[Zeynep Varoglu] There is good news on the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Educational Resources process: UNESCO Member States, at the CI Sector Commission of the General Conference, recommended the adoption of the UNESCO OER Recommendation draft by the Plenary Session of the 40th General Conference next week.
[Andressa Barp Seufert and Dominik Theis] The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal on Quality Education (SDG 4), aims to “ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning”. The open movement is trying to break down the social, political, and technical barriers preventing people from accessing and contributing to education and free knowledge. Open Educational Resources can be an instrument to bridge knowledge gaps and promote educational equity as well as to contribute to the achievement of the SDG 4.
The 39th Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) concluded with measured progress on the agenda to discuss international instruments on limitations and exceptions amid increasing controversy over the management of the Committee.
The following statement was made by Deputy Director General Sylvie Forbin at the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights summarizing the conclusions from the international conference on limitations and exceptions held October 18-19 in Geneva, Switzerland. The text below is a transcript of an oral presentation and may contain small errors and incomplete syntax given the mode of presentation. A fuller written report on the conference and regional seminars will be published by the Secretariat two months before the 40th meeting of the SCCR. The date for the 40th SCCR has not been set.
[Chijioke Okorie] Last week, the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) published the ARIPO Model Law on Copyright and Related Rights (the Model Law). The ARIPO member states are expected to adopt and/or adapt the Model Law for their respective national purposes.
[Letter endorsed by 10 civil society groups] We are shocked by the attached proposal of the Chair to change the title of the agenda items on limitations and exceptions and prioritize discussions of the “role of licensing, contractual-based solutions, etc.” We are also troubled by the measures that will have the effect of reducing action on limitations and exceptions to “capacity building” and “tool kits.”
The 39th session of the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) will meet next week in Geneva. On the agenda for this session are discussions around the Multilateral Treaty on the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations. A number of organisations such as Communia, Creative Commons, the Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property Education International, Electronic Information for Libraries, and the International Council on Archives among others have expressed concerns about the current exceptions and limitations text of the treaty. These organisations have drafted a proposal for alternative text to be included in the treaty that they hope will be discussed at the upcoming SCCR session.
[Memorandum Endorsed by Seven Civil Society Groups] A broad collection of civil society organizations, including the representatives of thousands of libraries and over 30 million teachers, sent a letter to country delegates of the World Intellectual Property Organization criticizing the draft Broadcasting Treaty being considered by member states next week. At issue is the draft treaty’s limitations and exceptions clause, which the organizations argue “would fail to ensure all uses allowed by copyright” and would “add new international law restrictions on the adoption of limitations and exceptions for parties to the Rome Convention.”
Abstract ... How have emerging economies influenced the mandate, structure and activities of WIPO? What are the positive and negative impacts of these economies? Has their arrival transformed the U.N. specialized agency? Tackling these questions in turn, this chapter begins by describing the changing landscape in the international intellectual property regime. It then explores the emerging economies’ impacts on WIPO and its activities. The chapter concludes by offering insights into the organization’s future.
[Kanaga Raja] The current model of medical innovation is ill-equipped to respond to the increasing emergence of infectious diseases amongst others, South Africa has underscored, in calling on WTO members to share their experiences of how TRIPS flexibilities have been used to address high prices and barriers on access to medical technologies and medicines.
As noted by the WHO, spending on pharmaceuticals represents “15 to 30% of health spending in transitional economies and 25 to 66% in developing countries. In most low income countries pharmaceuticals are the largest public expenditure on health after personnel costs and the largest household health expenditure.” It is indispensable, therefore, to implement policies that promote competitive markets for pharmaceuticals, particularly in the area of procurement, regulatory approvals (including biologicals) and intellectual property.
[Robert Jeyakumar] ... The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Asia-Pacific Regional Seminar was held in Singapore on the 28th to 30th April 2019. I took part in the event as a member of the EI delegation to express our teacher concerns on copyright issues. Among the objectives of this seminar was to gather views from teacher unions on copyright exceptions for education.