By Patricia Diaz on behalf of A2KLatam Alliance
A2KLatam Alliance member organizations published a position paper expressing their concerns regarding the inclusion of an initiative on the agenda of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR/WIPO) to promote payment systems for public lending rights (SCCR/40/3 REV.2).
The position paper recommends that the appropriateness of carrying out this study be reconsidered at the forthcoming 44th session of the SCCR on the basis of the following considerations:
1. Public lending is part of the right of access to and participation in cultural life and is an enabler of other human rights such as education and access to information.
2. In Latin America, one of the most unequal regions in the world, public lending has been a basic mechanism for participating in culture since the first public libraries began, long before the first copyright laws passed.
3. Public lending is a necessary incentive for the creation of new works and does not affect the livelihood of authors. Therefore, the existence of compensatory remuneration within or outside of copyright is not reasonable.
4. Policies aimed at promoting cultural production are fair and necessary. Countries need not justify the establishment of mechanisms to promote local culture on the basis of compensation for public lending.
5. PLR payment schemes to promote local culture are incompatible and go beyond international copyright standards. WIPO is not the appropriate forum to discuss them.
6. The notion of compensation for PLR does not exist in any Latin American country and its inclusion, inside or outside the copyright law, would seriously affect libraries and archives.
Finally, the position paper presents a number of alternatives for the support of authors through other instruments that do not have a direct or indirect impact on libraries. You can read the full document at the following link.
