[A2k] WIPO SCCR/14/5: Automated Rights Management Systems and Copyright Limitations and Exceptions

[Thiru Balasubramaniam]

WIPO has just published a 157 page study prepared by Nic Garnett,
Principal Consultant, Interight.com on Automated Rights Management
Systems and Copyright Limitations and Exceptions.

Here is the link to the report:

http://www.wipo.int/meetings/en/doc_details.jsp?doc_id=59952


Here are excerpts from the background note to the document prepared by
the WIPO Secretariat.


<SNIP>

The compatibility between limitations and exceptions, on the one hand,
and technological protection measures, on the other, has proven to be
one of the more complex areas in the implementation of the Internet
Treaties.  It is only natural that Member States of WIPO seek greater
clarity at the time of implementing new rules in this area, or when
trying to improve, by non normative means, the balance inherent in the
copyright system.

Technological measures of protection and limitations and exceptions to
copyright and related rights in the digital environment have been
thoroughly discussed in different WIPO fora, including:  the WIPO
Workshop on Implementation Issues of the WCT and the WPPT, held in
1999,  and the International Conferences on Electronic Commerce, held in
1999 and 2001.  In November 2003, WIPO organized an Information Meeting
on Digital Content for the Visually Impaired in order to provide an
overview of the present situation regarding access to works by visually
impaired people.  WIPO has also fostered debate on a range of issues
related to the interests of certain beneficiaries such as libraries,
educational institutions and users in general.   Recently, the Member
States of WIPO examined the impact of the copyright system on the use of
protected works for educational purposes, particularly in developing
countries.

<SNIP>

While this rich background bears witness to the importance that WIPO and
its Member States attach to both the issue of limitations and exceptions
and that of DRM, it appears increasingly necessary to focus attention on
the interplay between them.  The present Study represents a specific and
pragmatic approach, focusing on certain limitations and specific
countries.  In fact, two groups of beneficiaries are considered:  the
subset of the educational community involved in distance learning, on
the one hand, and visually impaired persons, on the other.  To
illustrate the state-of-the-art in the relevant fields, the law and
practice in five countries is described, namely, Australia, the Republic
of Korea, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.
These countries were selected based on criteria which included the
presence in national legislation of relevant exceptions in the two
subject areas; the existence of statutory and/or voluntary licensing
practices, including private-sector initiatives, in the two subject
areas; and the state of their national technological infrastructure for
digital content delivery.  In order to promote an informed debate in
this respect, the WIPO Secretariat has commissioned the present Study
from Mr. Nic Garnett, Principal Consultant, Interight.com.  It takes a
proactive, yet neutral and descriptive stance, aimed at examining cases
in which DRM could serve as an effective means to implement limitations
and exceptions in the digital environment.  Finally, the Study
identifies future avenues of work towards facilitating the coexistence
of limitations and technological measures.