“Librarians, Archivists: Why An International Solution Is Needed For Copyright Exceptions”

Intellectual Property Watch provides a review of what happened at last week’s WIPO SCCR/27 meeting in Vienna, Austria.
From the Article

Two days of the 27th session of the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR), held from 28 April to 2 May, were devoted to exceptions and limitations to copyright for libraries and archives. The committee discussed a number of topics contained in a working document [pdf] (IPW, WIPO, 5 May 2014).
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The Electronic Information for Libraries (EIFL), said it partners with libraries and library consortia in more than 60 developing and transition economy countries. “The collections of libraries and archives in one country often contain materials of unique cultural and historical significance to people in other countries due to national border changes, mass emigration, shared common languages, research interests…,” the representative said.
“In many countries,” said the EIFL representative, “copyright exceptions stop at the border. They don’t permit libraries to legally provide copies of documents to overseas libraries at the request of an end user.”
“We need an international solution to an international problem,” she said.
The Association of European Research Libraries (LIBER) explained that the cross border nature of many of the activities of libraries are manifold, such as licensing, the use of orphan works and out of commerce works, document supply, and the purchasing of analogue information across borders.

Read the Complete Article (1640 words)

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See Also: From LIBER (Association of European Research Libraries): “EU Causes Collapse of WIPO Meeting”
See Also: From IFLA: EU rejects international solution to library and archive copyright problems; causes collapse of WIPO meeting

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