CRA-ADC

Updates

in cra-briefings31 · November 15, 2005

ALTERNATIVES TO GOOGLE PRINT

As mentioned in Briefings #30, several creator groups, particularly those in the US, have expressed concern with the rights clearance being undertaken by Google Print. The projects noted below demonstrate how the needs of users can be met while the rights of creators are respected.

Project Gutenberg: www.gutenberg.org.

This digital conversion project has been going for more than 10 years. The founders chose to convert only works that are in the public domain and works whose authors have given Gutenberg permission to distribute them. On its website Project Gutenberg publicizes the stringent conditions associated with the conversion of these works and the steps taken to identify works in the public domain. To date this project has focused only on American material though there is some effort to bring the project to Canada. The website notes that its covers works in the public domain in the US, and that users living in other countries should “check the laws of the country you live in before you downloading and distributing our ebooks.”

YAHOO Conversion Project

The Yahoo conversion project is taking place in association with the University of Toronto and University of California and is being supported by the Open Content Alliance www.opencontentalliance.org. This project requires that content be in the public domain or have explicit permission from the copyright owner to scan the content that will be searchable under the project. Brewster Kahle of the Open Content Alliance has stated that “We are trying to bring public access to the public domain; we want people to be able to do great things with the classics of humankind.” For more information on the Yahoo project see www.chronicle.com.

NEW LEGISLATION FOR SPAIN

Over the summer the Spanish government introduced new legislation to implement the European Information Society Directive. Creator groups and others have expressed concern that this legislation negatively impacts the balance between the rights of creators and the needs of users by creating exceptions for certain educational users with no payment. The collective in Spain, CEDRO, is lobbying the legislators and ministers for changes to this law. For more information on the Spanish law please see: www.ifrro.org or www.cedro.org/inico.asp.

WHAT’S NEW AT UNESCO

UNESCO has now released the long awaited report on Globalization and Intangible Cultural Heritage based on meetings that were held at UN Headquarters in August 2004. The report is downloadable from www.unesdoc.org.

At its 33rd General Conference held October 3 to 21, UNESCO discussed the draft convention on the Protection of Diversity of Cultural Contents and Artistic Expressions. For the contents of the director general’s report of the draft convention please see portal.unesco.org/culture.en. On October 17th the general meeting adopted the convention by an overwhelming majority: one hundred and fifty one to two, the two being the United States and Israel. (Four countries abstained: Australia, Liberia, Honduras and Nicaragua.) Canada is being called upon to lead the implementation process of this treaty by quickly ratifying it and encouraging other countries to follow our lead. For more information on the ratification of the treaty please consult the web page of the Coalition for Cultural Diversity at www.cdc-ccd.org.

The Alliance, it should be remembered, raised serious concerns about the draft convention’s treatment of the rights of artists and creators. (See #22, #24 and #28 of the CRA’s Briefings available on this website.)

WHAT’S NEW AT WIPO

On September 29th the World Intellectual Property Organization announced an agreement to continue and accelerate work on intellectual property and traditional knowledge by extending the mandate of the IGC Committee (Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore) for two years. WIPO hopes to focus on the international dimensions of the issue. Delegates to the committee are looking for an international solution that expresses an understanding of how to protect traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions from misuse. For more information on this announcement please see WIPO’s press release 2005/421.

EXTENDING AMERICAN REACH IN THE FIGHT AGAINST PIRACY

In an attempt to combat international piracy, the US Commerce Secretary, Carlos Gutierrez, has announced that the American government will take the unprecedented step of sending anti-piracy teams abroad to countries that it considers the most egregious infringers of intellectual property rights. “Intellectual Property Rights Experts” have been dispatched to China, Russia and Brazil, and it is expected other countries will similarly visited. For more information on this announcement please see www.hollywoodreporter.com.

SEARCHING THE INTERNET FOR STREAMING AUDIO

Podcasts have become a common feature on the Internet that allow listeners to subscribe to real simple syndication (RSS) feeds to hear individual shows or entire program series. Podcasts found on the Internet include talk radio programs and the work of audio-visual and mixed media artists who are using the Internet as a means of business, marketing and promotion. Following steps taken by America Online and Blinkx, Yahoo has launched a beta search engine that will allow prospective listeners to search podcast content by key term or subject. More information on the launch of the Yahoo search can be found at www.news.com.com.