Global Civil Society Coalition launches website to promote Access to Knowledge

CIS is a part of a global civil society coalition that is working to promote access to, and use of, knowledge – the Access to Knowledge or A2K coalition.

Earlier this week, the coalition launched a website articulating its mission and recommendations to reform copyright systems for the benefit of education, research, and cultural heritage. Copyright systems pose serious obstacles to quality teaching and learning, researchers’ ability to receive and impart information and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits, and preservation and access of cultural and scientific heritage. The website presents evidence and legal solutions, with a focus on the digital and online dimension to the issues. Three global maps also show the (limited) extent to which copyright limitations and exceptions across the world support online education, text and data mining, and preservation, highlighting the need for global legal eform. The members of the A2K coalition represent a diverse set of voices such as educators, researchers, students, libraries, archives, museums, other knowledge users and creative communities around the globe. In Asia-pacific, we have ourselves and Open Access India as members presently. We invite organizations who share a similar vision of a fair and balanced copyright system to join the coalition.