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After years of promise, today saw the launch of proposals for copyright reform in Europe. Despite much talk of the need for modernisation of the rules to reflect the new possibilities and expectations created by digital technologies, what has been published will make only limited progress towards this goal.
With proposals on European Union copyright reform imminent, IFLA continues to push for ambitious reforms that boost learning, innovation and creativity. It has recently co-signed a letter to seven EU Commissioners, underlining our goals in the process.
The signing of the Treaty of Marrakesh in 2013 was a first step towards providing access to knowledge for some of the most vulnerable in society. It offers a response to the book famine that people with print disabilities have long faced. However, IFLA is concerned that when ratifying the Treaty, some countries risk introducing new barriers to access. This is completely contrary to the spirit of Marrakesh.
In 2015, librarians from across Latin America met in Buenos Aires, Argentina. They came to share experiences and reflections, hopes and ambitions about the future of libraries and how they could best serve their users. A new report, in Spanish, now shares their contributions. IFLA encourages you to read, reflect and share your own views on how libraries can be drivers of change.
Libraries Welcome Marrakesh Treaty’s Entry into Force
Net Neutrality is the term used to describe the principle by which all traffic over internet connections – films, music, documents – is treated in a non-discriminatory way. When it is compromised, users' choices are influenced or restricted. Come along to the joint FAIFE-CLM session on Monday 15 August at 1:45pm in Hall E at WLIC2016 to hear more about these issues, how they affect libraries, and IFLA's upcoming statement on the subject.
Copyright matters for libraries. It is copyright, or rather exceptions and limitations to the monopoly power it offers rights-holders, that allow libraries to do their jobs. Hear the latest on copyright reforms around the world at the CLM open session at WLIC 2016, at 1:45pm on Sunday 14 August.
The need to combat the ‘book famine’ for the blind, visually impaired, and other people with print disabilities was at the heart of the drive to pass the Treaty of Marrakesh. With the lack of accessible resources particularly acute in Africa, the potential for life-changing reforms there is high. Progress towards implementation of the Treaty is welcome, but libraries must be vigilant to ensure that the opportunity to maximise access is not missed.
IFLA, alongside other civil society organisations from across the libraries, archives, and museums sector and beyond, engages closely in discussions at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Our goal is to promote a culture- and creativity-friendly copyright system worldwide. We congratulate Sylvie Forbin on her nomination as Deputy Director General of the Copyright and Creative Industries Sector, and look forward to working with her toward this goal.
When countries around the world came together to discuss how to give visually impaired people easier access to books, libraries were at the heart of the drive for an ambitious, legally binding solution. These efforts paid off, with the Treaty of Marrakesh signed in 2013. Now it is time for implementation - a recent meeting in Panama offered a chance to advance down this path, with libraries having a strategic role.
Canadian access to the Marrakesh Treaty starts the clock ticking towards its entry into force, opening up access to works of science and creativity for some of the most vulnerable people in the world. This is a major success, following years of effort by IFLA at WIPO and around the world.
With eBooks becoming an ever more normal way of reading, it is high time that the law caught up with reality. IFLA therefore welcomes the Opinion of the Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the European Union on eLending.
Libraries have long been key to education, research and culture policies, in Europe and around the world. To continue to deliver the public interest mission given them, they need laws that reflect the times. A paper signed by IFLA and European library and cultural heritage institutions sets out how to do this.
Libraries today urged all players to work together and apply their efforts to build an open science system.
Digital technologies offer rich opportunities to collect, preserve and make the world’s knowledge available. But to make the most of these collections, libraries and archives need the right laws. At a meeting of world copyright experts and law makers, librarians and archivists underlined the challenges they face from anachronistic laws, often the fruit of lobbying by established interests.
Libraries and archives made a strong showing in the 32nd session of the World Intellectual Property Organisation’s (WIPO) Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR), which met earlier this month in Geneva. On the agenda were the legal exceptions and limitations to copyright that allow libraries and archives to do their jobs, and how to make sure these work globally.
IFLA has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Latin American Blind Union (ULAC). Both organisations believe that we need to ensure the Marrakesh Treaty enters into force, and implement its principles on the ground. This agreement will allow us to make important progress towards ensuring equitable and sustainable access to information for visually impaired people.
IFLA will be represented at the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) next week. Talk of copyright is normally consigned to the small-print. But in 2016, it seems to be just as regularly in the headlines.
On World IP Day, we show how libraries support creators and creativity.
IFLA has co-signed an open letter calling on the EU Commission to ensure that upcoming copyright reforms promote access to information and freedom of expression across Europe.