The member governments of the World Intellectual Property Organization on Friday formally adopted a new Development Agenda, launching an enhanced development orientation across all of its activities, with details on implementation to be determined later....
The assembly approved the creation of a new Committee on Development and Intellectual Property, which will meet twice in the next year for five days each. The main task will be implementation of 45 consensus proposals for change at WIPO, 19 (which have little financial or human resource cost) of them immediately....
[W]ith a “whole series of issues” arising with new technologies, new concepts have arisen such as access to knowledge or alternative licensing methods. “The idea is to change a little bit the direction the organisation is going in order to face new challenges,” said [Guilherme Patriota, first secretary at the Brazilian mission]. “This is the beginning for many of these issues.” ...
The idea for a Development Agenda was introduced into WIPO by Argentina and Brazil at the General Assembly in 2004, and 13 other Friends of Development later joined with them to push it through three years of negotiations....
The Friends of Development are: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Iran, Kenya, Peru, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Uruguay and Venezuela.
A variety of nongovernmental organisations played key roles in the Development Agenda process. Some of the groups included Knowledge Ecology International, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Center for International Environmental Law, IP Justice, Third World Network, International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions and the Library Copyright Alliance, and the Centre for Technology and Society at Fundacao Getulio Vargas Law School in Rio de Janeiro.
The 45 consensus proposals for reform are spelled out in a WIPO report from September 17. Excerpt:
...CLUSTER B: Norm-setting, flexibilities, public policy and public domain....
Consider the preservation of the public domain within WIPO’s normative processes and deepen the analysis of the implications and benefits of a rich and accessible public domain....
To initiate discussions on how, within WIPO’s mandate, to further facilitate access to knowledge and technology for developing countries and LDCs to foster creativity and innovation and to strengthen such existing activities within WIPO.
To promote norm-setting activities related to IP that support a robust public domain in WIPO’s Member States, including the possibility of preparing guidelines which could assist interested Member States in identifying subject matters that have fallen into the public domain within their respective jurisdictions....
CLUSTER C: Technology Transfer, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and Access to Knowledge....
To encourage Member States, especially developed countries, to urge their research and scientific institutions to enhance cooperation and exchange with research and development institutions in developing countries, especially LDCs....
To undertake initiatives agreed by Member States, which contribute to transfer of technology to developing countries, such as requesting WIPO to facilitate better access to publicly available patent information....
Comments.
This is important. WIPO controls the direction of copyright and patent law worldwide, and the development agenda converts the WIPO mission from knee-jerk maximalism to something much closer to balance. For background, see my previous posts on the WIPO development agenda, its connection to OA issues, and the earlier stages of the process that led to this week's stunning success.
The development agenda includes a number of Access to Knowledge (A2K) proposals, including a draft A2K Treaty (May 9, 2005), which includes a provision (Article 5-2) mandating OA for publicly-funded research. (Disclaimer: I took part in the drafting of the OA provision of this treaty.)
The 15 nations in the Friends of Development coalition, and the many associated NGOs, deserve all our thanks for tireless diplomacy in a system of Byzantine complexity.
Posted by
Peter Suber at 9/29/2007 03:52:00 PM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
