use and creativity. Copyright law should not give rights holders the additional power to use technological measures to override the exceptions and limitations to copyright and distort the balance set in international and domestic copyright legislation. Access to information, rather than
control of information, increases use. Indeed studies have shown that too much control, in the form of technical protection, is counterproductive. Circumvention of technological measures for non-infringing activities should be enabled.
National copyright laws should ultimately aim for a balance between the rights of copyright owners to protect their interests through technical means and the rights of users to circumvent such measures for legitimate, non-infringing purposes.
IFLA welcomes the opportunity to make these comments on the need for adequate exceptions to support UNESCO aims on education, literacy and social justice and encourages UNESCO to consult as widely as possible on this very important issue. IFLA sincerely believes that lobbying by some rights owners against national copyright exceptions, plus the increasing use of technological copyright protection measures and restrictive licensing conditions, is leading to a situation where the dissemination of culture and knowledge is threatened and the level of dissemination is no longer in accordance with wider public policy goals. IFLA does not believe that the best solution for facing the problems of copyright in the digital environment is to replace the regulatory regime of copyright law with the conditions of access established unilaterally by information suppliers.
The original purpose of copyright was to protect the author or creator in the wider public interest. We now live in a digital age and there is a danger of copyright becoming a legal protection mechanism for commercial conglomerates. There is a growing threat to the public interest aspect of copyright, with certain copyright owners wielding an enormous power to set their own rules and build a “private legislation” that does not necessarily take into account the balance created in copyright laws.
IFLA does not want to see an environment where total control over access to information is in the hands of a small number of large transnational companies. If all uses of information are controlled, only the affluent will be able to receive the benefit of access to the world’s creative output. IFLA is concerned that, unless this control is limited, it will interfere with the greater good of society. One cannot rely on rights owners to put the interests of society first. That is the role of governments. Although no one denies rights owners the right to obtain a return on their investment, limitations in the form of exceptions must be part of the equation to ensure that society may also obtain a similar return on its investment in education and research. Only in this way will a balance be achieved.
Appendix 2: The IFLA Licensing Principles
IFLA CLM September, 2002
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