The Right to Science: Ensuring that Everyone Benefits from Scientific and Technological Progress

The right to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress has long been neglected, both in theory and in practice. Even scholars, advocates, and jurists deeply involved in the human rights field are likely to express uncertainty as to what the right to science concretely requires… if they are even aware of its existence. This article seeks to remedy that obscurity, providing a highly accessible account of the right to science that is both philosophically grounded and concrete. In short, the right to science calls for treating scientific research, scientific knowledge, and technology as global public goods, to be cultivated for the benefit of humanity and made accessible to all, just as with other socioeconomic rights such as education and healthcare. This article then elaborates what that broad vision means for minimum core content. Particular emphasis is given to reconciling the potential tension between the right to science and intellectual property regimes

Advancing Faculty DiversityThrough Self-Directed Mentoring

Mentoring is widely acknowledged to be important in career success, yet may be lacking for female and minority law professors, contributing to disparities in retention and promotion of diverse faculty. This Article presents the results of a unique diversity mentoring program conducted at one law school. Mentoring is often thought of as something directed by the mentor on behalf of the protégé. Our framework inverts that model, empowering diverse faculty members to proactively cultivate their own networks of research mentors. The studied intervention consisted of modest programming on mentorship, along with supplemental travel funds to focus specifically on travel for the purpose of cultivating mentors beyond one’s own institution. Participants were responsible for setting their own mentorship goals, approaching mentors and arranging meetings, and reporting annually on their activities and progress. Both quantitative and qualitative evidence demonstrate that the program has been effective along its measurable goals in its first year. Participants report growing their networks of mentors, receiving significant advice on research and the tenure process, and being sponsored for new opportunities. The authors conclude that this type of mentoring initiative, if more broadly applied, could have a significant impact on reducing disparities in retention and promotion in the legal academy. To facilitate such replication, the Article describes both the process of designing the program and the actual operation of the program as carried out at one school. In sum, the Article offers a concrete starting point for discussions at any law school interested in advancing faculty diversity through improved mentoring

Egypt's Obligation to Respect, Protect and Fulfill the Right to Access to Knowledge, Science, Art and Culture (ICESCR Article 15)

Submitted to the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Pre-Sessional Working Group 51st Session, 21-24 May 2013, Geneva Switzerland, by the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law Pro Bono UN Human Rights Reporting Program. Team Members: Eslah Salah Alkathiri, LL.M. candidate; Dr. Mohamed Arafa, S.J.D.; J. Michael Blackwell, J.D. candidate; Ritu Chokshi, J.D. candidate; Sherif Mohamed Mansour, J.D. candidate; Deyana Fatme Unis, J.D. candidate; Qifan Wang, J.D. candidate. Faculty Advisers: Professor Lea Shaver, J.D. and Dr. Ian McIntosh, Ph.D. Founder, Head & Trainer: Perfecto `Boyet´ Caparas, A.B., LL.B., LL.M. American Law, LL.M. Human Rights (Honors); Graduate Studies Program Manager, Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, 530 W. New York Street, Indianapolis, Indiana USA. This human rights report includes the book titled Access to Knowledge in Egypt - New Research on Intellectual Property, Innovation and Development, edited by Nagla Rizk and Lea Shaver, Bloomsbury Academic, (CC) 2010 by Nagla Rizk, Lea Shaver and the contributors

Ending Book Hunger: Social Publishing and the Power of Mission-Driven Innovation

Around the world, billions of people find that books are too expensive, too difficult to find, or are simply not being published in the languages that they speak. The problem of “book hunger” is pervasive across the developing world, and for lower-income adults and children in the United States. This market failure comes at an enormous social cost. The lack of affordable and appropriate reading material is holding back education as a path out of poverty. Fortunately, a solution exists. This book examines the growing sector of “social publishing,” an emerging non-profit sector driven by the belief that all people should enjoy opportunities to read, regardless of their income or native language. This book offers a descriptively rich, accessible account of the inspiring world of social publishing, drawing upon extensive interviews with organizational leaders driving the evolution of this emerging sector. Case studies of organizations both in the United States and abroad explore the many challenges social publishers face – including geographic, cost, and language barriers – and the innovative solutions they are developing to forge a new business model for low-cost, multilingual, truly multicultural publishing. The book’s central objectives are to document the emerging practices of social publishers, to generate insight about what makes their efforts successful or unsuccessful, and to derive broader lessons from this particular case study of social innovation. A key theme of this research is the role of social mission in driving business model innovation. To deliver books that are appropriate, attractive, and affordable to neglected readerships, social publishers cannot simply imitate the established business models of for-profit publishers. Instead, they are forced to innovate radically different strategies in the areas of content acquisition, production, and marketing. These innovations include free-to-the-reader pricing, digital distribution, open licensing, and distributed authorship. A full appreciation of these innovative business models for social publishing is central to solving the problem of book hunger sustainably and at scale. More broadly, understanding the phenomenon of “mission-driven innovation” can also inform other initiatives in philanthropy, nonprofit management, social innovation, public policy, and corporate social responsibility

