International Call to Copyright Rules Waiver for COVID-19
On Monday, 22 March 2021, more than 250 stakeholders held an online press conference where they first published a joint call for waiver of certain copyright barriers for prevention, containment and treatment of COVID-19 virus.
On 22 March at 14:00, more than 100 research and educational institutions, and more than 150 international academics and other experts first released a public statement, calling upon the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to temporarily suspend some of its copyright rules, which would help the prevention, containment and treatment of the COVID-19 virus. The statement signatories include also some of the world’s biggest library and education federations, representing over 1500 institutions and 30 million educators globally.
The statement in full is available here.
IPI and Communia are both signatories of the statement and support it fully.
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.