WIPO goes to the regions: #Copyright4Libraries in Asia-Pacific, Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean

2019 will be a key year to show what libraries around the world need from copyright laws. A series of regional seminars organised by the World Intellectual Property Organisation will bring together senior officials, and IFLA will be there. 

IFLA works to promote copyright laws which allow libraries worldwide to achieve their public interest missions. In parallel with efforts to improve copyright laws at the national level around the world, IFLA is also calling for change globally at the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).

Strong engagement at WIPO over the past years has led to an action plan on exceptions and limitations to copyright for libraries, archives, museums and research and educational institutions. At the heart of this is a set of regional seminars.

The WIPO regional seminars

WIPO will go to three regions: Asia-Pacific, Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean.

Each of the seminars will look into the current landscape of exceptions and limitations to copyright for libraries within the region. It is a key opportunity to explore the changes that may be necessary to enable libraries to serve their users best in the modern age, in particular through cross-border collaboration.

After the three regional seminars take place, there will be an international conference on exceptions and limitations to copyright for libraries, archives, museums, educational and research institutions. This will take place in October 2019 in Geneva. Drawing on the conclusions of the regional seminars, delegates will consider solutions to the needs identified.

These meetings will be a unique opportunity to encourage governments to pass progressive reforms both nationally and globally. IFLA will be calling on WIPO and its Members to take action internationally to promote minimum exceptions and limitations in all countries, and to facilitate cross-border collaboration.

Learn more during our webinars

To explain and support engagement around these seminars, IFLA is offering a series of webinars focused on each of the regions. These will set the context, explain why the seminars matter, present the process, offer an overview of the copyright landscape for libraries in the region, and explain how to get involved.

• The first webinar, focused on the Asia-Pacific region, will be offered in English on 19 March 2019, at 10am CET.
• The second webinar, focused on the African region will be offered in English on 3 May 2019 at 2pm CET in English, and in French on 7 May 2019 at 10am CET.
• The third webinar, focused on Latin America and the Caribbean, will take place in Spanish on 4 June 2019 at 5pm CET, and in English on 5 June 2019 at 5pm CET.

Recordings will be made available afterwards.

For any questions, please reach out to ariadna.matas@ifla.org.