EFF: International Activists Launch New Website to Gather and Share Copyright Knowledge

Electronic Frontier Foundation Media Release

For Immediate Release: Friday, November 13, 2009

Contact:

Gwen Hinze
   International Policy Director
   Electronic Frontier Foundation
   gwen@eff.org
   +1 415 436-9333 x110 (office)

Danny O'Brien
   International Outreach Coordinator
   Electronic Frontier Foundation
   danny@eff.org
   +1 415 436-9333 x121

International Activists Launch New Website to Gather and
Share Copyright Knowledge

Anyone Can Track National Copyright Laws Globally with

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF),
Electronic Information for Libraries (eIFL.net), and other
international copyright experts joined together today to
launch Copyright Watch -- a public website created to
centralize resources on national copyright laws at
www.copyright-watch.org.

"Copyright laws are changing across the world, and it's
hard to keep track of these changes, even for those whose
daily work is affected by them," said Teresa Hackett,
Program Manager at eIFL.net.  "A law that is passed in one
nation can quickly be taken up by others, bilateral trade
agreements, regional policy initiatives, or international
treaties.  With Copyright Watch, people can learn about the
similarities and differences in national copyright laws,
and they can use that information to more easily spot
patterns and emerging trends."

Copyright Watch is the first comprehensive and up-to-date
online repository of national copyright laws.  To find
links to national and regional copyright laws, users can
choose a continent or search using a country name.  The
site will be updated over time to include proposed
amendments to laws, as well as commentary and context from
national copyright experts.  Copyright Watch will help
document how legislators around the world are coping with
the challenges of new technology and new business models.

"Balanced and well-calibrated copyright laws are extremely
important in our global information society," said Gwen
Hinze, International Policy Director at EFF.  "Small shifts
in the balance between the rights of copyright owners and
the limitations and exceptions relied on by those who use
copyrighted content can destroy or enable business models,
criminalize or liberate free expression and everyday
behavior, and support the development of new technologies
that facilitate access to knowledge for all the world's
citizens.  We hope that Copyright Watch will encourage
comparative research and help to highlight more and less
flexible copyright regimes."

"Details of copyright law used to be important only for a
few people in creative industries," added Danny O'Brien,
International Outreach Coordinator at EFF.  "But now, with
the growth of the Internet and other digital tools, we are
all authors, publishers, and sharers of copyrighted works.
Copyright Watch was created so citizens of the world can
share and compare information about their countries' laws."

Funding to create Copyright Watch was generously provided
by the Open Society Institute.

Copyright Watch:
http://www.copyright-watch.org

For this release:
http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2009/11/13

About EFF

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading civil
liberties organization working to protect rights in the
digital world. Founded in 1990, EFF actively encourages and
challenges industry and government to support free
expression and privacy online. EFF is a member-supported
organization and maintains one of the most linked-to
websites in the world at http://www.eff.org/


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