Statement by India at 24th session of SCCR of WIPO delivered by Smt Alpana Dubey, First Secretary on 16 July 2012 Statement by India at 24th session of SCCR of WIPO delivered by Smt Alpana Dubey, First Secretary on..
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Permanent Mission of India
Geneva

Statement by India at 24th session of SCCR of WIPO delivered by Smt Alpana Dubey, First Secretary on 16 July 2012

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 Mr Chairman,

 

 The Delegation of India joins other delegations, in congratulating you on your election as the Chair of the Standing Committee on Copyrights and Related Rights.

 

India supports the statements made by Iran on behalf of the Asian Group.

 

We would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate WIPO and all the Member States for the successful conclusion of the Diplomatic Conference of Beijing which resulted in a new treaty on audiovisual performances. The conclusion of negotiations was made possible due to the constructive engagement and productive efforts of all Member States.

 

We hope Member States will engage in constructive discussions and take full advantage of the 3 days dedicated to limitations and exceptions for educational and research institutions and persons with other disabilities. The copyright limitations and exceptions play an important role in the promotion of access to educational resources.

 

India would like to inform that the Copyright (Amendment) Act, 2012 which has come into force from 21st June 2012 was passed unanimously by the both houses of the Parliament in the month of May this year. These amendments not only harmonize the provisions of the Act with the provisions of WCT and WPPT it already has all the ingredients of the recently finalized WIPO Treaty on Audiovisual Performance.  

 

India appreciates the initiative of the Secretariat to allocate three additional working days to the 24th SCCR to discuss the issues pertaining to limitations and exceptions for educational and research institutes. Government of India is committed to the principle of ‘Education for All’ which encompasses six goals of early childhood care and education, universal elementary education, adult literacy, adolescent and life skill education, gender equality and all aspects of quality education. India is also introducing reforms in higher education to provide world class institutes for higher learning. The nature of exceptions and limitations in the national copyright law for the purposes of the use of copyrighted materials for education is very important for access to knowledge and education. However, these exceptions should be given keeping in view of the rights of owners. India is keen to support a treaty on exceptions and limitations to harmonize the various international and national norms in this regard.

 

India introduced limitations and exceptions for physically disabled persons in the Copyright (Amendment) Act, 2012 especially to allow access to all kinds of works by this segment of people. India believes that there is an urgent need to move towards bringing in positive international obligations to facilitate access to copyrighted material in all accessible formats to visually impaired persons and persons with print disabilities. In this context, India would like to reiterate its support to a legally binding international convention in this regard. We hope that the negotiations in the coming days will provide a meaningful solution to finalise the “Working Document on an International Instrument on Limitations and Exceptions for Visually Impaired Person/Persons with Print Disabilities” (Document- SCCR/23/7) to the possible Diplomatic Conference.

 

India submitted its comments to the WIPO Secretariat in February 2012 on all the 11 clusters enumerated in the “Provisional Working Document Containing Comments on and Textual Suggestions towards an Appropriate International Legal Instrument (in whatever form) on Exceptions and Limitation for Libraries and Archives” (Document-SCCR/23/8 PROV.). In view of the challenges posed libraries and archives by the digital environment and their role in education and research it is imperative that limitations and exceptions to copyright should be more generous towards libraries and archives without damaging the interests of the right holders. We look forward to engaging constructively in the discussions in this matter.

 

 As regards then proposed WIPO Treaty on protection of broadcasting  organizations, India reiterates its commitment to comply with the signal based approach towards developing an international treaty to update the protection of broadcasting and cable-casting organizations in the traditional sense, which is consistent with the 2007 General Assembly mandate which was agreed during the 22nd session of the SCCR. India reiterates its opposition to inclusion of any elements of webcasting and simulcasting issues under the framework of the proposed Broadcasting Treaty. 

 

India also opposes any attempt to amend the above mandate of the General assembly to include ‘retransmission over computer networks’ or ‘retransmission over any other platforms’ because these activities are not broadcasting   in traditional sense. India also submitted its comments to the WIPO Secretariat in February 2012 on the joint proposal of South Africa and Mexico on the “Draft Treaty on the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations”. We are looking forward to participating in the meaningful technical consultations to resolve the outstanding issues in finalization of the scope of protection for broadcasting organizations.

 

We look forward to constructive discussions on all the agenda items in the coming days and we assure you of our delegation’s positive and constructive support in carrying forward, the work of the SCCR.

 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

 

 

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