NOVA Innovation Masterclasses - Copyright, Software, and Databases

© NOVA Impact

Two days ago, I had the pleasure of delivering a 90 min. session as part of the NOVA Innovation Masterclass series. Organized by the NOVA Impact Office, these masterclasses are open the broad NOVA University community, offering valuable insights into innovation, entrepreneurship, and technology transfer.

This session was part of NOVA Science2Market program, an initiative designed to "accelerate knowledge transfer at NOVA by supporting scientists with technological or scientific breakthroughs in finding the optimal path for commercialisation".

As the title indicates, the presentation covered a broad overview of copyright law, as well as a quick look into the unique legal regimes governing software and databases.

Slides available here.

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Fair Use as Innovation Policy

For IPSI Booklet 2024, I had the opportunity to revisit Fred von Lohmann's 2008 article “Fair Use as Innovation Policy”.

2008 seems now far away, but in the current EU policy environment, where innovation, competitiveness and knowledge seem to be keywords back in the political agenda, this article is relevant as ever. 

In short, von Lohmann demonstrates how fair use in the USA fulfills an essential innovation policy role. In contrast, I say, EU's inflexible copyright regime is the opposite: a conservative, anti-innovation regime by nature.