(24 May 2016) At 32nd session of the World Intellectual Property Organisation’s (WIPO) Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR), which met earlier this month in Geneva, libraries made many interventions.
In particular, IFLA and others made the case for:
- Parallel Importation – allowing libraries and archives to purchase works from abroad when they are not available in their own market, or at least not in the right format.
- Cross-Border Uses – making it possible for libraries and archives to lend or supply works, on request, to libraries in other countries, as well as to overcome legal barriers to cross-border preservation projects.
- Orphan Works – introducing provisions allowing libraries and archives to give the public access to works which are still covered by copyright, but where the author or other rights-holder is either unknown or uncontactable. The obligation to look for authors would need to be proportionate, and authors who identify themselves afterwards could work with libraries to seek compensation, or have their works removed from public access.
The full account by IFLA of the WIPO meeting is here.
