The future evolution of collective management of copyright and related rights systems in Europe in an ever-expanding digital environment will be the focus of discussions at a conference organized by WIPO in association with the European Grouping of Societies of Authors and Composers (GESAC) and in cooperation with the Association of European Performers’ Organisations (AEPO-ARTIS), and the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC) on November 24-25, 2008 in Brussels.
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is a unique organization with a unique contribution to make in meeting the global challenges faced by the United Nations (UN) family, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon told WIPO staff during his first ever visit to the Organization’s Geneva headquarters on November 18, 2008.
Top government officials, representatives of the creative industries, civil society and academics will gather in Bali for a meeting organized jointly by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and Indonesia’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism on December 2 and 3, 2008 to examine the potential of the creative industries in Asia and the role intellectual property (IP) in harnessing the increasing value of this sector. Lord David Puttnam, British film producer and politician, will be the keynote speaker at the Conference. Lord Puttnam has produced award-winning films such as Chariots of Fire and Midnight Express.
WIPO member states meeting under the auspices of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights met from November 3 to 7 November 2008 to review a number of key copyright issues. Under the chairmanship of Mr. Jukka Liedes of Finland, the SCCR examined the current state of play WIPO’s work on limitations and exceptions, the protection of audiovisual performances and the protection of broadcasting organizations. Discussions also featured the question of access to copyright-protected content by visually impaired persons.
Geneva and Swiss officials and representatives of member states of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) joined WIPO Director General Francis Gurry on November 7, 2008 at a ceremony marking the laying of the foundation stone of the new WIPO building project.
Some 200 participants, including government representatives from fifty nations, joined World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Director General Francis Gurry at a ceremony in Lisbon on October 31, 2008 marking the 50th anniversary of the adoption of an international agreement that facilitates the international protection of appellations of origin.
The European Commission (EC) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) launched on November 2, 2008, a project which aims to modernize the intellectual property (IP) system in Bangladesh and to help the country maximize the benefits of IP protection. The project is designed, through various capacity-building measures, to promote effective management of the intellectual property (IP) system, and its strategic use in supporting wealth creation and social and cultural development. It will address the challenges faced by Bangladesh in meeting its international obligations and will support the evolution of the national IP system in line with the country’s development objectives.
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) of Portugal will mark the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Lisbon Agreement for the Protection of Appellations of Origin and their International Registration at a Forum on Geographical Indications and Appellations of Origin to be held in Lisbon on October 30 and 31, 2008.
The Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Mr. Francis Gurry, and the Chairman of the Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC), Ambassador Rigoberto Gauto Vielman of Paraguay, said they would pursue efforts in the coming weeks to bridge differences among member states on the way to move international negotiations forward. The IGC wrapped up its 13th meeting late in the evening of October 17, 2008 after attempts to hammer out compromise texts on the future work program faltered. Despite intense negotiations, delegations were not able to agree on the working procedures required to deliver the concrete outcomes that many have called for from this Committee. The IGC’s mandate calls upon it to accelerate its work, and expectations remain strong that the Committee should produce a significant outcome by the time it is required to report back to the WIPO General Assembly in September 2009.
The Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Mr. Francis Gurry, called upon WIPO’s member states to intensify efforts to develop concrete international outcomes on traditional knowledge, traditional cultural expressions and genetic resources. This call opened the 13th session of the Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC), WIPO’s principal policy forum working on these issues, on October 13, 2008. Newly elected IGC Chairman, H.E. Ambassador Rigoberto Gauto Vielman of Paraguay, echoed the Director General’s call for the Committee to accelerate and focus its work with a view to delivering conclusive results.