EU’s TTIP Anti-Transparency Rules laid out in DG-Trade letter to USTR

Previously, KEI reported on the terms of reference (TOR) for the confidentiality of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiating texts, as laid out in a letter by USTR to DG-Trade. Although evidently publicly available, the EU counterpart of that letter was not accessible through the FOIA process. Obtained through the EU Regulation (EC) No. Continue Reading

SCCR28 Day 1 Rules for Informal

Before leaving for room B with the head of the regional groups the Chair announced the schedule and the rules:

CHAIR: We are ready to move to an informal format. So we can break immediately to move to room B. And the plenary would reconvene. Since we don’t have an idea of how the work is going to be developed in the room B format, we are not in condition to say that we can re initiate the plenary tomorrow morning. So we will let you know, and you will realize how the work is ongoing through this facilities that we will have here to listen that kind of work.
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SCCR28: Venezuelan and Uruguayan reaction to Chair’s proposal to invite broadcasters to provide technical expertise in informals

During the first day of WIPO’s Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR28), the Committee was made aware of the Chair’s (Martin Moscoso, Peru) proposal to invite three experts from the broadcasting industry (1) Alexandre Jobim, International Association of Broadcasting, (2) Premila Manvi Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union and (3) Erica Redler (North American Broadcasters Association). Venezuela, noted,

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SCCR 28 Day 1: Selected Interventions re Technical Experts Invited to Informal Negotiations

Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights: Twenty-Eighth Session
SCCR/28 June 30 to July 4, 2014 (Geneva, Switzerland)

June 30, 2014.

The Chair has decided to move the Committee to room B for informal (i.e. not public) discussions. He announced the names of 3 representatives from broadcasting organizations associations. Some delegations welcomed the technical experts selected and appointed …by the Chair. However, others saved the day (or the process?) by asking a few questions.

In their own words:

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WIPO sccr 28 Day 1: The USA Statement re 3 topics: Broadcasting, L&E for Libraries and Education

Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights: Twenty-Eighth Session
SCCR/28 June 30 to July 4, 2014 (Geneva, Switzerland)

June 30, 2014 Statements of the USA

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: […] the United States was very pleased by the progress that we made at the last session of the SCCR, and we are looking forward to continuing to move forward this week in clarifying and improving the proposals before us.

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WIPO SCCR28 Day 1: Support for a Broadcasting Treaty Diplomatic Conference in 2015?


Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights: Twenty-Eighth Session
SCCR/28 June 30 to July 4, 2014 (Geneva, Switzerland)

June 30, 2014. Morning Session
to read the close captioning of SCCR28
http://www.streamtext.net/player?event=WIPO
password: sccr28 during the meeting
Watch live: Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights – ow.ly/yAzbf. #SCCR28

Find a few comments and selected interventions:

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TTIP: Anti-Transparency Rules laid out in USTR letter to DG-Trade

KEI has obtained the terms of reference (TOR) for the confidentiality of the negotiating texts of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) Agreement. The TOR are laid out in a two-page letter from US Chief Negotiator Dan Mullaney to EU Chief Negotiator Ignacio Garcia-Bercero which is available here. The letter was obtained through a FOIA request filed by KEI with the USTR on May 19, 2014.

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KEI Notes on TTIP 5th Round: How to engage in a dialogue without access to the text?

Wednesday, at the George Mason University Law Campus in Arlington, VA, the Office of the US Trade Representative hosted an all day Stakeholder Forum in conjunction with the fifth negotiating round of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. The first part of the day was devoted to Stakeholder Policy Presentations, with several hours of presentations by a variety of industry, academics, trade associations, and public interest groups. The latter part of the day consisted of a briefing by the US Chief Negotiator Dan Mullaney and the EU Chief Negotiator Ignacio Garcia-Bercero.

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SCCR27: Chair’s Conclusions

At 12:56 AM on 3 May 2014, WIPO’s Copyright Committee, (SCCR27) could not reach agreement on the future work on “Limitations and exceptions: libraries and archives.” The main point of contention was “text-based work” which the European Union sought to excise from the text. Consequently, the Committee was at an impasse in developing an appropriate international legal instrument (in whatever form) on copyright exceptions and limitations for libraries and archives (whether model law, joint recommendation, treaty and/or other forms). Continue Reading