35th SCCR: CIS Statement on Limitations and Exceptions for Libraries and Archives

The Centre for Internet and Society, in agreement amongothers, believes that an international binding instrument to govern exceptionsand limitations for libraries and archives is critical.

In several countries, their set of limitations and exceptionsdo not serve all intended beneficiaries in a comparably equal manner. Forexample, for the work of archives in India, there is very little that allowssuch institutions to do in terms of making copies for preservation andnoncommercial dissemination. India, like many other countries here has a richcultural heritage – and doing any activities with old audiovisual materialinvolves identifying rightholders and clearing rights connected to orphan works and traditionalcultural expressions as well. Imagine the onerous task of an archive ofclearing all these rights in connection with appropriate agencies, and ofcourse clearing additional permissions from authors and performers. In our research, we discovered that most archives in India miserably fail on this front, causing valuable materialbeing locked in storage rooms for decades.

Needless to say, accessibility to this national wealth of knowledgein archives also supports the mission of libraries, museums and educationalinstitutions and researchers.

So Mr. Chair, we strongly believe that an update to theinternational copyright system via a binding instrument would serve manycountries well. It would empower all countries to fill in such deficiencies inrelation to libraries, archives, educational and research institutions, museumsand persons with disabilities.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.