Original news and analysis on international IP policy
A better definition of the public domain is needed, but copyright and public domain are not antagonistic, said a study commissioned by the World Intellectual Property Organization presented this week. Also this week, a book on the role of copyright in access to knowledge in Africa was launched.
Member states of the World Intellectual Property Organization this week are working through details of projects related to boosting the UN agency’s development orientation. But simultaneous closed, informal meetings on a mechanism for coordinating WIPO Development Agenda activities have proven more difficult, as developed countries try to contain the spread of the development committee’s influence – and work through their own differences, according to sources.
To solve many of the dilemmas facing copyright holders in the digital age, some say the World Intellectual Property Organization must create and administer an international repertoire database, compiling information about who owns what rights related to specific artistic works.
Members of the United Nations World Intellectual Property Organization this week are in discussions on how to ensure that WIPO activities are development-oriented. A particular focus will be the implementation of a Development Agenda coordination mechanism approved at the last session in May. Also new on the table this week is an agenda item on development-related issues and a proposal for a new project on cooperation between developing countries.
What do the fearsome leader of France’s three-strikes agency, a top Microsoft counsel, Google’s copyright counsel, a free software activist, Egyptian and British librarians, a South American development-oriented academic, and a European music authors’ representative have in common? While one might be tempted to say, ‘very little’, a recent gathering showed one thing - they represent the very wide range of current views on the future of copyright licensing.
The World Intellectual Property Organization copyright committee has reached an eleventh-hour agreement on a work programme that could help ease access to reading materials for the visually impaired.
On the World Intellectual Property Organization committee on copyright’s final day of weeklong negotiations, the hopes of visually impaired readers and others - librarians, schools - looking for an agreement on copyright exceptions and limitations hang on whether delegates can resolve differences and create a plan for future work.
"Given that global copyright rules have acquired such a pervasive impact in many facets of our lives, their reform needs to take place through an open, inclusive and participatory consultation process where ‘all of us’ have a say," writes Ahmed Abdel Latif.
بكل احترام يسعدني أن أضع تجربتي الشخصية , بين يدي كل من يهمه أن يطلع عليه متمنين أن تكون إفهاما متواضعا لأجل الوصول إلى اتفاقية دولية تيسر الاطلاع على المعرفة لذوي الاحتياجات الخاصة.
د/ محمد محسن النجار يكتب تجربته
I'd like to introduce myself and put my personal experience in the hands of all concerned parties and people, hoping that this will help to give a better comprehension (explain) about the situation of blind people and to help reach an international treaty that will facilitate access to knowledge for people with visual impairments, writes law professor Mohammed Mohsin Abrahim El Nagaar of Alexandria University.
While piracy remains an oft-cited problem for the creative content industry, it is the 'Byzantine maze' of copyright law that is stalling monetisation of new business models better designed to deliver content in the digital age, panellists at the World Intellectual Property Organization said last week.
The European Commission is considering a proposal in the coming months to create a pan-European passport for collective music licensing intended to overcome stifling difficulties of 27 national collecting societies, a top official has told Intellectual Property Watch in the context of a meeting on copyright and competition.