Transcript Creative Commons & World Intellectual Property Organization Lucinda Jones WIPO iCommons Summit 2005 Harvard Law School June 26, 2005

Creative Commons &
World Intellectual Property
Organization
Lucinda Jones
WIPO
iCommons Summit 2005
Harvard Law School
June 26, 2005
WIPO - an introduction
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World Intellectual Property Organization
– specialized agency of the United Nations (one of 16)
– 182 Member States
– Secretariat “International Bureau”
– 940 staff from 95 different countries
– permanent and ad hoc committees (Standing Committee
on Copyright, Trademarks, Patents etc)
– permanent and ad hoc observers
WIPO’s mandate
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Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property
Organization (Stockholm, July 14, 1967)
– entered into force in 1970, amended 1979
– WIPO’s mission to “promote the protection of intellectual
property throughout the world through cooperation among
States” in order to encourage creativity and innovation
Agreement between the United Nations and WIPO (1974)
– WIPO’s purpose is the “promotion of creative intellectual
activity and the facilitation of the transfer of technology
related to intellectual property to the developing countries in
order to accelerate economic, social and cultural
development” (article 1)
WIPO’s main activities
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Normsetting
– treaty-making processes
Providing international IP services to private sector
– registration services for patents, trademarks and designs
– dispute resolution (WIPO Arbitration & Mediation
Center)
Enhancing access to the IP system
– assists developing country members, as well as small and
medium-sized enterprises to use IP as a tool for economic
development
– distance learning programs (WIPO Worldwide Academy)
– seminars, conferences, studies and documents
WIPO’s work on copyright developments
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Study on Limitations and Exceptions to Copyright and Related
Rights in the Digital Environment
Study on Current Developments in the Field of Digital Rights
Management
Guide on Surveying the Economic Contribution of the
Copyright-Based Industries
Guide to the Copyright and Related Rights Treaties
Administered by WIPO and Glossary of Copyright and Related
Rights Terms
Survey on Implementation of the WCT and WPPT
Task Force Group on Model Law for Copyright
Studies on the Economic Impact of Database Protection in
Developing Countries and Countries in Transition
International IP policy-making
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Traditional treaty-making
– WIPO administers 23 international treaties
– 10-15 years to develop (fast-tracked 6 years)
Example - international copyright agreements:
– Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and
Artistic Works (1967/1971)
– Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers,
Producers of Phonograms & Broadcasting Organizations
(1961)
– TRIPS Agreement (1994) - WTO
– WIPO “Internet Treaties” - Copyright Treaty and
Performances and Phonograms Treaty (1996)
Balance in the IP system
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WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) 1996
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negotiators recognized “the need to maintain a balance
between the rights of authors and the larger public interest,
particularly education, research and access to information
as reflected in the Berne Convention” and also:
• the need to “provide adequate solutions to the questions raised by
the new economic, social, cultural and technological
developments”
• “the profound impact of the development and convergence of
information and communication technologies on the creation and
use of literary and artistic works”
• “the outstanding significance of copyright protection as an
incentive for literary and artistic creation.”
Changes in IP policy-making
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Information Society requires new speed and flexibility of
policy-making
– flexible ‘soft law’ approaches
joint recommendations (e.g., use of trademarks online)
 Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP)
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– new ways to reach out to global public (relations with civil
society and NGOs, online delivery of information,
interactive online fora, distance learning)
– still need to maintain traditional methods (regional
meetings, mailed documents) to reach all countries
– speed of technological change risks excluding some
countries from meaningful participation
– more cross-sectoral communication and collaboration
among international and national organizations
Changes in international
IP policy-making...
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New stakeholders
– greater public involvement in IP (as creators,
distributors and consumers)
– greater value and investment in IP as intellectual capital
in the knowledge society
Participation at WIPO
– only States can be Members per WIPO Convention
– traditionally open to non-State observers
– permanent observer status currently held by 172
international NGOs, 65 IGOs and 10 national NGOs
Admission as a WIPO observer
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For International Non-governmental Organizations
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must provide (i) text of its constituent instrument (articles of incorporation,
bylaws, etc.); (ii) indication of the date and place where established; (iii)
list of officers (showing nationality); (iv) list of national groups or members
(showing country of origin); (v) description of composition of members of
its governing bodies (including geographical distribution); (vi) statement of
objectives; (vii) indication of fields of intellectual property (e.g., copyright
and related rights) of interest to it.
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Principles observed for extending invitations to NGOs include:
– essentially concerned with IP matters and able to offer constructive
substantive contributions to deliberations
– aims and purposes conform with spirit, purposes and principles of
WIPO and UN
– authority to speak for its members through authorized representatives
– upon consultation between Member States and Secretariat
Creative Commons & WIPO
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WIPO’s Digital Agenda (1999), includes:
– Promote adjustment of the institutional framework for
facilitating the exploitation of IP in the public interest in
a global economy and on a global medium..
– Study and, where appropriate, respond in a timely and
effective manner to the need for practical meausres
designed to improve the management of cultural and
other digital assets at the international level by, for
example, investigating the desirability and efficacy of:
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model procedures and forms for global licensing of digital
assets …
Creative Commons & WIPO
 Future
cooperation...
– Training activities, raising awareness of
licensing possibilities?
– Gather information, case studies, articles?
– Follow legal development of CC licenses?
?
Thank you
www.wipo.int
www.wipo.int/copyright/en
[email protected]