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“Conceiving an International Instrument on Limitations and Exceptions to Copyright” (Hugenholtz, Okediji / March 2008)

By Robin Gross

"The task of developing a global approach to limitations and exceptions (?L&E?s?) is one of the major challenges facing the international copyright system today. As mechanisms of access, L&E?s contribute to the dissemination of knowledge, which in turn is essential for a variety of human activities and values, including liberty, the exercise of political power, and economic, social and personal advancement. Appropriately designed L&E?s may alleviate the needs of people around the world who still lack access to books and other educational materials, and also open up rapid advances in information and communication technologies that are fundamentally transforming the processes of production, dissemination and storage of information. As new technologies challenge copyright?s internal balance, and as the costs of globalization heighten the vital need for innovation and knowledge dissemination, a multilateral instrument that can effectively harness various national practices with regard to L&E?s, and that can provide a framework for dynamic evaluation of how global copyright norms can be most effectively translated into a credible system that appropriately values author and user rights, is a necessity. This paper examines policy options and modalities for framing an international instrument on limitations and exceptions to copyright within the treaty obligations of the current international copyright system. We consider this international copyright acquis as our general starting point, and evaluate options for the design of such an instrument, including questions of political sustainability and institutional home....

Full post as published by IP Justice on March 06, 2008 (boomark / email).