How the Trans-Pacific Partnership Jeopardizes Fair Use

Public Knowledge and 15 other global civil society groups sent a letter to the officials of the various governments that will meet and finalize the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) provisions, urging them to rewrite parts of the trade agreement’s current intellectual property chapter. This is Public Knowledge’s latest effort to warn governments and the public of the harmful aspects of the TPP, which has been secretly negotiated among government officials behind closed doors.

Recently, we sent letters to the United States Trade Representative and even alerted the White House to the TPP’s potential chilling effects on the right to knowledge and fair use as well as copyright reform efforts of Congress and the Copyright Office. As we stated in our United States Trade Representative letter: “Limitations and exceptions to intellectual property rights are absolutely critical to a functioning marketplace. The digital revolution has ushered in an era of ubiquitous content. Even without actively seeking out knowledge properties, the average American is constantly being exposed to—and interacting with—copyrighted and patented goods. Overbroad intellectual property protections create a minefield of liability through which no consumer, no matter how savvy, can reasonably be expected to navigate.”