[A2k] WIPO SCCR 17, Nov. 5, 2008 - CI / TACD statement

[Anne-Catherine Lorrain]

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*CI / TACD Statement to the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Relate=
d
Rights (SCCR)*

November 5th, 2008*
*

*
*

**Merci Monsieur le President.

Je m'exprime ici au nom de *Consumers International* et du* Dialogue **Tran=
s
Atlantique des Consommateurs*.

Le *Dialogue Trans Atlantique des consommateurs* est un forum international
representant plus d'une soixantaine d'organisations de consommateurs, et
d'organisations proches de l'interet des consommateurs, aux Etats-Unis et e=
n
Europe.

Si vous le permettez, je vais poursuivre mon intervention en anglais.

//////////////

CI and TACD highly welcome the proposal of the Standing Committee to
prioritize the work of WIPO to open a space to discuss limitations and
exceptions in order to make progress towards achieving consensus on minimum
international standards.

We would also like to support the proposal made by the delegations from
Chile, Brazil, Uruguay and Nicaragua, who have all proposed to work on
limitations and exceptions, noting the proposal asks that priority be given
to vulnerable populations.

The broad frame for the work on limitations and exceptions is correct.
Limitations and exceptions are important for libraries, education, includin=
g
distance education, archives, innovative services and visually impaired and
other disabled populations.

The Brazil, Chile, Nicaragua and Uruguay proposal thoughtfully provides for
three areas of work =96 information gathering, analysis and norm setting. I=
n
each of the various sectors for studying limitations and sectors, some
should focus now on information gathering, some on analysis and some on nor=
m
setting.

In terms of information gathering, WIPO should undertake studies on the rol=
e
of limitations and exceptions for distance education and innovative
services, to complement other studies that have been done.

In terms of norm setting, CI and TACD strongly support the proposal by the
World Blind Union (WBU) to the SCCR for a "WIPO Treaty for Improved Access
for Blind, Visually Impaired and other Reading Disabled Persons."

Since 2003, the WBU has petitioned the WIPO SCCR for action to address thei=
r
need for global harmonization of limitations and exceptions for the blind,
and to ensure that accessible formats of copyrighted works that are created
under such limitations and exceptions can be exported and imported, in orde=
r
to facilitate the global distribution of accessible works over the Internet=
.


At the heart of the WBU request is a need to address the benefits of
economies of scale in making works available. We also note the importance o=
f
serving the needs of persons who have migrated to work in other countries,
and the needs of visually impaired persons to have access to works publishe=
d
in several languages.

As more is known about other sectors, such as education, libraries or
innovative services, there may also be an important role for WIPO in terms
of norm setting. The SCCR can approach these issues carefully, in order to
provide the most useful contributions to social welfare each area.

Thank you for your consideration.


--
Anne-Catherine Lorrain
Intellectual Property Project
The TransAtlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD)
Avenue de Tervueren, 36 Bte 4
1040 Bruxelles - Belgium
aclorrain@consint.org
Mob: +32 473 99 97 92
Tel (direct): +32 2 740 28 17
Fax: +32 2 740 28 02
www.tacd.org