has an even greater effect on those in developing countries.
As the world increasingly makes use of digital and online technologies to create and distribute knowledge and culture, questions of digital copyright become increasingly important. If humanity is to have as wide as possible access to its heritage in the online world, it is vital that the rules which govern such access (principally intellectual property laws) are considered fully and properly by a wide range of affected stakeholders. UNESCO’s proud tradition of promoting the creation and dissemination of the world’s cultural heritage makes it well suited to this task.
What is copyright?
Before any consideration of ‘fair use’ limitations upon copyright in the digital environment, it is first necessary to consider what copyright is and why balance is so important.
Copyright can be defined as a person’s exclusive right to authorize certain acts (such as reproduction, publication, public performance, adaptation etc.) in relation to his or her original work of authorship. The creator of the work typically owns the copyright, at least initially. However, copyright is often sold or assigned, in whole or in part, to a commercial publisher, a filmmaker, a recording studio or to someone else who will exploit the work commercially. As a consequence, copyright often benefits commercial interests more than individual authors.
Copyright law has long emphasised that copyright protection does not exist for its own sake but rather to serve the public interest. To take one prominent example, the Constitution of the United States declares that the purpose of copyright in that country is: ‘To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.’ Similarly, the world’s first copyright law, the English Statute of Anne (1710) stated that its purpose was to ‘encourage learning.’
The greater public interest is served in two ways: firstly, by giving authors an incentive to create; and secondly, by encouraging the dissemination of new knowledge. Creators enjoy the right to control, and to be remunerated for, subsequent dissemination. Without these incentives some authors might not be motivated to spend their time and effort in creating valuable original expression. However, it should also be noted that a significant number of creators (primarily academics) place a far higher value on dissemination of their creative work rather than direct reimbursement for the use of the work.
In addition, new ideas and knowledge will not readily benefit a society if their transmittal is limited. Only when knowledge is learned, discussed and added to by students, researchers, scientists and the ordinary citizen, is its value truly appreciated.
The means of furthering the public interest are frequently under tension: on the one hand, the rights owner is given control of the dissemination of his or her works; while on the other hand, the rapid and wide-spread dissemination of information contained in these works is also to be encouraged. It is only by consciously and properly balancing these two competing concerns that a copyright regime will maximise both the creation and communication of new knowledge and ideas.
This need for balance can be seen in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which recognises both sides of the equation as vital to humanity. The protection of the labour of authors is guaranteed by Article 27(2): ‘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.’ While the right of all to share in the cultural and scientific output of humanity is similarly guaranteed by Article 27(1): ‘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.’
IFLA strongly endorses the notion that copyright must be balanced. The ‘IFLA Position on Copyright in the Digital Environ