Upholding Cultural and Linguistic Diversity: Reflections on International Mother Language Day

International Mother Language Day (21 February) is an annual affirmation of the important role that cultural and linguistic diversity plays in building sustainable societies. Cultural and linguistic diversity are fundamentally linked to freedom of expression and access information; they are at the heart of the promotion of cultural and educational rights. If the availability of […]

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Looking Ahead on Copyright in 2022

Even as it has added new complexity to law-making, the COVID-19 pandemic has shone a new light on the way that copyright regimes work, and how well able they are to flex to match an uncertain and changing world. That they need to accommodate digital is clear, but there is still resistance to reproducing the […]

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Happy Public Domain Day: three ways of looking at why it matters

1 January of each year is Public Domain Day, the day that a new set of historical works enter the public domain, opening up wide new possibilities for access and use. The reason for this all happening on 1 January is because many copyright laws provide protection for a set number of years (at minimum […]

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From the 17th to the 21st centuries: Copyright, Creativity and Access

Who should pay for creativity and how? And who should be able to access creative works and how? This blog looks both at how copyright is portrayed as a force for democratisation, but also at how the need to guarantee access and use of copyrighted works requires an approach that doesn’t just depend on the market.

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A Right to Be Remembered: A Task for Copyright Laws

Ever since the decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union to allow people to request the removal of articles that violate their right to a private life from search results about them, the notion of a ‘Right to be Forgotten’ as entered the language. It is not uncontroversial. Supporters highlight the possibility […]

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Every Association an Advocate: Interview with Jean-Marie Reding, Luxembourg

Library associations have a key role in advocacy for our sector, able to take advantage of their role as civil society organisations to speak freely about what our profession and institutions need to succeed. It is also not only in larger countries that they can develop a capacity to do this. To find out about […]

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Copyright and Sustainable Development – Part 1: How a balanced copyright framework supports delivery of the 2030 Agenda

The United Nations 2030 Agenda and its 17 the Sustainable Development Goals set out a comprehensive policy roadmap towards a new, more sustainable model of development. It is designed to steer not only the work of the United Nations and its agencies, but also those of governments, and of all other stakeholders. In contrast to […]

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