November 14, 2016.
General Statements on the SCCR 33 agenda items
>> INDIA: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. India has the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of the Asia and Pacific group in this 33rd session of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights. Asia and Pacific Group would like to express its confidence in your experience and your leadership skills. We are confident that your hard work and diligence will yield desired results and help this committee reach a mutual understanding on all outstanding issues.
Our group would also like to thank the WIPO Secretariat for the preparation of this meeting. Mr. Chairman, this is an important committee of WIPO dealing with three issues of critical importance to Member States, namely protection of broadcasting organizations, limitations, and exceptions for libraries and archives, and limitations and exceptions for educational and research institutions and for persons with other disabilities.
These three issues of are great importance to our group. Going by the discussions in this committee since its 27th Session, it would not be wrong to say that we are facing difficulty in finding agreement on how to continue our work on each of the three important agenda items.
We believe in order to further our work, we have to refer to the 2012 General Assembly guidance to the SCCR on the work plan on the three issues.
Mr. Chairman, our group believes that these issues have not received the equal level of commitment and understanding proportionate to their importance based on the differential, socioeconomic Member States. In the spirit of multilateralism, Asia and Pacific Group reaffirms its commitment to negotiating a mutually acceptable outcome on all three issues before the committee.
I would like to put on record its support for the proposed programme of work.
Mr. Chairman, determining whether and how intellectual property rights should apply with respect to broadcasting is a developmental issue that requires careful balancing. Members of the group would like to see the finalization of a balanced treaty on the protection of broadcasting organizations based on the mandate of the 2007 WIPO General Assembly, to provide protection on the signal-based approach for cablecasting and broadcasting organizations in the traditional sense.
Mr. Chair, for our group, exceptions and limitations are of critical importance. Application of copyright system should be balanced. It should take into account commercial interests in copyright and right holders and equally important, it should also take into account other competing interests in copyright, including the public interest in scientific, cultural, social progress, and promoting competition.
Exceptions and limitations have an important role to play in the attainment of the right to education and the access to knowledge. Actualization of which in many developing countries is hampered due to lack of access to relevant educational and research material; however, there is no denying the fact that some divergence on how exceptions and limitations should be approached exist among Member States. It is unfortunate that absence of adequate will to discuss and develop the two exceptions and limitations before this committee has resulted in a stalemate on the work of this committee.
We hope that all Member States shall engage constructively in this session on the two issues based on previous discussion and new inputs so that we are able to develop a mature text and to discuss and work on.
Mr. Chair, Asia and the Pacific Group has taken note of the proposal submitted by GRULAC in its 31st session to discuss the current digital environment and copyright interface. Members of our group will make interventions in their national capacity under this agenda item and will proactively participate in the discussion on this contemporary topic.
Mr. Chair, this is the same committee which has given us the Marrakech Treaty. My group is optimistic with the noble intentions and the right will, we can pave the path for development of appropriate international instruments on all the three issues. We look forward to productive results and tangible progress in this session. I will be failing in my duty if I don’t thank you in Spanish. [Speaking Spanish]
GRULAC
CHILE: Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Good morning, colleagues. The Delegation of Chile has the honor to take the floor on behalf of the group of Latin American and Caribbean countries. We express our confidence in your leadership and ability to Chair this 33rd Session of the SCCR and guide the discussions to positive results for the entire membership.
We are confident that with the support of the Advice President, we’ll have constructive and fruitful discussions this week. We’d also like to thank the Secretariat, headed by the Deputy Director General sill vi Forbin for preparation of the session in coordination with the Member States and the preparation of the documents to be considered in the forthcoming days.
For GRULAC, the work of the SCCR is of the utmost importance. Our group supports continuing that work with a balanced programme in exceptions and limitations for libraries and archives, exceptions and limitations for educational, teaching, and research institutions, broadcasting, and the GRULAC proposal of Analysis of Copyright in the Digital Environment.
GRULAC hopes to discuss these issues through balanced discussions that address the interests and priorities of all Member States.
The issue of exceptions and limitations, as well as one of its most important results, the Marrakech Treaty, have been presented and promoted by GRULAC and its member countries from the outset.
In particular, GRULAC supports an open and Frank discussion of limitations and exceptions for libraries and archives that does not prejudge the nature of the outcome of the discussions in order to reach effective solutions with regard to problems affecting libraries and archives around the world.
GRULAC is very interested in the debate on proposals submitted by Brazil, Ecuador, Uruguay, India, and the African Group. In order to promote work on this topic, our group supports further discussions based on the Chair’s proposal.
Further more, GRULAC looks forward, with interest, to the discussion of document SCCR/33/4, submitted by Argentina.
Now, regarding the limitations and exceptions for educational and research institutions and people with other disabilities, GRULAC looks forward to the continuation of Professor Daniel Seng’s presentation as well as discussion on the Chair’s proposal.
We’re also grateful for Professor Reid’s preliminary presentation on other disabilities. GRULAC reiterates its willingness to continue discussions on broadcasting organizations with a view to updating their protection following the signal-based approach.
We hope to continue the discussions based on the text proposed by you. GRULAC is interested in considering the proposal submitted by the Delegations of Argentina, Colombia, and Mexico, contained in document SCCR/33/5.
We hope that programme — progress — sorry — will be achieved in it the discussion with a view of the conclusion of the work. GRULAC also hopes to continue discussions on the basis of document SCCR/31/4, proposed analysis of copyright related to the digital environment.
Our group proposes the discussion on the new challenges arising from the use of protected intellectual property works in the digital environment within the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights of WIPO.
We welcome the exchange of views amongst Member States on our proposal, and we suggest that in order to continue this subject, the Secretariat should be asked to study the progress made in the past ten years in our National Copyright Legislation related to the digital environment.
With regard to the Marrakech Treaty, GRULAC is pleased to underline the importance of our group. We continue, committed to its application and effective implementation in this regard, we wish to inform you that on October the 18th and 19th, 2016, the WIPO Subregional Workshop on the Effective Implementation of the Marrakech Treaty was held in the City of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was by the copyright Office of the Ministry of justice and human rights of Argentina with the support of the Latin American Blind Union. State entities from chilly, Paraguay, and your guy participated as well as the consortium and international federation of library associations, amongst others.
The workshop facilitated the exchange of best practices in the production and distribution of accessible books among the country’s represented, and in the analysis of a work plan for specific measures for the implementation of the Marrakech Treaty.
We appreciate the support provided by WIPO for the implementation this activity, and we — of this activity, and we look forward to continuing counting on WIPO’s cooperation in this very important issue for our region.
In this week we will be announcing — we will be preparing the announcement of a side event on this issue.
Finally, GRULAC wishes to share with the Committee that that the regional project on the tags for Latin American countries will take place in El Salvador between November 29th and 30th. Through this activity, we hope to contribute our national experiences of our region to the WIPO process. Mr. Chairman, dwru lack relates its willingness to work constructively on the agenda items of this meeting. Thank you very much