UC Davis Journal of International Law and Policy

Copyright is a bundle of rights given to the creators of “original works of authorship”. It is a legal concept designed to grant the creator of an original work the exclusive right to create and distribute copies.[1] Copyright law has often grappled with the conflict between the rights of the copyright owner and the rights of the consumer of the copyrighted work. Under § 106, copyright owners have the exclusive rights to make and distribute copies of a copyrighted work.

Innovation of new, life-saving drugs is partly influenced by how a particular country defines “innovation” and how receptive the country’s laws are to innovation. The Swiss pharmaceutical giant, Novartis, was denied a product patent application from the India Patent Office (IPO) for a specific compound, the beta crystalline form of imatinib mesylate.[1] The drug, Gleevec, is a cancer drug used to treat chronic myeloid leukemia and some gastrointestinal cancers.[2] On April 1, 2013 in Novartis v.

In light of the recent oral arguments that the United States Supreme Court heard on March 26-27, 2013[1], the issue of same-sex marriage made the forefront of American news and media. The issue is not isolated to just the US. In fact, several countries, including France, New Zealand, and Uruguay, have pending legislation before their governments to legalize same-sex marriage, and eleven countries have legalized same-sex marriage on a national scale.[2]

In June of 1971, President Richard Nixon’s declaration of a “war on drugs” effectively cemented an orthodoxy that has permeated most aspects of modern society.[1] What was once considered a matter of public health has become a militarized and profit-driven industry, formidable enough to shape the global environment in its own image. While originally expected to quickly and significantly reduce drug trafficking in the US, to this day the war surges on— enormous, bloated, and hungrier still.

     Apple settled the “iPad” trademark lawsuit by agreeing to pay $60 million to Shenzhen Proview Technology.[1] While seemingly a huge amount of money, it is a small price to pay for Apple to “safely” explore the promising Chinese market for their new iPad product. Moreover, under the undisputable facts and rules of the iPad trademark case, settling may be the best option for Apple.

On March 3, 2013, a major Internet pirating website, The Pirate Bay, leaked information to the press relating to an intention of the company to relocate its servers to North Korea. The Pirate Bay later admitted that the statements had been made as a prank[1], but this leads to the question; can Internet only companies simply run across jurisdictions to escape prohibitive laws within the own countries?

In an attempt to balance freedom of expression and compliance with local laws, Twitter has blocked users in Germany from accessing the account of a neo-Nazi group that is banned by the government.[1] This move is Twitter’s first step applying its new censorship policy announced in January.

It would appear that not all is well in the Kingdom of Spain. Besieged on all sides by wracking fiscal woes, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, like a physician of old, has taken up a scalpel to bleed Spain’s debt-clogged arteries through program cuts. Arguably the most controversial of the Rajoy Administration’s cuts is the decision to restrict free, state-sponsored healthcare of undocumented immigrants.

            It’s time for the United States to leave Afghanistan.  After eight years of being in Afghanistan, the United States finally found the right approach to democratizing Afghanistan, but their past assumptions of the Afghan people have antagonized and disillusioned the very people they intended to help.  In doing so, the United States created the very conditions it assumed existed over ten years ago.  When the United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001, it shaped its policies largely on the assumption that the Afghan people were anti-

        I just finished Instant City by NPR’s Steve Inskeep. The book delves into the history and development of one of the world’s most populous cities: Karachi, Pakistan. A quick disclaimer: I have a particular interest in Karachi - my parents spent most of their formative years there, and I visited the city last spring for first time since I was in grade school. Even if urban development and rule-of-law issues in South Asia don’t typically get you riled up, however, you should check out this book.

The Palestinian Circus School started as a small circus group in 2006.

I went in 2010.

 After completing my ten-day birthright trip through Israel I emailed the Palestinian Circus School asking if I could take a tour and possibly offer trapeze workshops to their students. The two founders of P.C.S. promptly responded that I was welcome anytime and gave me their personal phone numbers to call as soon as I arrived in Ramallah. Their initial warmth and hospitality was just a touch of what I would find throughout the West Bank.

            On Sunday, October 23, 2011, in an autopsy performed in the presence of Libyan officials, Dr. Othman el-Zentani confirmed that long-time Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi had died as a result of a gunshot wound to the head. Qadhafi’s death provided a conclusive end to the civil war that commenced on February 15, 2011 with relatively peaceful protests in the eastern city of Benghazi but quickly escalated with a disproportionate government response and subsequent military intervention authorized by the U.N. Security Council.

The UC Davis Journal of International Law & Policy (“JILP”) is very excited to introduce our new JILP Blog!  

We welcome and encourage you to check back frequently for new postings.

Postings and submissions are authored primarily by UC Davis Law JILP Board Members; however, we invite international law scholars and faculty to enrich the debate online with relevant articles, updates and contributions to our blog as well.  

The official theme for Volume 18 of JILP is:  

I recently spent two weeks in The Hague studying three prominent international bodies: the International Criminal Court (“ICC”), the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (“ICTY”), and the International Court of Justice (“ICJ”).