[p2p-research] Fwd: [fcf_discussion] "Too much copyright is detrimental to cultural expression" Unesco report (From EDRI gram, Christiana Mauro)

[Michel Bauwens]

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From: david at davidhammerstein.org <david at davidhammerstein.org>
Date: Mon, Jun 7, 2010 at 8:13 PM
Subject: [fcf_discussion] "Too much copyright is detrimental to cultural
expression" Unesco report (From EDRI gram, Christiana Mauro)
To: IP wg <ip at tacd.org>, fcforum_discussion at list.fcforum.net


*

Copyright and cultural diversity*

The conclusions of a study completed by a Geneva-based lawfirm, which
summarises the state of implementation of the UNESCO Convention on the
Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (ratified
by the EC in 2007),was presented to the Culture and Education Committee
(CULT). The study focused on fields where the EU would be expected to
provide leadership. A good deal of attention is paid to the regulatory
implications of digital media and the research team adopts an emphatically
critical approach to the idea of enhancing copyright.

During the workshop, the head of the study, Christophe Germann, said that
while some copyright is necessary, the research team had come to the
conclusion that too much copyright “is detrimental to diversity of cultural
expression” and that policy-makers in the EU are generally overly exposed to
lobbyists that “repeat the prevailing dogma about the need for better
copyright law”. According to the assessment, policy-makers who only listen
to the loudest and strongest voice fail to implement the parts of the
Convention they consider most valuable; diversity of cultural expression is
particularly threatened by IPRs “in markets that are dominated by big
corporations exercising collective power as oligopolies”.

The study considered selective state aid mechanisms in the audiovisual field
risky insofar as they not only represent an incentive to clientelism but
also serve as a bad model for authoritarian regimes with regard to the
possibility of covert censorship and inhibiting cultural entrepreneurship.

Dr. Germann was highly critical of the the fact that so far there had not
been any formal discussions between the EU and WTO on questions of trade and
culture, and he pointed out that during recent international trade
negotiations the issue of “cultural exceptions” was not even raised by the
EU. He also  indicated that culture-related aspects of intellectual property
rights might have translated into increasingly well-articulated norms of
law. The need to distinguish between patents and public health was also
mentioned, and the EU was admonished for negotiating TRIPS-plus, which would
“export regulations to jurisdictions that don't have proper competition law
to balance protection with IPR”.

Mira Burri (World Trade Institute) presented the assessment of
implementation of the UNESCO Convention in EU internal policies, and
reminded the Commission that mainstreaming a culture obligation into all
relevant policy decisions is one of the obligations under the Convention.
Ms. Burri said the Commission should be particularly cautious when pushing
for extending copyrights “which could also *reduce* creativity” and “have an
important impact on freedom” - especially with respect to the implementation
of rules such as "3 strikes" and the enforcement of copyright through
intermediaries. Overall, she declared, the interests and rights of users are
not duly protected in negotiations.

Doris Pack (EPP, Germany and CULT Chairwoman) closed the session with a
sharp rebuke of the authors' inclusion of the oft cited Jean Monnet quote
“If I had to start all over I would start with culture” (referring to the
coal and steel agreements that initially formed the basis of the European
Community), calling it “nonsense” (“How could anyone imagine that he ever
said that?”), and asking the authors to delete it from an otherwise good
study.

The UNESCO Study on EU implementation of the 2005 UNESCO Convention is
available here: bit.ly/aIPdJr <http://edri.jottit.com/bit.ly/aIPdJr> (French
and German translations forthcoming).

A summary of the UNESCO Study is available here:
bit.ly/9XyuKZ<http://edri.jottit.com/bit.ly/9XyuKZ>
.

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