Month: November 2016

 For all intents and purposes the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is dead—or at the very least it will be in a state of suspended animation for a considerable period to come— given that President-elect Trump has announced that he will initiate the process to have the US withdraw from the Agreement on Day 1 of his Presidency. And that will end the TPP as we know it because of the Agreement’s terms; it will come into effect two years after signature (which took place in February of 2016) provided that at least six of the twelve countries representing 85% of the total GDP of the partners ratify and bring it into force. Between them the US and Japan represent about 80% of the GDP total (US-62%) so in effect this gives both countries a veto, with the US alone being able to prevent the deal from coming into effect. It has been argued that if the Agreement isn’t implemented that it doesn’t die, but rather just sits on the shelf. Technically that is true, and under a future US Administration it could be dusted off and revived if all parties agreed, but by the time that happens it will be a different world and considerable renegotiation will be needed. Continue reading “The Demise of the TPP and its Impact on Copyright”

The Chairman of China’s Dalian Wanda Group, Wang Jianlin, has made no secret of his ambition to buy a major Hollywood studio. Horrors! What next? Will we have China controlling the green-lighting of Hollywood films? What will happen to the inscrutable karate-chopping Oriental bad guys? (Who will play the role of heavies?) No more films on Tibet? If all that sounds like a stretch, consider this. Eighteen members of the US Congress have raised concerns about investment in Hollywood by Dalian Wanda, a major Chinese conglomerate that has already acquired AMC Cinemas and Legendary Pictures. Continue reading “If Wanda buys a major Hollywood studio, will we all be brainwashed by Chinese propaganda?”

“A free press is the unsleeping guardian of every other right that free men prize; it is the most dangerous foe of tyranny.” (Sir Winston Churchill)

Freedom of the press is one of the pillars of our democracy; investigative journalism keeps the system honest. Yet today the continued existence of a thriving and independent Fourth Estate is threatened as never before. With the migration of advertising revenues online, the traditional newspaper and news magazine is hurting, and shrinking. In the US, major newspapers like the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the Cincinnati Post and the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review have closed their print editions, likely to never reappear. In Britain the Independent has gone exclusively online. Others, including a number in continental Europe, have closed (FT Deutschland) or have become thin, pale shadows of their previous existence. There is no easy remedy as ad revenues, which in the past sustained print journalism, have moved online. Continue reading “The EU Digital Single Market and Publisher’s Rights: Protecting the Public Interest”

In a blockbuster speech delivered on October 10 to the Australian International Movie Convention meeting in Gold Coast, Queensland, Graham Burke, Co-Executive Chairman and Co-CEO of Australia’s largest entertainment company, Village Roadshow, took aim at the high rate of film piracy among Australian consumers and declared war on illegal downloading and streaming. Burke outlined a five point strategy to combat what he called a “piracy plague” in Australia. Pointing out that surveys show that

over 30% of young Australians aged 12-17 pirate movies and TV series,

Continue reading “Tackling Piracy in Australia: Village Roadshow’s New and Innovative Strategy”