Focus on books and copyrights
Books
are so much a part of us. They are a source of fun, education and
entertainment. It's very difficult to find a person who doesn't like
books. Books and authors will come under the spotlight when UNESCO
observes World Book and Copyright Day on April 23.
The Day is also known as the International Day of the Book and World
Book Day. The event is organised for the 12th time this year by the
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation
(UNESCO), to promote reading, publishing and the protection of
intellectual property through copyrights.
The date is symbolic for world literature as it is on April 23 that
giants in the literacy field such as Miguel de Cervantes, William
Shakespeare and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega died.
The day also marks the births and deaths of several prominent authors
like Maurice Druon, Laxness, Vladimir Nabokov, Joseph Pla and Manuel
Mejia Vallejo. So, April 23 was a natural choice for the UNESCO General
Conference to choose as the day to pay tribute to both books and
authors.
The idea for the celebrations was first arrived at in the Spanish
city of Catalonia, where on April 23 (St. George's Day), a rose used to
be given as a gift for every book sold. An old custom here was for men
to give their lovers roses and the women to gift them books. The
official UNESCO celebrations were initiated in 1995.
Now, millions of people including schoolchildren from over 100
countries in the world observe the event. In the UK and Ireland,
children receive free book tokens on this day, which they can use to buy
books which are specially released for the occasion.
Book sales are also organised at many schools. In Spain, Cervantes'
masterpiece Don Quixote is read, while awards are also presented to
literary work.
Two countries that have already made plans for this year's event are
Switzerland and Italy. The Swiss Book Lobby has organised a campaign
titled 'Switzerland is reading', which is among many other initiatives
designed to promote reading.
The Italian National Commission for UNESCO has chosen cultural
diversity as the theme for this year and has organised a round table
discussion on the wastage of books.
Copyrights
Copyright is the sole right vested within a creator to print, publish
or perform some work. The protection offered by copyrights and
neighbouring rights is essential for enhancing individual creativity,
the development of cultural industries and the promotion of cultural
diversity.
Widely prevalent piracy (reproduction and distribution of material
without proper authorisation) and the low enforcement of copyright laws
are destroying the incentive to create and distribute local cultural
products in all countries.
This creates the need for efforts to encourage creativity to foster
sustainable development. The Universal Copyright Convention, implemented
in 1952 under the aegis of UNESCO to promote copyrights, conducts
awareness raising and capacity building projects and information
training and research in the field of copyright law. It is also
developing new initiatives to help fight piracy.
The digital revolution has affected copyright protection to a large
extent and UNESCO is working towards a solution to this issue.
It has to be dealt with, taking the development perspective into
account and paying attention to the need for maintaining a balance
between the interests of the author and the right of the public to
access knowledge and information.
WIPO
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) was created in
1967 to encourage creative activity and promote the protection of
intellectual property throughout the world.
WIPO currently has 184 member states, administers 23 international
treaties, and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. Almost all UN
members are members of this group. The predecessor(former office) to
WIPO was the BIRPI.
WIPO was formally created by the Convention Establishing the World
Intellectual Property Organization (signed at Stockholm on July 14, 1967
and amended on September 28, 1979). WIPO became a specialised agency of
the UN in 1974.
Copyright conventions
There are many international conventions and treaties related to
copyright and intellectual property. Some of them are:
* Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic
Works - Was adopted in Berne, Switzerland in 1886. Led to the
setting up of the bureau to handle administrative tasks; in 1893, this
led to the creation of the United International Bureaux for the
Protection of Intellectual Property (BIRPI) in Berne.
This moved to Geneva in 1960 and became the World Intellectual
Property Organization in 1967. As at July 2006, 162 countries were party
to the Berne Convention.
* Universal Copyright Convention (UCC) - Was adopted in Geneva
in 1952 and was developed by UNESCO as an alternative to the Berne
Convention, for states which didn't agree with the latter. Members of
the Berne Union also became signatories to the UCC later so that
protection provided by the UCC would exist in non-Berne Union states
too.
* Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property -
One of the first intellectual property treaties, it was signed in Paris,
France, on March 20, 1883, after a diplomatic conference in Paris in
1880.
Eleven countries - Belgium, Brazil, France, Guatemala, Italy, the
Netherlands, Portugal, Salvador, Serbia, Spain and Switzerland - were
signatories. The Convention now has 171 contracting member countries.
It's administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization.
*Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects
of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)
* Madrid Agreement for the Repression
of False or Deceptive Indication of Source on Goods
* Nairobi Treaty
* Patent Cooperation Treaty
* Trade Mark Law Treaty |