WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (28th Session)

Geneva, 30 June – 4 July 2014

Agenda item 6: Limitations and exceptions for libraries and archives

AIB Statement

Thank you Mr. Chair.
Founded in 1930, AIB represents over 3,000 librarians and information  professionals. AIB’s main objective is to support the development of  libraries and library services in Italy, in light of the concrete and  evolving needs of library users.

I am speaking with reference to exceptions and limitations in a digital  environment. Italian libraries, universities, and research centres are  increasingly dependent on digital resources. And contracts with publishers  are currently dictating how digital resources can be used, with in many  cases little room for face-to-face negotiations. What our libraries and  their users experience on a daily basis is the steady erosion of socially  and economically important uses of copyrighted works, hampering the  provision of core library services. Where Italian law permits an act like  for instance the reproduction of copyrighted works for long-time  preservation or archival purposes, contractual terms for digital resources,  governed by foreign or national law, often prohibit or restrict it.

In Europe, the principle of non-overridability of limitations and exceptions  by way of contract is already recognised in the Software and Database  Directives, while the Information Society Directive is silent on this  specific issue, still hard to anticipate at the end of last millennium.
But as Vice President of the European Commission Neelie Kroes said yesterday  “when European scientists have to abandon text or data mining because they  can’t afford the legal fees – how does that help innovation and scientific  progress?”.

Member States can choose whether to make or not limitations and exceptions  resistant to contractual terms. But the widespread circumvention of  limitations and exceptions in the digital age, and what this means for  libraries and their users, is a serious issue that needs to be urgently and  suitably addressed.