Document presented by the Group of Latin American and Caribbean Countries (GRULAC) to the 31 Session of WIPO’s Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights
Introduction: GRULAC presents a proposal of discussion on questions regarding the update of copyrights related to ongoing uses of protected intellectual goods in the digital environment in the works of the Standing Committee of Copyright and Related Rights of the World Intellectual Property Organization (SCCR/WIPO).
Different actors have raised the need for a debate involving the digital environment, from the creators and performers themselves to government representatives. It is no coincidence that WIPO Director General Francis Gurry affirmed that it is time to “stand up, for music” in order to “ensure that our musicians get a fair deal, and that we value their creativity and their unique contribution to our lives”. The message was delivered in the context of World Intellectual Property Day (IP Day), when the main subject was exactly “Get up, Stand up, For Music”. According to Gurry, we cannot “lose sight” of the role of creators and performers in the new digital economy.
Taking into account these concerns, the objective of this proposal is the pursuit of common solutions for the benefit of society and rights holders, in the face of challenges arising from new rights encompassing intellectual goods protected by copyrights in the digital environment.
GRULAC offers three areas of work to be discussed in the SCCR/WIPO:
- Analysis and discussion of legal frameworks used to protect works in digital services;
- Analysis and discussion of the role of companies and corporations that make use of protected works in the digital environment and their way of action, including the verification of the level of transparency on business and the proportions of copyright and related rights payment to the multiple rights holders.
- Building consensus on the management of copyright in the digital environment, in order to deal with the problems associated to this matter, from the low payment of authors and artists to the limitations and exceptions to copyrights in the digital environment.
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