On Monday, 21 October 2019, Knowledge Ecology International delivered the following opening statement at the 39th session of the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR 39).
The discussions on limitations and exceptions, and the studies commissioned by WIPO, show that many countries have yet to enact exceptions in important areas, such as, but not limited to libraries, education and preservation and archiving. There are also different legal traditions.
If one observed a lack of adequate protections for authors, WIPO would press for some concrete actions. A lack of adequate exceptions has seemed to elicit a more laissez faire attitude, particularly from the European Union.
One constructive way forward would be for WIPO to produce model laws on various exceptions, including when appropriate, options for countries with different legal traditions, as was done in the 1976 WIPO/UNESCO Tunis model law on copyright law for developing countries.
It is also clear that WIPO could move forward a narrow instrument on preservation and archiving, an area where there is greater harmonization of exceptions, and where many countries lack any exception at all, and where liability for cross border infringement is increasing.
KEI continues to oppose a treaty for broadcasting organizations, if such a treaty gives broadcasters post fixation rights on content they do not create, own, license or pay for.