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C&RL News January 2011  44

identify potential library exceptions in inter-
national treaty agreements. A commitment to 
a legal instrument to improve access for the 
print disabled could come as soon as Sep-
tember 2011 at the WIPO General Assembly. 

The U.S. library community was well 
represented by the Library Copyright Alliance 
(LCA)—of which ALA and ACRL are mem-
bers—and internationally by the International 
Federation of Library Associations and the 
Electronic Information for Libraries. The LCA 
statement to the Society for Cross-Cultural 
Research urged “the Member States to focus 
on the twin issues of a national exception 
for countries that currently lack an exception 
(for persons with disabilities), and the cross-
border distribution of works” as well as “the 
development of a core set of library limita-
tions and exceptions necessary to sustain a 
global information society.”

The U.S. Delegation to WIPO, led by Justin 
Hughes, Under Secretary of Commerce in the 
United States Patent and Trademark Office 
emphasized the need to address the issue 
of cross border sharing of accessible copies. 
Under international copyright law, member 
nations of WIPO cannot send accessible cop-
ies like Braille, large print, and audio texts 
to people with print disabilities in other na-
tions. Known as the “book famine,” only 1 
percent of published materials are available 
to developing and least developed nations. 
This immediate problem is directly linked to 
another associated WIPO priority, the “Devel-
opment Agenda” that has identified access to 
educational and informational materials as a 
necessary means toward the achievement of 
material progress and welfare of developing 
nations. In addition, WIPO continues work 
on a legal instrument to protect “traditional 
cultural expressions,” which includes many 
of the creative works prepared by indigenous 
people. ALA is closely tracking proposals to 
ensure that the public domain is protected 
and to allow for copyright exceptions and 
limitations. 

Jenni Terry is press officer at ALA’s Washington Office, 
e-mail: jterry@alawash.org

W a s h i n g t o n  H o t l i n eJenni Terry

International Copyright Policy on 
warp speed
by Carrie Russell, director of program on 
public access to information for OITP

National copyright legislation is difficult to 
pass because the competing interests of users 
of information and rights holders cannot be 
resolved. Orphan works legislation is a good 
example—legislation introduced two times 
in Congress with competing bills in both the 
House and the Senate but no final outcome. 
In all honesty, it is often preferred that noth-
ing happen because the legislation is flawed, 
not meeting the needs of library users. 

Typically, crafting international copyright 
law is even slower than molasses, but for the 
last two years, the World Intellectual Property 
Organization (WIPO) has been swift to move 
forward, even engaging in “text-based nego-
tiations” of legal instruments, in other words, 
writing treaties or other binding laws that, 
if passed, must be implemented in national 
law. In fact, this is how the Digital Millennium 
Copyright Act (DMCA) came to fruition in the 
United States. 

There is reason for cautious optimism 
since WIPO is focused on not only strength-
ening enforcement mechanisms to curb 
infringements, but also expanding the ex-
ceptions aspects of copyright law to ensure 
broader user rights across the world. If WIPO 
chooses to expand exceptions internationally, 
the direct beneficiaries will be other nations, 
particularly least developed countries. What 
we will gain is the right to share information 
with other nations with less uncertainty, par-
ticularly the provision of accessible copies to 
people with print disabilities in other nations. 

In November, WIPO closed its latest copy-
right meeting with a two-year work plan to 
improve access to the print disabled and to