[Hague-jur-commercial-law] WID on IP &The Hague meeting

[Michael Sondow]

Judith Sapp wrote:

>Sadly but not entirely unexpectedly, AIPLA has withdrawn its support for a
>limitation of the Convention to negotiated contracts after hearing from the
>copyright community.  INTA remains firm in its support for the limitation,
>however.

This whole question is a red herring. Non-negotiated contracts are illegal and unenforceable, or should be, on constitutional grounds (of the U.S. Constitution, at any rate). By giving the force of international law to the unfairness of an unbalanced contractual situation - unbalanced because it promotes forum shopping and deprives the weaker party, which may be unable to afford the costs of foreign litigation in an unfriendly jurisdiction, of its right to a fair hearing -, the Hague Convention is institutionalizing injustice. Hopefully, at some future time when the world returns to its senses, this attack on the law will be seen for what it is and derrogated, and the persons who are sponsoring it - lawyers sworn to uphold the law but who are employing their education and training to defeat the law instead - will be properly stigmatized for the harm they have done. Those of us who still believe in justice, right, and the law can only wait for that better time.

Michael Sondow