BY NAANA E. K HALM WIPO CONSULTANT Copyright and related rights – S triking the balance between protection and the public interest 1

Nature of IP rights Was a system created to improve the human standard of living; Flourished during the industrial revolution; Though many believed it to be unwise to ‘monopolise’ knowledge, there was also the need to ensure the continued development of humans; Incentive was to be rewarded for creativity and innovation with the goal to advance society. 2

Nature of IP rights 3 In order to ensure that these monopolies would not hamper society’s growth and advancement, there was a need to limit these rights; After the term of protection came to an end, the knowledge would then fall back into the public domain, allowing society to then take that knowledge and improve on it; Created a cycle of knowledge

What is copyright? 4 To provide for the protection of copyright and performers’ rights, and to provide for matters incidental thereto; A copyright is described as any original work existing in the following:  Literary works;  Musical works;  Artistic works;  Broadcasts;  Etc…

Limitations to protection 5 IP rights grant the owner the right to either exploit it or prevent another from using/exploiting it for commercial gain, without prior consent; If the right is used or exploited without the consent of the author/owner, this amounts to infringement; However, limitations exist in the fair dealing/fair use of, e.g.:  Private use;  Study or research;  Criticism or review of the work;  Reporting, etc The author’s name MUST be mentioned.

What is the public interest? 6 Mainly, the once-held protected rights, must fall back into the public domain at some point; Many believe that there ought to be a permanent ban on extensions of copyright and patent protections periods; Improve access to the knowledge through open source software, for example, and reduce costs of copyrighted works, especially for educational purposes; But thin line between incentivising the authors and ensuring that the public interest is not damaged

How do we strike the balance? 7 Call for government procurement and education policies to place Free/Libre/Open Source Software on an equal competitive footing with proprietary software; Support private initiatives to increase access through licenses or terms of use that enable widespread public use or through alternative publication and distribution models; Support the values of interoperability and long-term preservation by requiring use of open standards for information produced by or for public entities; Support the use of open educational resources through government procurement policies for textbooks and other educational materials, and through incentives to generate open resources at all levels of education.

How do we strike the balance? 8 Promote limitations and exceptions that enable libraries, museums, archives and other “institutions of memory” to fulfil their public interest missions, while assuring that cultural and educational institutions take advantage of existing flexibilities; Enable teaching and learning at all levels, including through measures that assure fair access to and use of educational materials from early literacy acquisition in the family setting through institutions of primary, secondary and higher education; Insist on policies that grant the public free and unrestricted access to all government funded endeavours, such as output of publicly funded research, government-collected data, cultural works supported by public funds and publicly funded collections and archives.