Access to Knowledge in India

This essay is a preview of the author's upcoming book Access to Knowledge in India: New Research on Intellectual Property, Innovation, and Development, an edited volume which contains contributionsfrom various scholars on the access to knowledge alongside development and trade. While the essay seeks to bring together views and insights gleaned from various chapters of the book, the author simultaneously pushes forward her argument concerning the role that courts have to play in toning down excessive intellectual property protection using the language of human rights. In particula, the author argues that constitutional law has the poten tial tofurther socioeconomic rights which are affected by intellectual property protection. The author feels that Indian constitutional litigation has taken the right step in this direction and is a model for courts in other jurisdictions as well as for international norm-setting

Intellectual Property and the Right to Science and Culture: the Reports of the Special Rapporteur in the Field of Cultural Rights

In recent years, the right to science and culture has emerged as a leading conceptual framework for reconciling intellectual property law with human rights. The textual foundation of the right to science and culture dates back to the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 27 of the UDHR states: “(1) Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits. (2) Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.” Despite clear grounding in the international human rights documents, this particular provision has long suffered from obscurity and confusion about its meaning. Fortunately, a new wave of scholarship provides a more solid conceptual foundation for the right to science and culture. This new literature understands the right to science and culture as having two complementary aspects. The “protection” aspect of the right calls for attention to the moral and material interests of authors and scientists. The “participation” aspect emphasises inclusion in the processes of creative expression and scientific discovery, as well as access to the fruits of cultural and technological creativity. This dual nature allows the right to science and culture to play a unique role in intellectual property debates. The encounter between the international human rights and IP regimes had previously been framed strongly in terms of conflict between IP protection and human rights demands. In contrast, the right to science and culture frames both protection and access in human rights terms. It thus points towards solutions in the nature of integrating and reconciling intellectual property and human rights principles, rather than asserting the primacy of one set of interests over the other. These ideas have now found acceptance within the United Nations system. The UN Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights, Farida Shaheed, first offered a detailed and authoritative interpretation of the right to science in a May 2012 report adopted by the UN Human Rights Council (A/HRC/20/26). Among many themes, this report considered the role of intellectual property in shaping enjoyment of the right to science. Between 2013 and 2015, the Special Rapporteur decided to focus even further on understanding and explaining the relationship between intellectual property and the right to science and culture. This subsequent work ultimately resulted in two major reports by the Special Rapporteur, one focused on copyright (A/HRC/28/57) and the other on patents (A/70/279). This short article examines the origins, development, and conclusions of these two reports. I had the privilege to serve as a consultant to the Special Rapporteur in this process, producing drafts, participating in all meetings organised to solicit expert feedback on the drafts, and collaborating on their finalisation. My aim here is to provide an accessible overview of the substance of these reports, as well as to take the reader “behind the scenes” to appreciate some of the challenges and difficulties encountered during the process to provide insight on the choices ultimately made

Why are Generic Drugs Being Held Up in Transit? Intellectual Property Rights, International Trade, and the Right to Health in Brazil and Beyond

Access to medicines faces a new legal threat: “border enforcement” of drug patents. Using Brazil as an example, this article shows how the right to health depends on international trade. Border seizures of generic drugs present human rights and trade institutions with a unique challenge. Can public health advocates rise to meet it

The Right to Read

Reading – for education and for pleasure – may be framed as a personal indulgence, a moral virtue, or even a civic duty. What are the implications of framing reading as a human right? Although novel, the rights-based frame finds strong support in international human rights law. The right to read need not be defended as a “new” human right. Rather, it can be located at the intersection of more familiar guarantees. Well-established rights to education, science, culture, and freedom of expression, among others, provide the necessary normative support for recognizing a universal right to read as already implicit in international law. This Article is the first to call for recognition of a right to read. Once recognized in principle, it remains necessary to translate the right to read from a vague ideal into concrete content. As a starting point, the right to read requires that every person be entitled to education for literacy and the liberty to freely choose the reading material they prefer. The right to read also means that everyone must have access to an adequate supply of reading material. Law and policy must be designed to ensure that books, ebooks, and other reading materials are made widely available and affordable – even to the poor and to speakers of minority languages. Reframing reading as a human right ultimately points to a reorientation of copyright law, as well as obligations upon publishers and technology companies to facilitate access for readers of all income levels and in every language. The conceptual elaboration of the right to read also holds lessons for rights theorists and advocates, as an illustration of an “intersectional” approach to human rights scholarship and advocacy