Dr. Maja Bogataj Jančič elected as a member of the Supervisory Body of the BTT
Dr. Maja Bogataj Jančič has been elected as a member of the Supervisory Body of the Blockchain Think Tank. In her candidature she wrote:
““I would like to participate in BTT because I would like to want about the importance of ethical and legal aspects of the development of the blockchain technology and especially its implementation in the economy and society. I believe that these aspects need to be considered at all stages of development, in order to add other directors of regulatory decisions and directions for technological and social development to the criteria of economic efficiency. Blockchain technology is a tool for creating secure, decentralized, peer-to-peer applications. However, this technology is not only that, but in its greatest potential version, it can have far greater effects on the economy and society, which in magnitude and impact can be similar to the consequences that the internet has brought to the society. In its foundations, this technology is used to create autonomous computer programs, i.e. “smart contracts”, which primarily serve to create new financial instruments, increase the efficiency of payment mechanisms, organize the exchange of data and information across transactions and facilitate human-device interactions. Not only is blockchain technology the key to greater management efficiency, it can also affect the management itself. In the most positive version, it can promote the development of a more democratic society and more democratic systems of decision-making and, consequently, society management where individuals are able to exercise much greater influence than in current democratic systems.”
The Internet Archive is a non-profit organization that maintains the Open Library, a digital library index, and is dedicated to preserving knowledge. As many of the works in the Internet Archive are under copyright, the Archive uses a system of controlled digital lending based on digital rights management to prevent unauthorized downloading or copying of copyrighted books. In March 2020, due to the circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, the Internet Archive established the National Emergency Library, eliminating the waiting lists used in the Open Library and expanding access to books for all readers. In June 2020, the Emergency National Library faced a lawsuit from four book publishers and was ultimately closed.
The 43rd session of the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (hereinafter SCCR) made substantial progress on the issues advocated by the A2K Coalition (Access to Knowledge Coalition), which IPI is a member of. This year’s session was the most productive on the issues of exceptions and limitations. James Love (Knowledge Ecology International), a long-time observer at WIPO, described the outcome and the impact of the public interest community as the strongest since the conclusion of the Marrakech Treaty, which brought global copyright exceptions for the benefit of the blind and visually impaired.
Today, March 17, 2023, a symposium on law in the information society is taking place in the golden lecture hall of the Faculty of Law in Ljubljana. Dr. Maja Bogataj Jančič will present copyright aspects of artificial intelligence at the symposium.
The third day of the 43rd session of the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights is intended for discussion on the topic of exceptions and limitations to copyright, especially in connection with the right to research.