A joint statement issued on 16 July by the Publishers Association of New Zealand and the New Zealand Society of Authors expressed both organisations’ shock at the announcement that the National Library of New Zealand would hand over hundreds of thousands of books from its collection to the notorious pirate site, the Internet Archive (IA).
The 41st session of the World Intellectual Property Organisation’s (WIPO) Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) took place in hybrid format from 28 June to 1 July. Member States agreed not to embark on any law-making (normative) discussions while face-to-face meetings remain impractical, but that hasn’t stopped some from trying to use the pandemic as a pretext for more and broader exceptions and limitations to copyright, especially in the field of education publishing.
On July 6th, the Nigerian government announced that it had presented a new bill, The Copyright (Repeal) Bill, to the country’s National Assembly for approval. The proposed legislation, which represents the first significant reform of Nigeria’s copyright system in decades, is intended to strengthen authorities’ capacity to respond to the copyright challenges the country is facing.
On 7 June, IPA held a webinar under the theme “Protecting the book market: strategies, challenges & best practices on copyright enforcement”. A panel of expert publishers and law enforcement officers shared their experience about the challenges brought by online piracy and the importance of appropriate legal frameworks to support copyright owners and authorities in tackling infringement, an essential activity to maintain a sustainable and vibrant book market.
IPA Secretary General, José Borghino, spoke recently on a panel called ‘Creating a Living: Exceptions & Limitations to Copyright Balanced by Licensing’, which was organised by the International Authors Forum (IAF). He explained that publishers work closely with authors to leverage and exploit the exclusive rights they have in their written works. These rights were first compiled through the Berne Copyright Convention of 1886, which also included some exceptions and limitations to those rights. If those exceptions and limitations expand and multiply without preserving or nurturing the exclusive rights at the core of the system, then major imbalances arise.
On May 25, the Kenya Copyright Board in conjunction with partners, Kenya Publishers Association (KPA), International Publishers Association (IPA) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) held a well-attended webinar under the theme “The Publisher and Copyright”.
On 11 May, the Nigerian Copyright Council in collaboration with Nigerian Customs Service and Nigeria Police seized two containers arriving at Tincan Port, Lagos, filled with 80,822 copies of pirated books with a market value of over N80 Million (159 000€, 198,000 USD).
On 14 May the French Publishers Association (SNE) welcomed the judgement of the 15th Chamber of Appeal of the Nanterre Judicial Court, in their case against the now closed website Team Alexandriz. The Court convicted 9 of the 12 defendants for infringement, retaining the aggravating circumstance of being an organized group.
