Singapore Copyright Champion, S. Tiwari, dies
The world of Copyright and Intellectual Property has lost a stalwart ally with the sudden death from a brain haemorrhage of Sivakant Tiwari on 26 July.
S. Tiwari was Singapore's top government lawyer for over three decades serving under all three of Singapore's prime-ministers and heading the Singapore Copyright Office for many years. He acted as the APEC/IPEG convener from 2005-2007 and was responsible for the introduction of IFRRO to APEC/IPEG. He was also an IFRRO guest at the IFRRO AGM in Auckland (New Zealand) in 2006 and a speaker at the IFRRO-CLL Auckland conference in October 2006.
On behalf of his many friends in the rightholder community, IFRRO extends its condolences to Mr Tiwari's family.
UNESCO City of Literature- a proud day for Dublin!
On 26 July Dublin was designated a UNESCO City of Literature, one of only four in the world. Formal notification was received by a delighted Lord Mayor of Dublin, Gerry Breen, who said that the award confirmed that "this is a city that has always produced - and continues to produce - great writers."
The sought after accolade was bestowed by the Director General of UNESCO and recognises Dublin's cultural profile and its international standing as a city of literary excellence. It joins Edinburgh (2004), Melbourne (2008) and Iowa City (2008) in meeting the demanding criteria established by UNESCO, including the quality and quantity of editorial initiatives, publishing houses, and educational programmes focusing on domestic or foreign literature in primary and secondary schools as well as universities.
Detailed application was made to UNESCO last November by a steering and management group led by Dublin City Council's library service and was subject to a rigorous vetting procedure. Partners in the submission included representatives from literary-related organisations as well as culture, arts, tourism, government, media and educational institutions across the city and country.
The designation as City of Literature, part of the UNESCO Creative Cities network, provides a unique platform for Dublin's literary community and enables the city to increase its market share as a destination for business and pleasure - and Ireland as a creative, exciting, and vibrant nation. Dublin, UNESCO City of Literature has enormous potential for beneficial cultural and economic impacts not alone in the capital city, but in communities across the country.
WIPO discussion on Traditional Cultural Expressions (TCE)
Principles for the collective protection of traditional cultural expressions were discussed at the first intersessional Working Group of the WIPO Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic resources, traditional knowledge and folklore(IGC). The committee met from 19 to 23 July 2010 and discussed a draft text that should lead to the presentation of some principles to the General Assembly of WIPO in 2011.
IFRRO attended this meeting which showed WIPO's will to go forward with a legal instrument even if its character is not yet defined. The discussions also showed that the understanding of the scope of protection or beneficiaries can vary greatly.
The next meeting of the IGC will take place from 6 to 10 December 2010.
Renewed appeal to European Parliament to support the Gallo report
The 33 organisations representing copyright holders including IFRRO, which successfully petitioned the Legal Committee of the European Parliament to vote in favour of the Gallo report, have now written to all MEPs to urge them to support the report, in the vote scheduled for 8 July 2010.
The letter stresses that the creative industries are not only drivers of technology development but lie at the heart of the digital economy.
Difficult discussions in WIPO on copyright access for the reading impaired
IFRRO supports joint EU US proposal for enabling access for reading impaired persons, in an inconclusive discussion of the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR).
The SCCR meeting from June 21-24, 2010 considered four proposals aimed at creating an enabling legal environment for better access to copyright-protected works for reading impaired persons – one from Brazil, Ecuador and Paraguay and three others from the African Group, the US and the European Union. Despite lengthy negotiations, it was not possible for delegates to agree on wording for final conclusions.
IFRRO's position, in a statement to the meeting from CEO Olav Stokkmo, supported an instrument of the character of enabling legal environment as proposed by the EU, i.e. a joint recommendation, with content along the lines with what has been proposed by the EU and the US.
Indonesian RRO signs university license
The Indonesia Reproduction Rights Foundation (YRCI) and Universitas Multimedia Nusantara (UMN) signed their first License Agreement as part of the effort to legalize large scale photocopying and reducing book piracy in Indonesia.
UMN is an emerging University specialising in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and has promoted the concepts of intellectual property rights by means of a Seminar organised with the particaption of YRCI and the Directorate General of Intellectual Property Rights a to educate students about the basic knowledge in how copyright can contribute to the economic growth of a country. Indonesia with its population of more than 240 million people counts among the countries with the highest piracy rates in the world.
YRCI works to support creativity by encouraging the creation a compliant culture in which the rights of the authors are respected.
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