This was delivered this morning, by Shira Perlmutter of USPTO.
United States’ Opening Statement on Exceptions and Limitations SCCR 26 December 18, 2013
* The United States starts with the recognition that exceptions and limitations are a critical element of a balanced and vibrant copyright law regime.
* A combination of strong protections for authors, and appropriate exceptions and limitations on their rights, together serve to further copyright’s goals of encouraging creativity, innovation, and learning.
* Of course, exceptions and limitations must be consistent with Member States’ existing international obligations, including the three-?step test. The United States sees the flexibility provided by the three-?step test as beneficial both in keeping up with changing technologies and in reflecting individual countries’ particular circumstances.
* The United States is interested in exploring a variety of ways to improve approaches to exceptions and limitations for libraries and archives, and for education, through continued discussions, including text-?based discussions, at the international level.
* We believe these discussions should be based on substantive analysis, supported by up-?to-?date information. Much progress can be made if we focus on substance rather than form.
* There are many different formats that this work could take. The United States urges consideration of objectives and principles to guide the formulation of such exceptions and limitations, to which we could all agree.
* Study and comparison of different national approaches to specific exceptions that further these goals and objectives, and a sharing of on-?the-?ground experiences, would make a positive contribution to the international environment.
* This would also allow us to maintain the flexibility for national differences that is important to all of us. We believe this is critical and therefore do not support an approach involving norm-?setting through treaty provisions.
* The United States also sees value in the Secretariat updating former SCCR studies that have analyzed Member States’ respective limitations and exceptions on these issues.
* As to libraries and archives in particular, the United States is pleased to continue this important discussion. The public service role carried out by these institutions is critical to supporting preservation and access to copyright works.
* According to a Pew Research Center survey released last week, 95% of Americans ages 16 and older agree that the materials and resources available at public libraries play an important role in giving everyone a chance to succeed.
* While recognizing that limitations and exceptions must be tailored to address the needs of individual countries, we believe that there are some general objectives and principles to which all Member States can agree.
* At SCCR 23, the United States introduced a set of objectives and principles for exceptions and limitations for libraries and archives.
* These objectives and principles recognize the many and varied public service roles of these institutions, including with respect to preservation and support for research and human development. They also acknowledge the special needs of these institutions in carrying out their responsibilities.
* We have listened carefully to the Member States’ discussions over the past couple of Meetings and continue to believe that there are important areas of agreement. Member States have identified new areas of common concern. For example, Switzerland, the EU, China, and Chile have emphasized the importance of preservation of materials in a digital environment.
* With this in mind, we have updated the Objectives and Principles to reflect additional areas where we believe there may be agreement, notably with respect to digital technologies. We will circulate the updated document during the course of this meeting.
* The United States also appreciates the contribution of the study by Professor Kenneth Crews, which has informed discussions on this issue within the SCCR.
* Given the significant developments in law and technology over the last five years, including updates to Member States’ laws, the United States believes that it would be very helpful to have an updated version of the study. * We look forward to future substantive work within the SCCR to achieve meaningful and positive outcomes on these issues.