From 16 November to 20 November 2020, IAF remotely attended the World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) 40th session.
Due to concerns for safety amid the COVID-19 pandemic SCCR40, which would typically have been held in person with many delegates at the WIPO building in Geneva, was held in a shortened online format. This also meant that there was less discussion, decision making and opportunities to speak than in previous years.
As with previous years, the SCCR agenda continued work on the Broadcasting Treaty and two areas of Copyright Limitations and Exceptions. With the hybrid format, these agenda points were not significantly advanced from previous years, with many calls for caution on taking significant decisions in the circumstances.
IAF submitted a statement covering the subjects at SCCR. This includes supporting the ongoing work of the Artist’s Resale Right (ARR) task force at WIPO which presented significant work in understanding how the Resale Right can support authors. It also includes supporting the introduction of a proposal on Public Lending Right (PLR) from Sierra Leone, Malawi and Panama. This proposal asks for a study that could review the potential benefits of PLR to support authors in many other countries. While there is some resistance to the introduction of additional topics to the WIPO agenda, this proposal received significant support from many countries, with some delegates raising the value of supporting literary culture in every country.
We hope at the next SCCR it will be possible for further progress to be made in the areas of ARR and PLR.
Read IAF’s statement on SCCR 40 here.