The Need for an International Agreement on Orphan Works? A Large Coalition of Librarians & Archivists Make the Case at SCCR27

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butter of libraries and even more so for Archives, the very institutions that deal daily and all over the world with unpublished, anonymous but still culturally extremely valuable works.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!

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SCCR 27 Topic 2: Libraries & Archives

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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SCCR 27 WIPO *New* Broadcasters’ Treaty: Impact on Rights Owners

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:

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Is the WIPO Treaty for Broadcasters Moving Forward at SCCR 27?

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.

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SCCR27: US position on the Scope of Application (Article 6) of the proposed Broadcasting Treaty

The WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR27) is currently discussing Article 6 (Scope of Application) of the working text of the proposed Treaty on the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations (SCCR/27/2).

The United States of America delivered this nuanced intervention on the Scope of Application.

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KEI opposes negotiations at WIPO on a broadcasting treaty

KEI comment to SCCR 27 on the proposed Broadcasters Treaty

KEI is a non-profit organization representing consumer and public interests and seeking better outcomes for knowledge governance.

KEI opposes continued discussions in the SCCR on the treaty for broadcasting, for the following reasons.

1. The broadcasting organizations have failed to explain (a) the problem the treaty is supposed to address, (b) how the proposed text is related to the alleged problem.

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US Policy Making Transparency: A Good Example and a Really Bad Example

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.

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SCCR27: UK proposal on the Proposed WIPO treaty on the protection of broadcasting organizations (the BBC experience)

On 8 April 2014, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland submitted a paper to the 27th session of WIPO’s Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) on the Proposed WIPO treaty on the protection of broadcasting organizations (SCCR/27/3). In its proposal, the UK endeavors to “shed light on a number of different technologies already being used by broadcasters from around the world” including the deployment of the BBC iPlayer and the BBC Red Button services.

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Leaked EU analysis of TTIP IPR negotiations

Below is a two page excerpt from a March 20, 2014 EU analysis of the TransAtlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations on intellectual property rights, including geographical indications. The memo summarizes in a sentence or two the negotiations in eight types of intellectual property, patents, copyrights, designs, pharmaceutical regulatory test data, plant varieties, trademarks, trade secrets, geographical indications (GIs), as well as negotiations on enforcement, voluntary best practices, and cooperation on third country and multilateral IPR negotiations. Continue Reading

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