Stay up to date with our latest developments, initiatives, and new resources!
IFLA participated in the Assemblies of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), held on 4-8 October 2021. With COVID rules preventing in-person attendance by non-governmental organisations, IFLA engaged remotely, alongside partners from across the culture, education and research sectors.
Stichting IFLA Foundation is delighted to receive a €3m Arcadia grant to launch the new Knowledge Rights 21 (KR21) programme to promote access to knowledge for study, research and cultural life in Europe.
IFLA has submitted comments on the South Africa Copyright Amendment Bill. In these, we have highlighted the importance of a balanced copyright framework which includes flexibilities in regard to exceptions and limitations to copyright to allow libraries, archives, museums, education and research institutions to fulfil their missions in the digital age.
From 28 June to 1 July, IFLA participated in the 41st session of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR41) at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
The 41st session of the World Intellectual Property Organisation’s Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR41) will take place from 28th July to 1st June. This meeting has an agenda that encompasses rights for broadcasters, exceptions and limitations for libraries, archives, museums, educational and research institutions, and a range of other items.
The past year has underlined how essential it is for libraries to be able to offer access to content digitally. With major expansion in demand from users, there have been both welcome moves from publishers to facilitate access, but also increasingly clear evidence of underlying challenges in the eBook market. We interviewed Sari Feldman and Alan Inouye, ALA, to get an update.
IFLA has joined with partners in signing a call for World Trade Organisation Members to make it clear that where intellectual property rights make it more difficult to tackle COVID-19 and its consequences, governments should be able to take steps to enable use of protected works.
IFLA has lent its support to efforts to ensure that least developed countries continue to enjoy greater flexibilities and lower administrative requirements in implementing trade deals. Retaining these possibilities will support investment, and more favourable laws, for education and research, and the libraries that support them.
Library Futures is a newly created organisation in the United States, focused on the questions facing libraries in the digital world, with a view both to supporting learning and capacity building on the ground, and advocating for policy change. We interviewed Jennie Rose Halperin, Executive Director of Library Futures, to find out more.
2021 has begun and IFLA is already on the way to being a busy year. While all libraries are facing information access problems because of COVID-19, we are committed to continuing efforts to build better opportunities for users through improved legal frameworks for copyright. Find out what our plans and expectations are for 2021.
IFLA has published a new statement on the role of library and information services in improving the way societies are governed, both through optimal decision-making within government, and effective scrutiny and engagement by parliaments and wider populations.
The COVID-19 pandemic has underlined the importance for libraries to be able to provide services to users through digital channels, and the serious challenges faced in doing so. We interviewed the Library Association of Ireland to find out more about the situation there, and what they are doing about it.
On 16-20 November 2020, the World Intellectual Property Organization hosted the 40th meeting of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR). The objective of this meeting – the first in over a year – was to take stock of work so far, and explore steps forwards on the Committee’s agenda, including its work on exceptions and limitations to copyright for libraries, archives and museums.
IFLA has released its checklist for legal deposit laws, aiming to help those analysing existing laws or planning new ones. It is intended to ensure that key issues or questions are not forgotten, but rather included in reflections on this key area of legislation for libraries and their users.
On 16-20 November 2020, the fortieth session of the Committee on Copyright and Related Rights of the World Intellectual Property Organization will begin. The sessions will take place every day from 12:00 pm to 2:30 pm (CET). An important meeting in a pandemic context In the context of a global pandemic, WIPO has needed to be flexible, and so is organizing, in agreement with its members, an online meeting to continue discussions on the agenda developed previously at the last meeting in October 2019.
The International Science Council (ISC) is working together with science funders to bring together insights and ideas from the scientific community to support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN's 2030 Agenda.
In 2012, the European Union agreed a Directive on Orphan Works (OWD) (e.g. works for which institutions have not identify or located the rightsholder, preventing them from asking for an agreement to use works), to improve legal certainty across the EU in digitising and disseminating these materials.
From 21 to 25 September 2020 the General Assembly of WIPO- the World Intellectual Property Organization – took place in hybrid mode in Geneva and online. IFLA worked alongside partners to represent and promote libraries and their interests on intellectual property issues.