

Iptegrity.com is the website of Dr Monica Horten. I am an  independent policy advisor, with expertise in online safety, technology and human rights. I am a published author, and post-doctoral scholar. I hold a PhD from the University of Westminster, and a DipM from the Chartered Institute of Marketing. I cover the UK and EU. I'm a former tech journalist, and an experienced panelist and Chair. My media credits include the BBC, iNews, Times, Guardian and Politico.

Iptegrity.com is made available free of charge for non-commercial use. Please link back and attribute Dr Monica Horten.  Contact me to use any of my content for commercial purposes.  

The politics of copyright

A Copyright Masquerade - How corporate lobbying threatens online freedoms

'timely and provocative' Entertainment Law Review