May 2, 2014, during “other matters” to be discussed at the WIPO SCCR, some observers and delegates were a little surprised by the number of delegations who spoke in favor of adding “resale Rights” to the agenda of next SCCR sessions. However, some of the observers and delegates were not at all surprised having observed this week the diligent work of a CISAC representative with various key delegates.
ORPHAN WORKS, RETRACTED AND WITHDRAWN WORKS, AND WORKS OUT OF COMMERCE
May 1, 2014 SCCR TOPIC 7
The discussion regarding orphan works included the rather difficult and political topic of moral rights and the right to withdraw a work from circulation. Can a library reproduce and make available a work that the author wants withdrawn from the public?
For example the Africa group had proposed:
Right to Access Retracted and Withdrawn Works
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SCCR 27 May 1, 2014 Limitation of liability for libraries and archives
Michelle Woods for the WIPO SECRETARIAT provided the SCCR with this very useful summary of the various proposals on the table:
This topic is on limitations of liability of libraries and archives. There is also actually a proposal to make that limitations on liability “for” instead of “of” libraries and archives, reflected in the text.
If the Broadcasters’treaty often appeared to be a treaty in search of a problem in the last few days (or years?), the Libraries and Archives’ problem is about a treaty in search of a solution… or maybe solutions. And if the problems (and thus solutions) were not specifically cross borders…well, the librarians and archivists of the world would not be here “en masse” testifying at the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights, a Committee extremely proud to have created the WCT and the WPPT to solve the cross border issues of copyright owners.
Orphan works are obviously the bread and butter of libraries and even more so for Archives, the very institutions that deal daily and all over the world with unpublished, anonymous but still culturally extremely valuable works. One would think that since there is little economic value for these types of works as well as an obvious international need to preserve and access these types of works, the discussions could go smoothly and result quickly in a new WIPO agreement. However, progress are slow, too slow for the good of copyright!
After 3pm the SCCR 27 (April 30, 2014) turned to Topic 2: Libraries and archives
In brief, countries supporting progress on a binding instrument on limitations and exceptions for libraries and archives include the Africa Group, Iran, Mexico, India, Bangladesh, Brazil, Ecuador, Morocco, Russia, Tunisia, Chile, Congo…
Representative quote of a proponent:
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As promised in my previous blog, here in their own words, Tuesday April 29, 2014 afternoon session of SCCR 27, the view point of copyright owners on the proposed treaty for broadcasting organizations. The fact that it is quite repetitive is probably one of the points they were trying to make and it was in fact quite effective in “changing” the general mood of the meeting.
The two following quotes summarize the arguments:
The WIPO treaty for the Protection of Broadcasting Organization: The Way Forward?
On day 2 of Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) 27, it looks as if the US delegation was showing the SCCR delegates a “way forward” for a new treaty for broadcasting organizations. It seemed as if US diplomacy was working efficiently and the US proposal was gathering support. However, while the US proposal was indeed gathering support, public interest groups and copyright owners also became more vocal in their opposition to the proposal on the table.
This short note is about giving people the heads up about four upcoming USPTO public meetings relating to copyright policy making: re remixes, digital first sale and calibration of statutory damages. It is a good example of ONE US agency (PTO is within a Task Force) wisely seeking “additional input from the public in order for the Task Force to have a complete and thorough record upon which to make recommendations.” But this blog post is also about a really bad example: USTR.
What is on the table for the next Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights: Twenty-Seventh Session (SCCR/27) April 28 to May 2, 2014 (Geneva, Switzerland)?