[A2k] The Public Domain Why WIPO should care
Eduardo Villanueva
evillan@gmail.com
Fri Feb 23 11:31:02 2007
--
[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
I'll go on a limb and say that Colombia's government is just sporting its
conservative / Washington Consensus-based approach to policy making. It has
been usual for Latin American governments to adopt the certainties of
market-focused policies as the right way to development. Colombia has one o=
f
the few conservative (or neo-liberal, as they are called in Latin America)
governments left.
Is the IFLA/eIFL doc translated into Spanish?
Regards,
Eduardo Villanueva
On 2/23/07, Jeff Williams <jwkckid1@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
>
> Teresa and all,
>
> Glad you did. I for one cannot reasonably understand why Colombia
> of all nations are seemingly negative on a rich Public Domain!
>
> Teresa Hackett (eIFL) wrote:
>
> > Colombia made a marathon, high speed 13 minute intervention on why the
> > public domain should not be part of WIPO's activities. We produced an
> > information sheet for delegates in response to discussion over the last
> > two days, using examples raised by delegates.
> >
> > Teresa
> > -----
> >
> > International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA)
> > Library Copyright Alliance (LCA)
> > Electronic Information for Libraries (eIFL)
> >
> > Provisional Committee on Proposals Related to a WIPO Development Agenda
> > Third Session, Geneva, February 19-23, 2007
> >
> > The Public Domain
> > Why WIPO should care
> >
> > "A rich public domain and fair access to copyright protected material
> > enhances creativity and the production of new works. It is often assume=
d
> > that economic growth benefits from ever stronger intellectual property
> > rights while some concession must be made to copyright exceptions for
> > purely social reasons. In fact this is a false dichotomy. Many
> > industries require access to copyright material for the purposes of
> > research and development, education, software or hardware
> > interoperability. A lack of reasonable access can actually hurt economi=
c
> > growth." IFLA Committee on Copyright and other Legal Matters
> >
> > What is the Public Domain?
> >
> > "Public domain" means works that either never have been copyrighted or
> > that are no longer within the term of protection under the applicable
> > intellectual property laws.
> >
> > These works are crucial in preserving our history, scientific knowledge=
,
> > technology and inventions, and cultural heritage for present and future
> > generations. Access to the public domain fosters learning, innovation
> > and creation of new works. Those works may themselves then be subject
> > to new rights, but that is a benefit not a burden of a rich public
> > domain. Libraries all over the world are working to save =96 including
> > through digitisation =96 older, and often endangered, materials that ar=
e
> > in the public domain.
> >
> > Public domain works may be used without expending resources and cost in
> > tracing rightholders to obtain permission or buying licences. It is a
> > lot easier therefore
> >
> > =95 for a publisher to produce special low-cost editions of a boo=
k
> in the
> > public domain
> > =95 a songwriter to parody a well-known ballad without fear of be=
ing
> sued
> > =95 a teacher to distribute copies of a poem for students in thei=
r
> class, and
> > =95 for a library to digitise a set of public domain photographs =
for
> their
> > online local history exhibition
> > =95 for business and industry around the world to create new
> value-added
> > products from US government information, since it is all in the public
> > domain, including government funded research.
> >
> > In February 2007 Dr Kamil Idris, WIPO Director-General, pledged WIPO's
> > support in the establishment by Belarus of an electronic library "to
> > ensure protection of the country's scientific and artistic heritage."
> > Without the availability of public domain works to form the core of thi=
s
> > online library, this wonderful project will be stalled at the starting
> > post since considerable time and resources will be required to identify=
,
> > locate and obtain permission for rightsholders of copyright works befor=
e
> > they can be included. A number of works are furthermore likely to be
> > orphaned which will exacerbate these problems. There are likely to be
> > significant gaps in the record of Belarus' scientific and artistic
> > heritage.
> >
> > Why is the Public Domain important?
> >
> > The public domain is part of the common cultural and intellectual
> > heritage of humanity and is the major source of inspiration, imaginatio=
n
> > and discovery for creators. Works in the public domain are not subject
> > to any restrictions and may be freely used without permission for
> > commercial and non-commercial purposes. It is important for access to
> > knowledge and must be accessible for the benefit of creators, inventors=
,
> > universities and research centres.
> >
> > The Public Domain encourages creativity
> >
> > Examples of uses of public domain works to create new works are
> >
> > =95 The Maha-bha-rata
> > o The renowned Bollywood film producer, Bobby Bedi will create a
> trilogy
> > of feature films , a television series, plus computer games, comic
> > books, merchandising and 'The Vedic Experience' theme park based on the
> > Maha-bha-rata, one of ancient India's two major Sanskrit epics.
> >
> > =95 Mozart
> > o Mozart is among the most enduringly popular of European
> composers and
> > many of his works are part of the standard concert repertoire of
> > orchestras ranging from world class philharmonic to local youth
> > orchestras. Recordings of performances acquire new rights which bring
> > revenue to musicians and producers. For example browse the Berlin
> > Philharmonic Orchestra's catalogue at
> > http://www.berliner-philharmoniker.de/en/home/
> >
> > =95 Snow White
> > o Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) produced by Walt Disney
> > Productions, was the first animated feature to become widely successful
> > within the English speaking world and was therefore intrinsic to the
> > company's success.
