Clinic students aid Chilean government

IP students examine copyright systems in Asia-Pacific economies

— By Lori Craig

Students who join one of USC Law’s clinics can expect to help real-world clients, but third-year students Jace Levine and Matthew Slater didn’t expect a foreign government official to come calling.

The USC Intellectual Property and Technology Law Clinic students are working with the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Chile on a study of copyright limitations and exceptions among the 21 member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, including the United States and Chile.

Chile's Luis Villarroel, left, with USC Law students Jace Levine and Matt Slater in Santiago, Chile

In October, Levine, Slater and clinic Acting Director Jack Lerner visited Santiago, Chile, to meet with Luis Villarroel, intellectual property advisor in the Chile Ministry of Education. It was the first school-sponsored international trip by USC Law students.

“The trip was an amazing opportunity for Jace and Matt,” said Lerner, visiting clinical assistant professor of law. “They interacted extensively with a very sophisticated client who is extremely well-versed on international intellectual property law, and as an added bonus they were able to observe up close how IP policy is made in another legal system.”

Chile last year proposed that APEC conduct a survey of copyright limitations and exceptions adopted domestically by the group's 21 members, which was distributed to each member this spring. Limitations and exceptions are particularly important to educators and individuals with disabilities, and function as critical mechanisms with which to preserve important values such as free speech, Lerner said.

“The report will provide a broad comparison of the U.S. and other APEC members,” Slater said. “APEC as a body, and (policymakers) in Member Economies, will look at the report as a tool for comparing practices and to see what limitations and exceptions look like in other systems.”

Lerner (left); J. Rodrigo Valenzuela Munoz,  director of international relations for the  Chile Ministry of Education; Slater; Levine

The report will also provide a starting point for additional study.

“This can be a huge stepping stone towards helping people in developing countries,” Levine said. “As technology gets cheaper, more information becomes available, and it becomes possible for more people than ever before to gain access to more works and educate themselves. Studying, understanding, and comparing the copyright laws across systems is a critical part of the process of figuring out how people in developing countries can take advantage of new technologies.”

With the help of a team of pro bono attorneys from Fenwick & West, LLC, Levine and Slater in August began analyzing the responses to the survey and drafting a preliminary report that will be sent to each Member Economy for feedback. The students will help produce a final report — which will be submitted to APEC’s Intellectual Property Rights Experts Group — by the end of next semester.

“I had no idea this was what I’d be getting into when I signed up for the clinic, to be able to get this experience and affect the world in this way,” Levine said. “Luis (Villarroel) is incredibly knowledgeable in this field and it’s been a great learning experience working with someone with his expertise.”

After meeting Villarroel and other high-ranking government officials face to face, Levine and Slater better understand their client’s needs and goals for the project. Travel to Chile’s capital, with a population of 6 million people, allowed the scope of the project to sink in.

“Not only do I feel honored to be a part of this project, but I enjoy the fact that we’re doing something that involves a developing country’s government and is fairly gratifying,” Slater said. “It’s fulfilling.”

A view of Santiago, Chile, and the Andes  mountains	Near the presidential palace in Santiago