[WIPO Press Release] The World Intellectual Property Organization today announced its new Open Access policy to promote the widest possible public access to its publications, furthering the Organization’s commitment to the dissemination and sharing of knowledge.
As the world reference source for intellectual property-related information, WIPO houses extensive collections of publications that include studies, reports, guides, and other learning resources. The Open Access policy will facilitate access for policy-makers, researchers, practitioners and anyone else seeking to use and build upon these resources.
“WIPO’s publications are unique collections of valuable information,” said WIPO Director General Francis Gurry. “Our Open Access policy formalizes our efforts to ensure that this wealth of knowledge is ever-more readily available for use by everyone.”
To support the implementation of the Open Access Policy, WIPO will use the suite of Creative Commons Intergovernmental Organizations (IGO) licenses, which it helped develop with a group of international organizations in 2013. Creative Commons licenses are a widely used and easily understood set of copyright tools and model agreements that facilitate access to and use of creative content.
From now, new publications created and wholly owned by WIPO, as well as a selection of existing publications, will be licensed under the CC-BY 3.0 IGO license or one of the other licenses in the Creative Commons IGO suite. WIPO publications available under Creative Commons licenses will be clearly identified and searchable within the publications area of the WIPO website.
Through these widely used tools, WIPO is supporting open archive initiatives that promote the dissemination of content through interoperability standards and efficient licensing schemes.
Background for Editors:
About Creative Commons: Creative Commons is a globally-focused nonprofit organization dedicated to making it easier for people to share and build upon the work of others, consistent with the rules of copyright. Creative Commons provides free licenses and other legal tools to give everyone from individual creators to large companies and institutions a simple, standardized way to grant copyright permissions and get credit for their creative work while allowing others to copy, distribute and make specific use of it.
About WIPO
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is the global forum for intellectual property policy, services, information and cooperation. A specialized agency of the United Nations, WIPO assists its 189 member states in developing a balanced international IP legal framework to meet society’s evolving needs. It provides business services for obtaining IP rights in multiple countries and resolving disputes. It delivers capacity-building programs to help developing countries benefit from using IP. And it provides free access to unique knowledge banks of IP information.
For further information, please contact the Media Relations Section at WIPO:
- Tel: (+41 22) – 338 81 61 / 338 72 24
- Fax: (+41 22) – 338 81 40
