Fulfill the promise of the Innovation Union
16 May 2014European Libraries, Archives and Research Institutions need balanced copyright laws
EBLIDA has joined more than 90 library, archive and research institutions from countries across the European Union and internationally, representing over 650,000 information professionals, asking the European Union to engage constructively in text-based discussions at the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) on copyright exceptions for libraries and archives.
Organisations from Spain, France, Poland, Italy, Slovakia, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Germany, Austria, the United Kingdom, Armenia, Bulgaria, Russia and Sweden, as well as Australia, Canada and Colombia, have joined with European and international library and archive associations highlighting the copyright challenges preventing international research collaboration, preservation of cultural heritage and new forms of innovation.
The signatories of the letter urge the European Union and its Member States to ensure that text-based discussion of an international instrument on copyright exceptions and limitations for libraries and archives continues to be reflected in the mandate of the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright & Related Rights (SCCR), and that the European Union engages constructively in these discussions. At the last meeting of the SCCR, the European Union tried to reverse conclusions that had been previously agreed by all of the world’s countries at WIPO.
The discussions at WIPO are important to:
- Foster a cutting-edge, open international research culture
- Ensure future researchers have access to Europe’s digitized and born-digital heritage; and
- Make European cultural heritage globally accessible
More information about the 27th meeting of the SCCR can be found here.
If your organization would like to endorse the letter, email Ellen Broad (ellen.broad@ifla.org).
Signatories of the letter include:
- The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions) (IFLA)
- Scottish Council on Archives (SCA)
- Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) (UK)
- European Bureau of Library Information and Documentation Associations (EBLIDA)
- Poznańska Fundacja Bibliotek Naukowych | Poznan Foundation of Scientific Libraries (Poland)
- Stowarzyszenie EBIB |EBIB Association (Poland)
- City of Malmo Public Library (Sweden)
- Karisma Foundation (Colombia)
- Federación Española de Sociedades de Archivística, Biblioteconomía, Documentación y Museística (FESABID) (Spain)
- Svensk Biblioteksförening (Sweden)
- University of Westminster (UK)
- Lithuanian College Library Association
- Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya • BarcelonaTech (UPC) (Spain)
- Mykolas Romeris University (Lithuania)
- Lithuanian Library for the Blind (Lithuania)
- The Libraries and Archives Copyright Alliance (LACA) (UK)
- ANABAD-Aragon (Bibliotecas, Archivos, Centros de Documentación y Museos en la Comunidad Autónoma de Aragón) (Spain)
- Lithuanian Research Library Consortium (LMBA)
- Bibliothèque nationale et universitaire, Strasbourg (France)
- University of Kent (UK)
- Australian Library & Information Association (ALIA)
- Australian Libraries Copyright Committee (ALCC)
- University of St Andrews Library (UK)
- Stowarzyszenie Bibliotekarzy Polskich | Polish Library Association
- Biblioteca de la Universidad del País Vasco / Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea (Spain)
- Universidad de Almeria (Spain)
- Siauliai county Povilas Visinskis public library (Lithuania)
- University of Extremadura (Spain)
- Klaipeda County Ieva Simonaityte Public Library (Lithuania)
- Vereinigung Österreichischer Bibliothekarinnen und Bibliothekare | Association of Austrian Librarians
- National Library of the Czech Republic
- Middlesex University London
- Moravská zemská knihovna v Brně (Moravian Library Brno) (Czech Republic)
- Kaunas College (Lithuania)
- CRAI Universitat de Barcelona (Spain)
- German Library Association
- Památník národního písemnictví (Czech Republic)
- Research Institute of Geodesy, Topography and Cartography (Czech Republic)
- Municipal Library Chodov (Czech Republic)
- Ufficio di Biblioteca dei dipartimenti di Area Medica (Italy)
- Kolping University of Applied Sciences (Lithuania)
- Kaunas County Public Library (Lithuania)
- Biblioteca "Water Bigiavi" - Università di Bologna (Italy)
- National Medical Library (Czech Republic)
- Slovak Librarians and Libraries Association |Spolok slovenských knihovníkov a knižníc (Slovakia)
- Austrian Library Association | Büchereiverband Österreichs
- Šiauliai State College (Lithuania)
- University of Library Studies and IT (UniBIT) (Bulgaria)
- The Library of the city Olomouc (Czech Republic)
- Kauno technikos kolegija | Kaunas University of Applied Engineering Sciences (Lithuania)
- Krajska Knihovna v Pardubiich (Czech Republic)
- Electric Library Consortium of Armenia (ECLA)
- Lithuanian Library of Medicine
- National Library of Lithuania
- North Bohemian Research Library (Czech Republic)
- Siauliai University Library (Lithuania)
- National Electronic Information Consortium (NEICON) (Russia)
- Municipal Library of Opočno (Czech Republic)
- Canadian Library Association (CLA)
- Technical University of Liberec Library (Czech Republic)
- Slovenian Library Association
- Associazione Italiana Biblioteche
- Università di Napoli “Parthenope” – Biblioteca central (Italy)
- Latvian Librarians Association
- Network for InterLibrary Document Exchange (NILDE)
- Svaz knihovníků a informačních pracovníků České republiky - Association of Library and Information Professionals of the Czech Republic (SKIP)
- Associazione Nazionale Archivistica Italiana (Italy)
- Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena (España)
- Università degli Studi di Genova Dipartimento di Giurisprudenza (Italy)
- Knihovna Kroměřížska (Czech Republic)
- Mondragon Unibertsitatea Library (Spain)
- Konferencja Dyrektorów Bibliotek Akademickich Szkół Polskich | Conference of Heads of Academic Libraries in Poland
- Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia Biblioteca (Spain)
- National and State Libraries Australasia (NSLA)
- Canadian Association of Professional Academic Librarians (CAPAL)
- BibloRed, Bogotá Public Libraries Network (Colombia)
- Universidad de Córdoba (Spain)
- The Karel Dvořáček Library | Knihovna Karla Dvořáčka, Vyškov (Czech Republic)
- International Association of Music Libraries, Archives and Documentation Centres, UK and Ireland (IAML)
- Società Napoletana di Storia Patria (Italy)
- Universitat Pompeu Fabra Library (Spain)
- National Library Association of Uruguay
- European Network for Copyright in Support of Education and Science (ENCES)
- De Montfort University, Leicester (UK)
