[A2k] SCCR/14 IFLA/eIFL (non) intervention

[Teresa Hackett (eIFL)]

This is the joint intervention that IFLA/eIFL would have made at SCCR/14
if NGOs had been given the floor. As previously noted, NGOs can submit
the text to the WIPO secretariat to be included in the meeting report.

Teresa

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WIPO STANDING COMMITTEE ON COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS
14th Session: Geneva, 1-5 May 2006

JOINT INTERVENTION by eIFL: Electronic Information for Libraries &
IFLA: International Federation of Library Associations

Draft Basic Proposal for the WIPO Treaty on the Protection of Broadcast
Organizations including a Non-Mandatory Appendix on the Protection in
Relation to Webcasting

Mr Chairman, I am speaking on behalf of the International Federation of
Library Associations and also on behalf of one of its members,
Electronic Information for Libraries. We would like to congratulate you
on your re-election to the Chair.

It is essential that any draft treaty on the Protection of Broadcast
Organizations limits itself to its intent, i.e. to prohibit signal
piracy, and that it does not contain sweeping new powers for
non-creative endeavors which encroach unnecessarily on a multitude of
sectors, activities and communities. These include creators and
rightholders of copyright protected content, innovative technology
companies, and millions of users of protected and unprotected content.

We therefore support the NGO joint statement containing Recommendations
of Certain NGOs Regarding the Draft Basic Proposal which is available on
the table outside this room. We recommend that Member States give full
consideration to it since it has many good ideas and makes a
constructive contribution to the debate.

As stated by the delegation of Chile (PCDA/1/2) in the Provisional
Committee on Proposals Related to a WIPO Development Agenda (PCDA), the
public domain provides a fertile source of content on which creators can
build new works, therefore it must be protected from erosion especially
in the digital environment. The NGO Joint Proposal for Article 3(1)
achieves this by the following wording:
=93The protection granted under this Treaty extends only to signals used
for the transmissions by the beneficiaries of the protection of this
Treaty, and not to works and any other subject matter carried by such
signals.=94

We welcome the statement in the Preamble to the draft Basic Proposal for
the need to maintain a balance between the rights of broadcasting
organisations and the larger public interest as is reflected in Article
12 on Exceptions and Limitations.

However, the wording of Article 12(1) does not preclude the situation
that the signal gains more protection than the content, in particular
public domain content. It seems to us to be unreasonable and unjustified
that the vehicle for the content should gain more protection than the
content itself. We must ensure that the exceptions and limitations
concerning the content always take precedence over the protection of the
signal. Equally licences granted by content owners for beneficiaries
such as libraries, cultural and educational institutions etc. must not
be prevented by signal protection or blocked by TPMs protecting the
signal as this would create huge problems for libraries and archives.
These problems were elaborated in IFLA=92s intervention during the First
Session of the Provisional Committee on Proposals Related to a WIPO
Development Agenda (PCDA) of February 20-24, 2006, which is recorded in
paragraph 76 of the Revised Draft Report (PCDA 1/6/Prov.2).  The
Proposal by Colombia in SCCR/14/4 would help libraries and archives in
this regard.

Finally, we warmly welcome the proposals by Brazil, Chile and Peru
concerning exceptions and limitations for libraries, archives, cultural
institutions such as museums and for educational purposes. We recommend
that they are included in the Treaty or in an Agreed Statement but not
as an exhaustive list. Their inclusion would remind the Contracting
Parties of the importance of implementing them in their national
legislation.

We are asking Member States to adopt our suggestions so that libraries
and archives can fulfill the role entrusted to them, which is to
preserve and make available our cultural heritage to facilitate
creativity, education and economic growth.

Thank you, Mr Chairman.