[Upd-discuss] #2 Copyright Brief History

[François Briatte]

May I comment the part on WIPO :

> WIPO:  UNFUNDED AGENCY OF THE UNITED NATIONS

86% of the budget comes from the patent protection system and from the 
arbitration/mediation centre, 7% come from selling their publications, 
7% come from member states

Often considered as a very successful specialized agency. Gerald J. 
Mossinghoff  and  Ralph Oman state :

"Much of the U.S. criticism of the UN stems from the fact that the 
United States pays a disproportionate  percentage of the organization’s 
budget. That is not the case with the WIPO. Despite the fact that as, a 
hightechnology leader, the United States benefits directly and 
substantially from strong intellectual property  protection, it pays 
less than 1 percent of the WIPO operating budget."

-- in "WIPO, a success story", World Affairs, Fall  1997, vol. 160, #2, 
pages 104-108

> This means that right up front WIPO acknowledges that its main
> purpose is "protecting intellectual property" rather than the
> rights of the masses,

Article 3
  Objectives of the Organization

The objectives of the Organization are:

(i) to promote the protection of intellectual property [so yes, it's a 
defensive scheme] throughout the world through cooperation among States 
and, where appropriate, in collaboration with any other international 
organization,

(ii) to ensure administrative cooperation among the Unions [of Berne 
and Paris]

-- in WIPO Convention 1967
http://www.wipo.int/clea/docs/en/wo/wo029en.htm

> and that it is funded by a cartel of the
> major members of the worldwide publishing industry. . yet it
> hides itself under the flag of the United Nations

That's an overstatement. WIPO is an intergovernmental organization in 
the first place. Blame the governments that listen copyright industries 
and then lobby at WIPO for protectionist digital agendas (US, EU). WIPO 
mainly does what it is intended to do : although it has some sort of 
autonomy, it is primarily a state-driven organization.

>  it is writing and promoting laws in nearly every country worldwide
> that do nothing but remove more and more from the public domain
> and place more and more under copyright, thus destroying free
> public access in the process.

It is true WIPO supported, for instance, DRMs and anti-circumvention in 
the WCT and WPPT treaties which gave birth to the DMCA and the EUCD. 
Upkeep of the public domain seems only to be residual in the recent 
multilateral agreements signed at WIPO (and WTO).

> This has been part of the world copyright system since the
> start of the Berne Convention in 1886

… and the Paris convention in 1883 (industr. property)

>  following the start of The United International Bureau for the 
> Protection of
> Intellectual Property [BIRPI] only 3 years earlier.

Incorrect. The staffs from the Paris and Berne Unions merged in 1888 
(although they continued to publish separate activity reports). The 
BIRPI were officially created in 1892.

In the 1950s, with the creation of the UN and later the NEIO (New 
Economic Internatl. Order : arrival of the developing countries onto 
the international scenery), the Unions seemed obsolete. Their reform at 
the Stockholm Conference of 1967 resulted in the creation of WIPO.

>   These and other copyright promoting industries have merged over
> the years for form the current version of WIPO,

… not sure what you mean by other industries (WIPO simply regrouped the 
BIRPI administrative staffs in one building)

> but their mission has always clearly been the promotion of copyright
> and the degradation of the public's rights, including fair
> use and the public domain.

Note : the UNESCO Universal Copyright Convention was elaborated to help 
countries with little literary and artistic resources to enter the 
internatl. IP system through a "lighter" protection regime (25 years or 
25 years post mortem auctoris). The UCC is subordinated to the Berne 
Convention, however.

> [WIPO claims to have about 175 member nations, pretty much a takeover
> of the entire world.]

180 as of today, last member state to have signed in is the Maldives

> It is obvious that none of these organizations or the laws put
> into effect by them were ever meant to promote the interest of
> the public, but only to increase the publishers' monopolies.

Closer scrutiny on the history of the Berne and Paris conventions is 
needed to assert this.

My two cents.