I speak here to point out an important, and likely unintended, problem with the current text of the limitations and exceptions provision of the Broadcast Treaty. Since the alternative text from SCCR/35/12 was removed -- the limitations and exceptions clause in the consolidated text is more restrictive than the Rome Convention.
On March 12, 2019, the Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property at American University Washington College of Law jointly held an event with Knowledge Ecology International and the Library Copyright Alliance on “Copyright Limitations and Exceptions at the World Intellectual Property Organization.” Regular observers of the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) gave a briefing on the current state of limitations and exceptions (L&E) agenda items and led a discussion on the coming work of the SCCR on L&Es for broadcasting, education, research, libraries, archives, and museums.
[Jeremy De Beer, Jeremiah Baarbé, and Caroline Ncube] Abstract: Intellectual property (IP) policy is an important contributor to economic growth and human development. However, international commitments harmonised in IP treaties often exist in tension with local needs for flexibility. This article tracks the adoption of IP treaties in Africa over a 131-year span, from 1884 to 2015, through breaking it down into four periods demarcated by points in time coinciding with key events in African and international IP law: the periods 1884–1935, 1936–1965, 1966–1995, and 1996–2015. The article explores relevant historical and legal aspects of each of these four periods, in order to assess and contextualise the evolutions of the IP treaty landscape on the continent. The findings show that treaties now saturate the IP policy space throughout the continent, limiting the ability to locally tailor approaches to knowledge governance.
[Nikola Wachter] ... Restrictive copyright regimes and, in fact, the lack of an international copyright instrument that addresses cross-border online collaboration and exchange does not empower teachers, ESP and researchers but creates barriers for them in their daily work. For all these reasons EI endorsed TERA, a draft treaty on copyright exceptions and limitations for educational and research activities.
[Ellen 't Hoen] Medicines Law & Policy has published an on-line database of instances of the use of TRIPS flexibilities in public health contexts, titled the TRIPS Flexibilities Database. The publication of the TRIPS Flexibilities Database merits sharing a bit of its history because it has been a work in progress for some time. The database includes cases of actual use of TRIPS flexibilities and instances in which countries planned or threatened to use them.
Jon Band and I were asked by the education and research beneficiary groups to work with them to draft model instruments that would reflect the work of the SCCR thus far and contribute to the development of an international instrument on education and research exceptions to copyright. The result of this project is the Civil Society Proposed Treaty on Educational and Research Activities (TERA). We release the Draft Treaty at the World Intellectual Property Organization Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights for the first time today. Here I describe briefly our methodology in creating the draft and the main provisions of it. Further information is available at http://infojustice.org/tera
Mr Chairman, I speak here on behalf of PIJIP’s role as the coordinator of the Global Expert Network on Copyright User Rights – an international coalition of academics and researchers. We urge the Committee to use this session to add content to the agenda for regional seminars.
39 education and research organizations, including the 30 million members of Education International, are calling upon the World Intellectual Property Organization to adopt a Treaty on Copyright Exceptions and Limitations for Educational and Research Activities (TERA). TERA is open for endorsement by organizations and individuals. The Treaty was adopted at the Global Congress on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest on September 27, 2018, and released in revised form this week. The Treaty is the result of extensive consultation with numerous Member States and stakeholders in the education and research field, including at multiple workshops around the world.
[With Jonathan Band and Zhao Zhao] The World Intellectual Property Organization has long recognized the importance of copyright exceptions to education and research…. However, there is great disparity in WIPO member states concerning the adequacy of exceptions for education and research. In particular, the exceptions in many developing countries are insufficient to meet their pressing needs, in accordance with the United Nation’s sustainable development goal of quality education. Accordingly, a treaty on copyright exceptions and limitations for educational and research activities is necessary to establish global norms in this critical area. This background paper describes a proposed treaty that has been endorsed by a coalition of civil society groups. It has been updated from an October 8 Version to includes a section-by-section description of the treaty text.
[Electronic Information for Libraries] Unless the proposed WIPO treaty on the protection of television broadcast organizations has robust mandatory user rights, access to broadcast material in libraries for uses such as research and study, civic education and community information will be irrevocably harmed, said Teresa Hackett,EIFL Copyright and Libraries Programme Manager, at a recent seminar on the proposed WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) broadcast treaty.
[Judith Blijden] ... while the special impact of OER is clear, often little attention is given to the issue of educational exceptions to copyright. Copyright frameworks that lack such exceptions can be an unjust obstacle for educators, and in particular can adversely affect the creation and use of OERs. Last year, we participated in the 2nd World OER Congress with the aim to raise awareness about educational exceptions as complementary means for achieving the goals of Open Education. The Ljubljana OER Action Plan, adopted by UNESCO members at the Congress, then, did not include actions related to copyright reform. Fortunately, this has now changed.
The World Intellectual Property Organization has long recognized the importance of copyright exceptions to education and research.... However, there is great disparity in WIPO member states concerning the adequacy of exceptions for education and research. In particular, the exceptions in many developing countries are insufficient to meet their pressing needs, in accordance with the United Nation’s sustainable development goal of quality education. Accordingly, a treaty on copyright exceptions and limitations for educational and research activities is necessary to establish global norms in this critical area.