Access to Knowledge movement

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The Access to Knowledge (A2K) movement is a loose collection of civil society groups, governments, and individuals converging on the idea that access to knowledge should be linked to fundamental principles of justice, freedom, and economic development.

Contents

History

The Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities from 2003 is a major declaration reflecting the goals of the movement pertaining to academic publishing.

In October 2004, the Geneva declaration on the future of the World Intellectual Property Organization emerged from a call from Brazil and Argentina for a development agenda for the World Intellectual Property Organization, and was supported by hundreds of organizations. [1] Supporters included the Free Software Foundation, with a statement Towards a "World Intellectual Wealth Organisation": Supporting the Geneva Declaration. [2]

One of the proposals of the declaration was to a "call for a Treaty on Access to Knowledge and Technology. The Standing Committee on Patents and the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights should solicit views from member countries and the public on elements of such a treaty". [3]

A shared discussion platform on A2K issues is the mailing list of that name, which was initiated around discussion of the Geneva declaration. [4] A draft "A2K treaty" was later produced. [5] The proposed treaty is intended to ease the transfer of knowledge to developing nations, and to secure the viability of open innovation systems all over the world. [6]

Human rights debate

Access to knowledge and science is protected by Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The article balances the right of access with a right to protection of moral and material interests:

Article 27

Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.

Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.

A2K academics argue that "material interests" are not simply equivalent to current intellectual property provisions, not least because these rights are saleable and transferable, and therefore not "inalienable". The right to access is ultimately the more important part of the right. Current levels of IP protection seem out of balance with Article 27, according to A2K theorists:

... in a very real sense, rights delayed are rights denied. Had access to oral rehydration therapy and second-generation vaccine technologies been delayed for twenty years ... three million children would have died. Even for less life-and-death technologies, a twenty-year delay works an immense limitation on enjoyment of the right. For cultural works, the situation is even worse; protection lasts longer than a human lifetime. [7]

Supporters

Knowledge Ecology International

CP Tech (now Knowledge Ecology International) say: "the A2K (Access to Knowledge) movement takes concerns with copyright law and other regulations that affect knowledge and places them within an understandable social need and policy platform: access to knowledge goods." [8]

Consumers International

Many different groups refer to the A2K movement. Consumers International is particularly prominent, running a dedicated domain, [9] and defines the movement as:

the umbrella term for a movement that aims to create more equitable public access to the products of human culture and learning. The ultimate objective of the movement is to create a world in which educational and cultural works are accessible to all, and in which consumers and creators alike participate in a vibrant ecosystem of innovation and creativity.

These goals are of interest to a broad coalition of consumer groups, NGOs, activists, Internet users and others. For many of them, coming to grips with the issues involved in the A2K movement can be daunting. These issues, including copyright and patent law reform, open content licensing, and communications rights, often involve legal and technological concepts that even specialists find difficult.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intellectual property</span> Ownership of creative expressions and processes

Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets. The modern concept of intellectual property developed in England in the 17th and 18th centuries. The term "intellectual property" began to be used in the 19th century, though it was not until the late 20th century that intellectual property became commonplace in most of the world's legal systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WIPO Copyright Treaty</span> 1996 treaty on copyright law

The World Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty is an international treaty on copyright law adopted by the member states of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in 1996. It provides additional protections for copyright to respond to advances in information technology since the formation of previous copyright treaties before it. As of August 2023, the treaty has 115 contracting parties. The WCT and WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty, are together termed WIPO "internet treaties".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">World Intellectual Property Organization</span> Specialised agency of the United Nations

The World Intellectual Property Organization is one of the 15 specialized agencies of the United Nations (UN). Pursuant to the 1967 Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization, WIPO was created to promote and protect intellectual property (IP) across the world by cooperating with countries as well as international organizations. It began operations on 26 April 1970 when the convention entered into force. The current Director General is Singaporean Daren Tang, former head of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore, who began his term on 1 October 2020.

The WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty is an international treaty adopted in Geneva on 20 December 1996. It came into effect on 20 May 2002. The treaty deals with the rights of two kinds of beneficiaries, particularly in the digital environment: performers ; and producers of phonograms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Industrial property</span> Intellectual property applied to industry

Industrial property is one of two subsets of intellectual property, it takes a range of forms, including patents for inventions, industrial designs, trademarks, service marks, layout-designs of integrated circuits, commercial names and designations, geographical indications and protection against unfair competition. In some cases, aspects of intellectual creation, although present, are less clearly defined. The object of industrial property consists of signs conveying information, in particular to consumers, regarding products and services offered on the market. Protection is directed against unauthorized use of such signs that could mislead consumers, and against misleading practices in general.

The Adelphi Charter on Creativity, Innovation and Intellectual Property is the result of a project commissioned by the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures & Commerce, London, England, and is intended as a positive statement of what good intellectual property policy is. The Charter was issued in 2004.

Traditional knowledge (TK), indigenous knowledge (IK), folk knowledge, and local knowledge generally refers to knowledge systems embedded in the cultural traditions of regional, indigenous, or local communities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Love (NGO director)</span>

James Packard Love is the director of Knowledge Ecology International, formerly known as the Consumer Project on Technology, a non-governmental organization with offices in Washington, D.C., and Geneva, that works mainly on matters concerning knowledge management and governance, including intellectual property policy and practice and innovation policy, particularly as they relate to health care and access to knowledge.

The Protection of Broadcasts and Broadcasting Organizations Treaty also known as the Broadcast Treaty was a treaty proposed by the World Intellectual Property Organization to afford broadcasters some control and copyright-like control over the content of their broadcasts. Under this treaty, media broadcasters would have the right to protect their broadcasts from reproduction, retransmission, and public communication, with copyright protection over fifty years. A first treaty proposal was established in 2006, and a revised draft was issued the same year to include protection rights for webcasting, netcasting and simulcasting. However, the proposal faced mixed reception from various companies. The United States tried to re-open discussions about the treaty in 2008, without success, meaning that international rules to protect television broadcasts are still addressed by the 1961 Rome treaty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Information Society Project</span>

The Information Society Project (ISP) at Yale Law School is an intellectual center studying the implications of the Internet and new information technologies for law and society. The ISP was founded in 1997 by Jack Balkin, Knight Professor of Constitutional Law and the First Amendment at Yale Law School. Jack Balkin is the director of the ISP.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indigenous intellectual property</span> Collective legal protections for cultural heritage

Indigenous intellectual property is a term used in national and international forums to describe intellectual property held to be collectively owned by various Indigenous peoples, and by extension, their legal rights to protect specific such property. This property includes cultural knowledge of their groups and many aspects of their cultural heritage and knowledge, including that held in oral history. In Australia, the term Indigenous cultural and intellectual property, abbreviated as ICIP, is commonly used.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement</span> Treaty on intellectual property

The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is a multilateral treaty for the purpose of establishing international standards for intellectual property rights enforcement that did not enter into force. The agreement aims to establish an international legal framework for targeting counterfeit goods, generic medicines and copyright infringement on the Internet, and would create a new governing body outside existing forums, such as the World Trade Organization, the World Intellectual Property Organization, and the United Nations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berne Convention</span> 1886 international assembly and treaty

The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, usually known as the Berne Convention, was an international assembly held in 1886 in the Swiss city of Bern by ten European countries with the goal of agreeing on a set of legal principles for the protection of original work. They drafted and adopted a multi-party contract containing agreements for a uniform, border-crossing system that became known under the same name. Its rules have been updated many times since then. The treaty provides authors, musicians, poets, painters, and other creators with the means to control how their works are used, by whom, and on what terms. In some jurisdictions these type of rights are referred to as copyright; on the European continent they are generally referred to as authors' rights.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TRIPS Agreement</span> International treaty on intellectual property protections

The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) is an international legal agreement between all the member nations of the World Trade Organization (WTO). It establishes minimum standards for the regulation by national governments of different forms of intellectual property (IP) as applied to nationals of other WTO member nations. TRIPS was negotiated at the end of the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) between 1989 and 1990 and is administered by the WTO.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Limitations and exceptions to copyright</span> Provisions which allow for copyrighted works to be used without a license from the copyright owner

