STATEMENT BY IP JUSTICE

REGARDING CHILE’S PROPOSAL TO EXAMINE LIMITATIONS AND EXCEPTIONS TO COPYRIGHTED WORKS

at the 13th Session of the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyrights and Related Rights

22 November 2005

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.  I represent IP Justice, an international civil liberties organization that promotes balanced intellectual property law.  Based in San Francisco, IP Justice also maintains representatives in Switzerland and Italy.

IP Justice welcomes Chile’s proposal to explore a minimum standard of mandatory limitations and exceptions to the rights granted to copyright owners.  Such a measure would help to ensure that the rights and privileges granted to users under copyright law are not undermined by the expanding rights granted to publishers.  IP Justice would like to support and draw specific attention to the statements made by the international library associations last evening and of the Electronic Frontier Foundation this morning.

Mr. Chairman, Chile’s proposal is in line with the WIPO General Assembly’s mandate to pursue a “Development Agenda” -- because it will aid in facilitating access to knowledge, particularly in developing countries that do not currently enjoy the broad range of exceptions and limitations that many developed countries, such as the United States permit.   Indeed it is because the US has historically enjoyed a wide array of limitations and exceptions that it has become a technological and educational leader by ensuring the free flow of information and technological development. 

Because publishers have been granted new rights under copyright law in recent years, it becomes imperative that the limitations and exceptions also be updated.  Copyright is designed to maintain a balance of rights between creators and consumers, but this delicate balance is upset by granting new rights to publishers without also updating the limitations and exceptions to those rights.

Such an updating of user-rights is particularly relevant in a digital environment because information on the Internet is subject to a wide range of legal rules providing inconsistent and confusing standards. 

Furthermore, publishers increasingly place technological restrictions on copyrighted works that prevent users from exercising their lawful rights to use digital media.  The only way to ensure that the public will be able to continue to engage in fair use, as well as protect their privacy and security, is to permit consumers to bypass those restrictions for legitimate purposes.  Consumers must have legal mechanisms, such as universally recognized limitations and exceptions that permit circumvention of technological restrictions for lawful uses in order to prevent against rightsholder abuse in a digital environment.

Limitations on publishers’ rights in order to permit legitimate reverse-engineering of technology are also important to protect users’ rights in an information society.  Reverse-engineering is necessary for scientific study, to permit interoperability between technologies, to ensure competition, and to enable consumers to exercise their lawful rights to use digital media.

Limitations on rights that allow space-shifting (or format-shifting) of media are also necessary to ensure that consumers are able to use and access information in whatever technology format they use.  Many people in developing countries do not have access to the latest technological formats, so must format-shift their digital media collections in order for them to be useable.

Importantly, these limitations and exceptions must be viewed a mandatory minimum standard, not a ceiling on users’ rights.  Member States must remain free to enact additional limitations and exceptions that suit the particular needs of their people and the stage of development for their economies. 

IP Justice stands ready and willing to discuss these limitations and exceptions, as well as any others, with Member States as they further explore Chile’s important proposal.  Thank you, Mr. Chairman.