WIPO SCCR/42: Why broadcast matters

This 9 – 13 May, I attended the 42nd meeting of the World Intellectual Property Organization’s Standing Committee on Copyright and Related rights (WIPO SCCR/42 for short). For a week, national delegates, expert panels, and observing civil society organisations (CSOs) like IFLA and rightholder groups discussed the impact of COVID-19; the WIPO African regional group’s proposal for a workplan on limitations and exceptions; broadcast rights; and other odds and ends for some 40+ hours’ worth of meetings, coffee breaks, and side discussions.

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Strengthening Relationships, Empowering Communities: Library Reflections on International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples

On 9 August, we mark the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. Through the 2021 theme: Leaving no one behind: Indigenous peoples and the call for a new social contract, the UN calls for a new approach “based on genuine participation and partnership that fosters equal opportunities and respects the rights, dignity and freedoms […]

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Hammer Time (or not): Breaking Free from the Law of the Instrument at WIPO

When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. This – the law of the instrument, or Maslov’s hammer – refers to a situation where someone’s actions are more determined by the tool that they have at hand than by consideration of what the best response might be. The consequence is likely […]

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