The WIPO’s Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) was for the second time this year held up by disagreements between developed and developing countries. IP-Watch reports that the primary disagreements arose on what recommendations were to be made to the general assembly in September on the protection to be granted to broadcasting organisations or on the establishment of an international regime of exceptions and limitations for libraries and education. The developed nations seemed to want to focus on the development of protection for broadcasting organisations whereas the developing nations wanted to focus their attention on the scheme of exceptions for libraries and education. The developing countries lead by Brazil, India, Ecuador, Uruguay and the African Group were looking forward to introducing a document aggregating the various proposals for an international instrument regarding the exceptions, which was opposed. The developed countries were more in favour of moulding national laws to account for these exceptions as opposed to a binding international instrument. The EU stated that they were “not willing to work towards a legally binding instrument” and that “assisting member states of WIPO with the implementation of their exceptions in the national legal framework should be the objective of discussions.” There were also serious concerns raised with regards to how the discussions were not balanced towards the various agenda items. The delegate from Brazil stressed that, “The work of the SCCR is key to mainstreaming of a more development-oriented perspective in WIPO.”
With such an important theme as the exceptions for libraries and education being on the agenda, we hope that these disagreements are resolved at the earliest.