Limitations and exceptions to copyright are provisions, in local copyright law or the Berne Convention, which allow for copyrighted works to be used without a license from the copyright owner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intellectual property in Iran</span>

Iran is a member of the WIPO since 2001 and has acceded to several WIPO intellectual property treaties. Iran joined the Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property in 1959. In December 2003 Iran became a party to the Madrid Agreement and the Madrid Protocol for the International Registration of Marks. In 2005 Iran joined the Lisbon Agreement for the Protection of Appellations of Origin and their International Registration, which ensures the protection of geographical names associated with products. As at February 2008 Iran had yet to accede to The Hague Agreement for the Protection of Industrial Designs.

The right to science and culture is one of the economic, social and cultural rights claimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and related documents of international human rights law. It recognizes that everyone has a right to freely participate in culture, to freely share in science and technology, and to protection of authorship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances</span> Multilateral treaty on copyright for audiovisual performances

The Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances is a multilateral treaty which regulates copyright for audiovisual performances and expands the performers' rights. It was adopted on 26 June 2012 by the Diplomatic Conference on the Protection of Audiovisual Performances of the World Intellectual Property Organization, in which 156 WIPO member states, six intergovernmental, and six non-governmental organizations participated. Forty-eight countries signed the treaty on 26 June, followed by 19 other countries in 2012 and 2013. The treaty entered into force on 28 April 2020 following the receipt of the 30th ratification or accession and as of August 2021 has 42 contracting parties.

Copyright law in Syria is regulated by the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Law issued by Legislative Decree No. 62 of 2013. The Syrian Ministry of Culture, through its Copyright Office, is generally in charge of proposing copyright legislation to Parliament.

An intellectual property policy comprises the policies and procedures set up by a company, a state, or an institution that relate to creating, using or disseminating its intellectual property. The purpose of the intellectual property policy is to foster the creation and dissemination of knowledge and to provide certainty in individual and institutional rights associated with ownership and the distribution of benefits that may originate from the formation of intellectual property.

References

  1. ↑ "Geneva Declaration on the Future of WIPO".
  2. ↑ "FSFE - Towards a "World Intellectual Wealth Organisation"".
  3. ↑ "Geneva Declaration on the Future of the World Intellectual Property Organization".
  4. ↑ "A2k Info Page". lists.keionline.org. Retrieved 2019-07-24.
  5. ↑ "Treaty on Access to Knowledge" (PDF). Cptech.org. Retrieved 2013-09-02.
  6. ↑ "Experts Debate Access To Knowledge | Intellectual Property Watch". Ip-watch.org. 2005-02-15. Retrieved 2013-09-02.
  7. ↑ Shaver, Lea (2010). "The Right to Science and Culture". Wisconsin Law Review. 1: 121–184. doi:10.2139/ssrn.1354788. SSRN   1354788.
  8. ↑ "Access to Knowledge". Cptech.org. Retrieved 2013-09-02.
  9. ↑ "A global advocacy network for consumers in the digital age". A2Knetwork.org. Archived from the original on 2013-10-30. Retrieved 2013-09-02.

Further reading

Global

Local

  1. ↑ Ronaldo Lemos; Pedro Nicoletti Mizukami; Ronaldo Lemos; Bruno Magrani; Carlos Affonso Pereira de Souza (2010), Access to Knowledge in Brazil, Bloomsbury Academic, OL   25370105M
  2. ↑ Lea Shaver; Nagla Rizk (2010), Access to Knowledge in Egypt, Bloomsbury Academic, ISBN   978-1-84966-008-2, OL   25370145M, 1849660085
  3. ↑ Lea Shaver; Ramesh Subramanian (2011), Access to Knowledge in India, Bloomsbury Academic, ISBN   978-1849665261, OL   25370143M, 1849665265
  4. ↑ Armstrong, Chris Dr (2010), Access to Knowledge in Africa, UCT Press, OL   25370223M
  5. ↑ Gaelle Krikorian; Amy Kapczynski (2010), Access to Knowledge in the Age of Intellectual Property, MIT Press, OL   25370177M
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