SCCR24: India on Contribution of the SCCR to the implementation of the respective Development Agenda recommendations

INDIA: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Indian Delegation joins the distinguished Delegations of Iran, Egypt, South Africa in supporting the statement by the Distinguished Delegate and leader of the Development Agenda Group, the Brazil Indian Delegate. The Development Agenda recommendations and goals have achieved recent success in the Beijing spirit when we included the paragraphs, the preamble of the new treaty. And from there we have been listing — participating in the norm setting activities, in the limitations and exceptions.

And my friends and colleagues from the Egypt and South Africa did mention about the importance of the success of U.N. Millennium development goals he — Millennium development goals and linking it to limitations and exceptions to the educational institutions and research organisations. This is very important and a valid point.

Similarly another reference made about the human rights issues refer to the adoption of a treaty for the limitations and exceptions for the visually impaired and other print disabled. This is very, very important. We all should know that without any conditions, the member countries should go forward and as South Africa suggested we should finalize the treaty in the diplomatic conference to be convened in the year 2013. So I always, the moment we sit here and discuss the VIP treaty issues, I always try to close my eyes and read the document in front of me. I know I can’t read. As always, we relate this problem of the visually impaired. We should think in such a way, close our eyes and try to read the VIP working document and then expedite your assent of giving treaty status to the document. And then overall limitations and exceptions are not creating any imbalance in the international copyright system. If you look at the very mother of all conventions, the Berne Convention, the lengths and breadth of the convention, is the balancing of rights. That is one way the rights of the rightholders versus the public interest. Similarly the preambles of the WCT an WPP talk about balancing the rights. Article seven of the famous TRIPS Agreement talks about the balancing of the rights. Adopting the limitations and exceptions, no rights of the rightholder are put in danger. Without any hesitation now as we are sitting here and doing, in all norm setting activities we should march over the finalizing of the treaties. There should be an equal treatment for these treaties. The way we are to negotiate and the document as to progress. There should not be any difference between adoption of the limitations and exceptions and one area just like VIP treaty and another area like education exceptions, libraries and archives because all these limitations and exceptions help not only the developed countries or developing countries or least developing countries. The contribution to the development of knowledge economy and progress of the knowledge society because access to knowledge is very, very important and this is why the limitations and exceptions treaty, whether it is for visually impaired for educational exceptions or the — educational exceptions of libraries and archives are focusing, too.

With this I would like to thank you once again, Mr. Chairman, for giving me this opportunity.