CDIP 17: Asia Pacific and African Group raise concerns re: WIPO’s position on the UN High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is convening its 17th session of the Committee on Intellectual Property and Development (CDIP17) from 11 April 2016 to 15 April 2016. The mandate of the Committee is to “develop a work-program for implementing the 45 adopted Development Agenda recommendations” and “monitor, assess, discuss and report on the implementation of all recommendations adopted” (Source: WIPO page on the Committee on Development And Intellectual Property).

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11 February 2016: 5 groups express concerns over WIPO statements relating to UN High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines

On Thursday, 11 February 2016, five groups including Knowledge Ecology International (KEI), Oxfam, Stop AIDS, Third World Network (TWN) and Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) sent a letter to Dr. Francis Gurry, Director-General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) highlighting our concerns with statements expressed by WIPO relating to the United Nations Secretary ­General’s High-­Level Panel on Access to Medicines (HLP). To date, we have yet to hear any formal response from WIPO. Continue Reading

SCCR 31 Chair’s Conclusion

Chair’s Conclusions

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MICHELE WOODS: Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights, 31st session, Geneva, December 7 to 11, 2015. Summary by the Chair.

Agenda item 1. Opening of the session. The 31st session of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights SCCR or Committee was opened by Mr. Francis Gurry, Director General who welcomed the participants and opened agenda item 2.
Ms. Michele Woods, WIPO, acted as secretary.

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SCCR 31 KEI Statement on Droit de Suite/Resale Rights

Day 5 of SCCR 31, December 11, 2015

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Thank you Mr Chair.

We welcome the proposal tabled by Senegal and the Congo to include the droit de suite, the artist resale right, in this Committee’s agenda for future work.

I would like to refer to the Directive mentioned by the Commission, Directive 2001/84/EC which came into force on 1 January 2006:

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SCCR 31 KEI Statements on Legal Deposit and on Lending

Topic 3 is Legal Deposit.

KEI ‘s question is the following: should these designated deposit systems –national archives or libraries– be mandated or encouraged as I believe it is described in the US principles)?

We’re not even sure this is a copyright issue and to what extent this is essential for libraries.

However, as the IFLA Statement underlined, Legal deposit was the original limitation on copyright, embedded in the Statute of Anne and we believe it could be discussed in the form of a model law intended to ensure the preservation of works at a national level.

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