Call for Papers: Public Interest Reviews of the International Intellectual Property Enforcement Agenda

For this, PIJIP invites short (8-12 page) plain language policy papers, written in general policy paper (ie “white paper”) language geared toward policy advocates, government officials and other interested parties, but not an exclusively legal audience, analyzing possible public interest impacts of elements of the enforcement agenda, particularly analysis of leaked text of major proposals for ACTA. For copies of the text of ACTA proposals, and other resources on elements of the enforcement agenda, see the project’s collaborative website: https://sites.google.com/site/iipenforcement/

Specific questions of interest to the project are detailed below and in the attached description of research questions generated at a previous workshop on this issue (also available at the iipenforcement site). However, proposals on any aspect of the public interest impact of the enforcement agenda will be entertained.

Academics and policy advocates are invited to submit an abstract of a proposed paper on this topic for presentation at the workshop. Accepted papers for the workshop will receive travel assistance to attend the workshop in Washington D.C. Completed papers will be eligible for publication in the PIJIP Working Paper Series. A Prize of $1,000 will be granted for the top five completed papers presented at the workshop and submitted for publication in the Working Paper series.

PIJIP is particularly interested in examinations of the following issues:

• Section by section analysis of the how adoption of major ACTA proposals would alter the law of a given country (either a current ACTA negotiating country or a country not yet in ACTA negotiations).
• Analysis of the impact of ACTA’s proposed institutional mechanisms on the current international institutional structure for intellectual property matters (including, e.g. WIPO and WTO) and how such alterations will impact public interests;
• Analysis of the potential impact of ACTA proposals or other elements of the enforcement agenda on specific public interest concerns, including
o access to knowledge imbedded goods and services,
o libraries,
o fair use,
o media literacy,
o public media,
o developing countries (including if ACTA were globalized).
• Analysis of the legality of elements of the enforcement agenda under international or domestic law, including, e.g.: Does the US Special 301 watch list program violate the WTO’s international dispute resolution mechanism? Do elements of the enforcement agenda violate international human rights obligations?

Submission of abstracts should be made to [email protected] by April 15, 2010. Draft papers for presentation at the workshop will be due by June 1, 2010. Completed papers for publication in the Working Paper Series will be due by July 30, 2010.

Questions can be sent to addressed to Sean Flynn, Associate Director, PIJIP, at [email protected]
The SpicyIP Team thanks Professor Joshua D. Sarnoff, Professor & Associate Director, Glushko-Samuelson IP Law Clinic, Washington College of Law, American University, for kindly bringing this call to our attention.