Legal Research

A Great Month for Online IP Resources

By Michel-Adrien Sheppard

Intellectual property researchers should have a look at WIPO Lex, a new reference resource from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) that provides up-to-date information on national IP laws and treaties of the members of WIPO, the World Trade Organization and the United Nations. It currently features the complete IP legal texts for over 60 countries with substantial coverage for a further 100 legal systems.

IP history buffs can also explore Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900) sponsored by the Arts & Humanities Research Council (Great Britain). It is a “collection of key primary documents from five countries?the United States, Britain, France, Germany, and Italy?that trace the development of copyright from the invention of the printing press through the dawn of the 20th century. The documents were selected for inclusion by a scholar from each represented country with the assistance of an editorial board (…) Each document is accompanied by extensive descriptive metadata providing context. One of the greatest strengths of this collection is the commentary written by the documents? selectors that accompanies many of the documents. Translations are available for documents in languages other than English.”

Full post as published by Slaw.ca on September 23, 2010 (boomark / email).