The 45th session of the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR/45) is taking place this week at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and representatives of the IP Office, Deputy Director Liubov Maidanyk and Deputy Head of the Copyright and Related Rights Development Department Olena Ignatieva, are actively participating in it.
The international community is focused on the following issues of copyright and related rights:
- protection of the rights of broadcasting organizations and discussion of the Draft WIPO Broadcasting Organizations Treaty (document SCCR/45/3);
- exceptions and limitations for libraries and archives (document SCCR/45/6), as well as for educational, research and development institutions and persons with disabilities (SCCR/43/8);
- consideration of proposals for research in the field of copyright use in the digital environment (document SCCR/45/4);
- generative AI and copyright (SCCR/45/5).
Draft WIPO Broadcasting Organizations Treaty
The SCCR is actively working on the draft of the main provisions of the WIPO Treaty on Broadcasting Organizations. The instrument aims to improve the effectiveness of the international system of broadcasting organizations' rights protection in view of the latest trends in social and technological development, provides for the application of a signal-based approach, and should also regulate general issues regarding the purposes, scope and objects of protection.
It is assumed that a balanced international legal instrument will be adopted at a Diplomatic Conference, the decision to convene which is yet to be made within the framework of WIPO's activities. However, there is currently no consensus among member states on the main provisions of the draft text of the document.
Exceptions and limitations
Discussion of the possibility of applying exceptions and limitations for libraries and archives is of particular importance for copyright and related rights stakeholders in Ukraine to ensure the legitimacy of prompt digitization of library and archive collections that are under threat of destruction due to Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.
The Ukrainian delegation supports progress in considering the establishment of a fair and balanced copyright system that fosters creativity and promotes the public interest, including by facilitating digital access to education and research, as well as to cultural heritage. For Ukraine, the war has actualized the need to apply appropriate exceptions and limitations to improve the conditions for distance learning, as a significant number of educational institutions have been destroyed or damaged.
Generative AI and copyright
The committee will also hold an information session on the opportunities and challenges related to generative AI in the sphere of copyright. Among the most discussed issues are those related to the use of copyrighted content as training data for AI models and applications, as well as legal regulation of the protection and enforcement of rights to the results of generative AI (SCCR/45/5). The experience of such regulation in Ukraine, after the entry into force of the new version of the Law of Ukraine "On Copyright and Related Rights" on January 1, 2023, was of great interest to representatives of the SCCR member states.
INTA event
At the invitation of the International Trademark Organization (INTA), Liubov Maidanyk joined the SCCR side event on copyright as a speaker. The main activities of the Ukrainian IP Office were presented at the event. Particular attention was paid to Ukraine's experience in regulating rights to AI-generated objects and copyright registration. The representatives of the IP Office also drew attention of the participants to the further directions of IP development.
Ukraine remains on the WIPO agenda
The enormous consequences of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine continue to be in the focus of WIPO and the scope of the SCCR activities, as they have a direct impact on the cultural heritage and stakeholders of copyright and related rights in Ukraine, as emphasized by Deputy Director of the IP Office Liubov Maidanyk in her opening statement to the SCCR participants:
“On 25th March, a Russian ballistic missile attack damaged the Mykhailo Boichuk Kyiv State Academy of Decorative Applied Arts and Design. Such terrorist actions lead to the destruction of the school’s gym, painting studios, conference hall, and other art facilities. An air alarm was sounded only a few seconds before the first explosions, giving art students and teachers insufficient time to seek shelter. It is also worth noting, that this destruction occurred just one kilometer away from the Ukrainian IP office where my colleagues and I work”.
“Russian occupiers damaged or destroyed 1,938 objects of cultural infrastructure, including 689 libraries, 113 museums and galleries, 38 theaters, cinemas and philharmonics, as well as 929 objects of cultural heritage of Ukraine, the main institutions where copyright works are created and stored, which shows the direct link with the mandate of this Committee”, - noted Bogdan Paduchak, First Deputy Director of the IP Office, who took part in the meeting online.
Ukraine's statement was supported by the delegations of Moldova (CEBS), the Netherlands (Group B) and Belgium (EU), which called on Russia to stop the war of aggression against Ukraine and to respect the principles and the UN Charter, and welcomed the WIPO Secretariat in its efforts to support Ukraine, its intellectual property system, innovation and creative sectors.
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17 April 2024