Intellectual Property Programme • Volume 12 • Number 38 • 12th November 2008
WIPO Copyright Discussions Focus on Exceptions and Limitations
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Exceptions and limitations to copyright protection took a central place in the deliberations of WIPO’s Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR), which met last week.
Under the chairmanship of Jukka Liedes of Finland, the committee spent a substantial part of its meeting examining exceptions and limitations for educational activities, libraries and the visually impaired. A proposal by the World Blind Union (WBU) for a treaty on exceptions and limitations to copyright law for the visually impaired received much attention.
Discussions on Exceptions and Limitations Continue
Exceptions and limitations to copyright allow individuals, under certain conditions, to use a work without requiring authorization from the copyright holder.
In 2003, Chile suggested discussing this issue at the SCCR and last March Brazil, Chile, Nicaragua and Uruguay put forward a proposal for a programme of work in this area including ultimately the possibility of elaborating an international instrument on exceptions and limitations which would include a mandatory set of exceptions and limitations common to all WIPO member states,
In this context, four WIPO-commissioned studies on‘exceptions and limitations’ were presented during “informative sessions” held before the formal start of the Committee’s session last Wednesday.
When the committee formally examined the issue, Chile suggested that a questionnaire regarding the national laws of member states be drafted and circulated to members so that they could compare national experiences and use the document as a guideline for elaborating best practices. The questionnaire would complement existing work and information on limitations and exceptions in national systems, the delegate said.
This suggestion was supported by several countries included Egypt, El Salvador, South Africa and Uruguay as well as by several regional groups. Brazil also endorsed the questionnaire and urged that it be circulated at the next session of the SCCR.
The secretariat will now prepare a draft questionnaire, which will be submitted to committee members before the next session of the SCCR. The areas to be covered by the questionnaire include educational activities, activities of libraries and archives, provisions for disabled persons, as well as the implications of digital technology in the field of copyright.
World Blind Union proposal up for discussion
The proposal by the WBU for a WIPO treaty on Improved Access for Blind, Visually Impaired and other Reading Disabled Persons was the centre of much discussion at the meeting. The WBU argued that visually impaired persons in developed countries have very minimal access to copyrighted material and that the availability of such products is even more limited in developing countries. The proposed treaty sought to provide a minimum standard for limitations and exceptions for the visually impaired and to facilitate the import and export of works in accessible formats.
The WBU proposal garnered much support from member states from Latin American, African and Asian countries, as well as from all public interest non-governmental organisations present.
At least two members of the Group B coalition of industrialised nations, Australia and New Zealand, welcomed the WBU proposal. New Zealand requested SCCR to study the issue of import and export and international exchange of materials in accessible format that was identified as problematic by an earlier WIPO report, although the New Zealand request was later opposed by the European Communities and its member states.
But the initial draft conclusions of the SCCR did not reflect this support. Instead, the draft included specific language from an alternative proposal, put forward by the International Federation of Reproduction Rights and Organisations (IFRRO), that called for a ‘stakeholders’ platform’ that focuses more on technological and contractual solutions to the problems faced by visually impaired persons rather than on a normative approach that could lead to the possible elaboration of an international instrument. The chair said that such a platform could facilitate arrangements to secure access for reading disabled persons to copyright-protected works. One representative of the WBU expressed her disappointment with the draft proposal, saying that the union would not give up its efforts to try to garner support from delegates. “The text should incorporate both proposals, not one without the other,” she said.
France, speaking on behalf of the European Communities and its Member States, objected to a wording that, “The SCCR took note of the paper presented by the WBU.” As a result, the final compromise made only mention of the fact that “a number of delegations referred to a paper presented by the World Blind Union and expressed interest in further analyzing it.”
Despite this weaker wording, the WBU representatives chose to see the development as a positive step. Christopher Friend, chair of the WBU Copyright Committee told Bridges that “the concerns of WBU received tremendous visibility this week,” and that he is “satisfied that the WBU is in a position to take the matter forward positively with the help of the SCCR and WIPO.”
The WBU represents over 160 million visually impaired persons in 177 member countries. The organisation has made substantive interventions on rights for the blind since 2003.
Next on the Agenda
Although the protection of audiovisual performances was next on the agenda, the issue did not receive much attention. Discussions rather moved to the protection of broadcasting organisations. The issue of broadcasters’ rights has been a major focus on the SCCR agenda for nearly 10 years but lost momentum after the 2007 failure to agree on the text of a draft treaty.
The EU stated that it was “pleased with the agenda item and believes it should be a priority for the next meeting of the SCCR committee.” Most delegates agreed that broadcasters’ rights should remain on the agenda. The Philippines proposed an informal meeting on broadcasting before the next SCCR meeting, whilst Mexico expressed its eagerness for progress toward an international instrument to combat the piracy of broadcasting signals. Algeria, speaking on behalf of the African group, requested the secretariat to conduct studies on the status of signals.
The US tried to bring the issue of webcasting back into discussions, insisting that the time had “expired” for the committee to organise a diplomatic conference addressing only traditional broadcasting. Webcasting had been previously set aside on the committee’s agenda to allow members time to try to move to a diplomatic conference on a treaty to protect against piracy of signals of broadcasters and cablecasters. The committee did not make a decision on this matter.
India was quick to re-assert its opposition to the inclusion of the issue of webcasting. The Indian delegate encouraged member states to complete current negotiations on signal broadcasts, whilst stating that “the time was not right to stray into the area of the internet, as certain issues need to be better understood…and preferred to defer discussions on webcasting to a later stage.”
The next meeting of the SCCR is scheduled for 25-29 May 2009.
ICTSD reporting.
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