This is day one of a five day meeting of the WIPO SCCR, being held in Geneva. The main topic of discussion this week will be copyright limitations and exceptions.
One important element of the limitations and exceptions discussion will be a debate and a decision on how to proceed on the proposal to negotiate a new WIPO treaty for persons who are blind, visually impaired or have other disabilities. There are also presentations on the role of limitations and exceptions in education, and discussions of other topics. For example, KEI and other NGOs, academics and some WIPO experts recommend the SCCR take up the issue of “updating” the Appendix to the Berne Convention, which is a provision in the Berne Convention dealing with access to works in developing countries. There are also proposals for the SCCR to work on the issue of orphaned copyrighted works.
The SCCR will also discuss a possible treaty for broadcasting organizations, and for performers.
The documents for the meetings are on the Internet here:
http://www.wipo.int/meetings/en/details.jsp?meeting_id=17462
Note there are requests for accreditation by 17 new organizations, including 16 that work on disabilities.
http://www.wipo.int/edocs/mdocs/copyright/en/sccr_19/sccr_19_11.pdf
In the early pre-meeting discussions, there are various bits of information circulating about the positions of different groups. The United States government is sending many signals that it has changed its views on the proposal for a WIPO treaty for disabilities. The nuances of the U.S. position are not that clear year, but in general, based upon many conversations with U.S. officials, other governments and industry persons talked to by the U.S. government, it seems as though the evolving U.S. position includes the following features:
- an agreement to discuss a possible treaty within WIPO for copyright limitations and exceptions for persons with disabilities, but also to consider a range of other possible solutions ranging from declarations on the legality of importing and exporting of works created under exceptions, model laws, provisions in model laws within bilateral trade agreements, or executive agreements like ACTA that fall short of treaty status. In some versions, the shorter term and softer instruments would not be seen as a substitute for a treaty, but rather as early measures to build toward a treaty or another binding instrument.
- only a beginning of a discussion of the types of rights or transactions that would come under a new agreement on cross-border movements of works created under exceptions. In some versions, it would stop quite a bit short of allowing a global library in one country to deliver works over the Internet to persons with disabilities in other countries.
- while there is a recognition that the cross-border issue would benefit from new solutions, there is no commitment yet to global agreements that would provide for harmonization of mandatory minimum domestic exceptions.
The change in the U.S. has fueled more optimistic exceptions about the positions that will be taken in Group B, the WIPO group of high income countries that includes for example the members of the European Union, Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland and the Vatican. Now Group B is considered to be unlikely to strike a confrontational opposition to the WIPO treaty for disabilities, but may try to move the SCCR work program toward a General Assembly declaration on a narrow agreement on very limited import and export of works created under exceptions.
Some Countries Reportedly Want Linkages
There is also talk that the United States may try to link progress on a treaty for disabilities to progress in WIPO on the enforcement of intellectual property rights, or new movement on a WIPO treaty for performers. The European Union is also said to be interested in asking for linkage between the WIPO treaty for disabilities and progress on a WIPO treaty for performers or broadcasters. Egypt and some members of the Africa group have indicated they may want to link progress on a treaty for disabilities to a larger treaty on limitations and exceptions involving education and other topics.