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COLOMBIA | Anti-counterfeiting, Copyright | Piracy of Books and Software in Colombia generates losses of 300 million dollars per year
According to the BSA | The Software Alliance latest report -as well as according to the Colombian Book Chamber statistics-, the commercial value of illegal software and books used in Colombia exceeds USD$ 300 million per year (1 billion Colombian pesos).
In the case of illegal software, the losses exceed 845 billion pesos (USD$ 250 million), and it is estimated that 50% of the software used in the country is illegal. On the other hand, the publishing industry reports losses of 150 billion pesos per year (USD$ 50 million).
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BRAZIL | Patents | Brazilian Congress supports approval of Automatic Patent Granting Program
On 15 December 2017, the De-Bureaucratization Commission of the Brazilian Senate gave its approval to the Automatic Patent Granting Program proposed by the Patent Office (INPI in Portuguese), through which that entity would grant more than 230.000 patent applications filed in Brazil before 2014 (and to which we referred in a previous OM Weekly Digest edition).
The Congress considers that the approval of the program is beneficial, because the INPI has one of the slowest patent prosecution times in the world, with an average of 12.5 years to grant a patent (and in the case of the pharmaceutical sector, 14 years).
According to the document issued by Congress, the project is under review by the President, who must also support its approval.
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COLOMBIA | Copyright | Colombia: Court analyzes criteria for conservation of “temporary” artistic works
On 2 November 2017, the Superior Court of Bogotá issued Final Judgment in the lawsuit filed by artist Gabriel Antonio Calle Arango against San Diego Shopping Center of Medellín. The legal action originated due to the removal of an artist’s mural placed on that shopping center facade, which led to the alleged violation of his moral right of integrity.
As we reported in an OM Weekly Digest previous edition, the Colombian Copyright Office (DNDA in Spanish) -in use of its jurisdictional capabilities- delivered a first instance Judgment in August 2016, in which it considered that the rights of the artist should prevail.
However, the Court departed from 1st instance Judgment and denied the artist’s pretensions, indicating that he knew of the temporary nature of his work -which was susceptible to variations resulting from the commercial purpose of the building- and that the Shopping Center “proved that the structure where the mural was needed an intervention due to its high deterioration“. The Court also stated that “there was no evidence to prove that the artistic intervention had perpetual conditions” and that “there are photographs that preserve the work in some way“.
Additionally, the Andean Court of Justice issued a binding Prejudicial Interpretation establishing the parameters to determine existence of an infringement to the author’s moral right to integrity, stating that the rights confronted must be weighed and that protection of the work should be procured except in cases of security, force majeure or fortuitous event (scenarios in which the author must be informed of the future impact of his work, so that he can remove it or use audiovisual means to preserve it in some way).
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USA, WORLD | Regulatory | USA puts an end to Net Neutrality
On 14 December 2017, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) of the United States voted to repeal the net neutrality, a measure approved in 2015 that was mandatory for Internet operators (ISPs) established in USA.
Net neutrality consisted in a group of rules that prevented ISPs from manipulating Internet access according to their commercial preferences, in order to guarantee access to information “on equal terms” for all users, prohibiting ISPs from blocking, filtering and prioritizing content.
The FCC states that the measure reestablished the freedom of the internet, by leaving the previous regulations in force (which allowed the Internet to function as it does today).
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COLOMBIA | Regulatory, Corporate Law | Crowdfunding will be regulated in Colombia
On 14 December 2017, the Colombian Ministry of Finance announced that it will issue a Decree regulating collective financing -known as crowdfunding-. The new Decree would establish that (1) only projects with a maximum of USD $ 246.000 will be financed; as well as (2) it would implement a new regulation for the administration, operation and use of digital crowdfunding platforms -including new rules for the management and protection of information and data-. On the other hand, crowdfunding could be used to (3) finance several projects simultaneously.
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COLOMBIA | Procedural Law | Suspension of Judicial Deadlines in Colombia
Starting 20 December 2017 -and until 10 January 2017-, judicial deadlines are suspended in Colombia. The above, in accordance with Article 146 of Law 270/1996 and article 20 of Decree 546/1971, which establishes that the majority of courts, judges and tribunals of the country will enter into collective vacations. In the case of administrative entities with judicial powers, the Colombian Copyright Office (DNDA in Spanish) announced a suspension of terms for the same period.
Accordingly, no judicial action can be exercised during that period, and those actions that must be filed before Judges in these days will be deferred up to the first business day of 2017 in judicial affairs (January 11).
