During the WIPO negotiations on disabilities, the White House has told U.S. Blind groups it will kill a WIPO treaty on copyright exceptions for persons who are blind or have other disabilities if the treaty covers audiovisual works, including those used in education, including distance teaching programs.
I just read from these talking points at WIPO SCCR 25, where the topic under discuss is a proposed treaty for persons who are blind or have other disabilities. (See /r2r).
1. KEI is disappointed that deaf people are left out.
2. KEI is disappointed that there is a proposal to eliminate the article on contracts. We agree with the Library Copyright Alliance that contracts are now being used to undermine exceptions. The treaty should have provisions to make it clear that governments may override exception killing contracts.
Copyright limitations and exceptions are important limits to the exclusive rights of the copyright holder, permitting use of copyrighted works without the right holder’s permission in certain cases. Under international law, some specific limitations and exceptions exist, such as those enumerated by the Berne Convention. Continue Reading
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| From left to right, USPTO Director David Kappos, President Obama, Pablo Lecuona of Tiflolibros and Melanie Brunson of the ACB |
Egypt, on behalf of the African Group, delivered the following general intervention at the beginning of WIPO discussions at the 25th Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR). This was taken from the WIPO live stream of SCCR negotiations: http://www.streamtext.net/player?event=WIPO
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| Maryanne Diamond and Chris Friend of the WBU listen to opening interventions at SCCR 25 |
4 October 2012
Agenda item 26: Report on the Work of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR)
Statement of Knowledge Ecology International
WIPO General Assembly 2012
The final conclusions of SCCR 24 are available here.
I’m going to spend some time adding to this, but to have something out quick, here are few thoughts.
1. Disabilities.
The Good: sets the stage for diplomatic conference in 2013, which is now highly likely.
The Bad: Lots of brackets in the text, and EU bent on making the agreement unworkable, and the US and EU hold off on the “nature of the instrument” is a treaty discussion.
These are the final conclusions from SCCR 24, as approved early Thursday morning.
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR)
Twenty–fourth Session
Geneva, July 25, 2012Draft conclusions
Agenda