The day kicked off with the first side event, organised by IFRRO, looking at Licensing Solutions in the Text and Image Sector Around the World. A full line up covered Africa, Asia and Latin America with perspectives from an author, publisher and visual artist alongside CMOs. The speakers all underlined the value of licensing, direct or collective, in ensuring remuneration flows to creators, that their rights are enforced. This was presented as being vital in ensuring indigenous cultural creation is not only viable but sustainable. The session dismissed the idea that access and remuneration were somehow opposed and instead showed that remunerated local creators ensured the availability of locally adapted educational resources.

The plenary session did start again in the afternoon with the Chair delivering a quick summary of the informal discussions on the Broadcasting Treaty so far, which he qualified as ‘fruitful’. Articles 7, 8 and 11 have been identified as the main topics where focused discussions will have to take place during the next meeting ‘in order to accelerate the discussions’.

This closed the Broadcasting Treaty discussions, and the meeting moved on to Exceptions and Limitations. The Chair kept Member States and observers to tight time limits, cutting off any speakers who held the microphone too long.

The Africa Group re-iterated its wish to see Exceptions and Limitations and Broadcasting treated in tandem. The other Groups expressed consistent positions categorizing the current international legal framework as either sufficient or insufficient.

After a short coffee break, the growing group of observers delivered their positions covering everything from pleas for urgent progress to surprise that this item is on the agenda at all. IPA President, Gvantsa Jobava delivered the following intervention:

Thank you Chair,

Our Congratulations to you on your appointment as Chair of the SCCR as well as to your two Vice Chairs for their respective appointments. We look forward to working with you. 

The International Publishers Associations notes the ongoing discussions around agenda items 5 and 6  on Limitations and Exceptions. Of our 106 members from around the world, we have a large number in Africa and Latin America and we invite Member States to our Side Event on Wednesday afternoon from 18:00 in Room B where representatives from our members will make important interventions.

We will share specific comments on the Access toolkit later.

Let me close by re-affirming our belief that the current international legal framework is sufficient to allow Member States to achieve their objectives and support libraries, archives, educational and research institutions as well as persons with other disabilities.

The IPA is here to contribute constructively to the discussions. 

Thank you. 

The day closed a few minutes ahead of schedule before a side event organised by IFPI, with a spotlight on Latin music. More details on that tomorrow.