Copyright officials from around the world participated in an international symposium on the effect of technology on copyright and related rights Oct. 30 to Nov. 3. Hosted by the Copyright Office and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), a Geneva-based United Nations organization, the symposium presented the participants with the opportunity to hear from governmental and copyright industry experts on how the digital age is affecting the protection and use of copyrighted works.
Participants in the International Copyright Institute included (from left): Pushpendra Rai, deputy director of the World Intellectual Property Organization Worldwide Academy; Xinia Montano, Costa Rica; Do Khac Chien, Vietnam; Henry Olsson, Ministry of Justice, Stockholm; Pei Edwin Gausi, Liberia; Kajit Sukhum, Thailand; Gao Hang, WIPO; Nawal Mahmoud El Sayed El Hawary, Egypt; Ruben Trajman, Peru; Osvaldo Garay Opazo, Chile; Maria Kolomeytseva, Russian Federation; Mazina Kadir, Trinidad and Tobago; Oleksiy Kotsyuba; Ukraine; Akalu Wolde Mariam, Ethiopia; Eugen Carpov, Republic of Moldova; Marybeth Peters, Register of Copyrights; Maria Kejo, United Republic of Tanzania; Slavomir Olsovsky, Slovakia; and Xu Chao, China. - Lisa Whittle
Register of Copyrights Marybeth Peters said she hoped the symposium would lead to "understanding and respect for copyrighted works throughout the world."
The symposium was an activity of the International Copyright Institute (ICI), a comprehensive international copyright education program that Congress created within the Copyright Office in 1988. The goal of the ICI is to promote improved copyright protection abroad for U.S. creative works.
Participants were all high-level government officials from countries that are primarily either developing nations or countries making the transition to market economies. In some instances, the nations have copyright laws on the books, but lack enforcement of those laws.
Speakers included representatives of the American publishing, motion picture, software and database, recording and photographic industries.
A major focus of the symposium was the two WIPO "Internet" treaties passed in 1996, the WIPO Copyright Treaty and WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty, which deal with protection of works in the digital environment. With the passage of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act in 1998, the United States ratified these treaties. The treaties require ratification by 30 countries for implementation; to date they have been ratified by 19 and 16 nations, respectively. A number of speakers urged ICI participants to take home the message to ratify the treaties.
