Intellectual Property Reform and Open Knowledge

Intellectual property rights (IPRs) are an important open society issue because they govern the ownership and control of knowledge. They are a powerful means to restrict access, exchange, and creation of knowledge and knowledge-based goods—or, conversely, to enable equitable access and ensure continued creativity and innovation. IPRs, most importantly copyright and patents, affect everything from affordable and free communications on the Internet, to the availability and price of textbooks, scientific journals, software and drugs, to patterns of economic growth. A healthy knowledge ecology—one based on a balance between private property rights and the commons—is key to a thriving public sphere, a vibrant educational system, the advancement of sciences as well as the development of open society.

The Information Program's Intellectual Property Reform and Open Knowledge Initiative is motivated by a deep concern about the emergence of a new, unbalanced global IP regime in recent years:

We are witnessing a global expansion of the rights of intellectual property owners without comparable implementation of the rights of the users. For example, the duration of copyright protection has more than doubled in recent decades, and new IP restrictions are now being extended to new subject matter such as databases, software, gene sequences, and business methods.
The open nature of the Internet needs to be defended. The promotion of closed technology standards, software and business methods patents, and new "web-casting" rights are allowing private interests to lock up parts of the public domain.
The new IP regime is helping to extend the life of outmoded business models and inhibits the development of less restrictive alternatives.
The new regime based on these trends is being globalized without due consideration of its harmful impact on poorer countries.
Finally, because concentrated ownership based on IP monopolies creates powerful interests, IP policymaking processes are overshadowed by political and professional corruption.

Strategic Objectives

Against this background, the Intellectual Property Reform and Open Knowledge Initiative has identified two strategic goals:

Reform of the Global IPR Regime

As poorer countries have begun to feel the effects of IP agreements they entered into in the 1990s and are beginning to push back against US/EU-driven positions, there is a historic opportunity for reforming the current IP regime. The Initiative supports projects that seek to:

reorient WIPO and other intergovernmental organisations dealing with IP to respond to the needs and interests of transition and developing countries;
confront excessively restrictive national or regional instruments such as the EU IPR Enforcement Directive, which are often uncritically copied by countries in other parts of the world;
challenge IP-related unilateralism by the U.S. and EU through trade agreements which contain unfair IPR provisions;
assist poorer countries to revise their national legislation to take advantage of the maximum flexibilities allowed under international law.

In order to successfully intervene in the above IP law and policymaking processes, the Initiative will help to:

seed and nurture a global “access to knowledge movement” (see e.g., www.cptech.org/a2k), a network bringing together civil society and business interests aimed at (a) fighting off overly restrictive legislation such as the WIPO Broadcasting Treaty; (b) advancing pro-access legislation such as a draft Treaty on Access to Knowledge; and (c) promoting institutional transparency and uncovering corruption surrounding IP policymaking;
support coalitions of developing country governments to act collectively on IP issues at a regional level and at intergovernmental agencies.

Open Knowledge Production

The emerging models of “peer production” in the knowledge area hold considerable promise as a complement to proprietary models of knowledge production. Further, their open distribution models can help to address gross inequities in access to knowledge. The Initiative also aims to:

Support policy research into the nature and feasibility of models for peer production of knowledge goods and open models for knowledge dissemination. This includes development of new business models, providing a counterbalance to the legalistic approach that characterizes most policy interventions, and efforts to articulate and promote these models as viable policy alternatives.
To a limited extent, provide direct support for experimentation with new models, when individual experiments break new ground or could demonstrate the viability of an untested model. Such demonstrations are valuable on their own terms, but are further essential to policy interventions as they will, in the form of "proof of concept," contribute to governments more openly embracing new models as an integral part of their knowledge governance policies.

For instructions on submitting an application for funding, please view the Information Program�s Guidelines and frequently asked questions.

View contact information for this initiative.