Multi-Territorial Digital Copyright Licensing within the AfCFTA: Considerations for Appropriate Guiding Principles
European Intellectual Property Review 710-720, 43(11), 2021
22 Pages Posted: 4 Feb 2022
Date Written: November 21, 2021
Abstract
Based on a desk review, this paper examines how multi-territorial licensing in Africa can be aligned with the overarching objectives of the Agreement on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA Agreement), especially as it relates to its proposed Intellectual Property Rights Protocol, being negotiated. The paper identifies and considers the implications of multi-territorial licensing on digital trade in copyright; and how the issues raised by the practice of multi-territorial licensing can be specifically addressed to achieve the goals of the AfCFTA agreement. By looking to both relevant national and regional regimes in Africa, and by adapting the EU framework (CRM Directive 2014) in a manner that are driven by Africans and in tune with the lived-realities in Africa, this paper recommends guiding rules for multi territorial licensing in Africa that accords with the objectives and principles of the AfCFTA agreement.
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