> >
> > =95 Fyodor Dostoevsky
> > o The Brothers Karamazov is one of the most acclaimed novels by
> the 19th
> > century Russian novelist Dostoevsky. It is now available online in full
> > text for students of Russian literature around the world. His complete
> > works are also available as recorded books. All his major novels have
> > been translated and dramatised as successful television or feature film=
s
> > and have been performed on stage in several countries.
> >
> > Why is the Public Domain in WIPO's remit?
> >
> > =95 WIPO sets norms.
> >
> > =95 Copyright norms set by WIPO, in particular the scope and
> duration of
> > rights, impact on the public domain.
> >
> > =95 When private rights on content are increased, material in the
> public
> > domain decreases.
> >
> > =95 The WIPO Secretariat already acknowledges this in the stateme=
nt
> in
> > Annex A, Cluster B Proposal 17 Column (iii) of Ambassador Manalo's
> > working document for PCDA/3.
> >
> > No conflict with IP rights
> >
> > Safeguarding the public domain does not at all conflict with the
> > protection of intellectual property. A robust public domain enriches an=
d
> > functions within the intellectual property structure. Protecting the
> > public domain does not imply legal protection but a general protection
> > against ever encroaching IP rights created by the current trend for eve=
r
> > upward harmonisation of the terms and scope of patent, trademark,
> > copyright, moral and related rights.
> >
> > Why is the Public Domain under threat?
> >
> > Extending Terms of Copyright Protection
> > =95 During the 1990's the world's two largest trading blocs, the
> European
> > Union (1993) and the United States (1998) extended the term of
> > protection for general copyright by a further 20 years to life plus 70
> > years.
> >
> > =95 Recently certain developing and transition countries have eve=
n
> > exceeded these long levels of protection e.g. Mexico (life + 100 years)=
,
> > C=F4te d'Ivoire (life + 99 years), and Ghana (life + 70 years).
> >
> > =95 Furthermore copyright is also now within the realm of free tr=
ade
> > agreements (FTAs), which, if with the EU or US, typically require the
> > partner country to extend the copyright term to at least match.
> >
> > For developing and transition countries, where the issue of accessing
> > information is a key determinant in their development, term extensions
> > mean that information that traditionally belonged to everybody is
> > removed from collective ownership with grave consequences for education
> > and innovation. Furthermore, the extension of the term
> > disproportionately benefits rights owners and their estates in develope=
d
> > nations, at the expense of users of information and potential new
> > creators in developing countries, reflecting the information flows from
> > North to South.
> >
> > Content in the public domain is shrinking because of these extended
> > terms of protection, resulting in less content for creators to build
> > upon and less content for the benefit of society. Pioneering projects
> > such as that of Eduvision, providing digital learning materials to the
> > poorest children in Kenya, suffer as a result because they must rely on
> > older out-of-copyright and more out-of-date materials which impedes
> > academic research.
> >
> > Longer terms of protection also exacerbate the problem of orphaned work=
s
> > i.e. copyright works whose owners are difficult or impossible to trace,
> > thus making rights clearance difficult, and cumbersome and very
> > expensive in terms of library resources and budgets. This is
> > particularly significant when libraries need to get permission to
> > include works in digitisation projects. Academic, scholarly material or
> > less known works of no commercial value but important to researchers,
> > historians, architects and other specialists is being disproportionatel=
y
> > affected.
> >
> > Technological Protection Measures (TPMs)
> >
> > =95 TPMs acquired legal protection under the WCT. Yet they are
> adversely
> > affecting access to the public domain. WIPO has a role to ensure that
> > TPMs do not harm access to content in the public domain.
> >
> > =95 TPMs last on average for three to five years. If the product =
is
> no
> > longer made, there will be no new TPM compatible with new operating
> > systems and no key available to allow libraries to migrate content to
> > new platforms, rendering the product orphaned.
> >
> > =95 TPMs do not expire when the term of copyright protection
> expires, thus
> > they lock up the content in perpetuity and digital content in the publi=
c
> > domain becomes inaccessible to future generations. The result will be
> > damaging gaps in the cultural and scientific record.
> >
> > =95 Public domain content which is digitised and repackaged withi=
n
> > commercial materials becomes subject to contract. In most countries
> > licences and contracts are allowed to override copyright exceptions and
> > limitations so if such content is prevented by contractual terms from
> > being re-digitised and made available in an open access repository such
> > as those that will be created through public programmes such as the
> > European Digital Library, it risks being locked up in perpetuity by TPM=
s
> > and the DRMS that enforce the licence terms.
> >
> > =95 The world's research libraries need to keep digital works in
> > perpetuity and be able to transfer them to other formats and platforms
> > in order to preserve them for the public domain, so they can make the
> > content fully accessible and usable once all the rights have expired.
> > The total protection of TPMs introduced by the WCT is having serious an=
d
> > detrimental effects on the preservation of our cultural and scientific
> > heritage in digital form. Great research libraries such as the British
> > Library have expressed their grave concern on the future implications
> > and have publicly called on policy makers to find a solution.
> > _______________________________________________
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>
> Regards,
> --
> Jeffrey A. Williams
> Spokesman for INEGroup LLA. - (Over 134k members/stakeholders strong!)
> "Obedience of the law is the greatest freedom" -
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>
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