Stay up to date with our latest developments, initiatives, and new resources!
Which countries have signed up to the Marrakesh Treaty, which removes the copyright barriers preventing making and sharing accessible copies of works for people with print disabilities, and how far have they gone in bringing their national legislation into line with its provisions? Our latest Marrakesh Monitoring Report provides an update!
Copyright rules have a key impact on the work of libraries, shaping how we acquire, manage, and enable people to use knowledge. It is also an evolving issue, with new laws and regulation always under discussion, in response to technological, political and economic change.
Alongside partners in the heritage, research and education space, IFLA has issued a letter to the South African Parliament committee responsible for the progress of the country's Copyright Amendment Bill, calling for rapid passage into law of this long-overdue piece of legislation.
As part of the UN Science, Technology and Innovation Forum, IFLA was proud to host a side-event focused on how libraries help make open science work in ways that maximise its contribution to development. At the heart of this is the need to apply principles of sustainable development - leaving no-one behind, taking a holistic appraoch - to open science itself.
Following an eventful week of discussions, the 43rd meeting of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR/43) of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) ended with several advances important for libraries. IFLA was proud to join partner organisations in attended as an observing organization.
From 13-17 March, the World Intellectual Property Organisation’s lead body focused on copyright – the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights – will meet in Geneva. Key discussions include the presentation of a toolkit on preservation, and discussions on facilitating cross-border working. IFLA will be there to represent the needs and interests of libraries.
The Copyright & Legal Matters Advisory Committee (CLM) of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) is excited to announce the publication of a new report titled "Copyright & cross-border challenges in preservation: empirical evidence".
The Marrakesh Treaty, signed almost 10 years ago, provides an opportunity to lift unnecessary barriers to access to information for people with disabilities, but are governments taking this up?
Save the date for the final conference of the HERMES project on resource sharing, bringing together librarians, researchers, students and advocates for a knowledge commons in order to share tools, learn lessons, and identify future needs in the field of resource sharing. The conference takes place on 18 April 2023 at the National Library of the Netherlands in The Hague, with training on 19 April.
At the weekend, the world marked the International Day of Persons with Disabilities - the 30th anniversary of the celebration. With a future-orientated theme - the role of innovation - it is nonetheless also an opportunity to remember the need to get the basics right, not least the right of access to information. IFLA encouraged those working with providing this access to help us update our Marrakesh Monitoring Report.
As part of a global group of organisations committed to promoting access to knowledge at the World Intellectual Property Organization and beyond, IFLA encourages the library field to engage with a new website which shares key resources and data for advocacy and awareness-raising.
Internet governance covers a wide range of issues of significant library interest. We rely increasingly on the internet to achieve our mission of providing maximum meaningful access to information, while in turn being key players in ensuring that the internet itself is inclusive. We interviewed Nina Nakaora (Fiji), who participated in this year's Asia Pacific School of Internet Governance (APSIG), ahead of the Asia-Pacific regional Internet Governance Forum (APrIGF).
IFLA is proud to announce the open access publication of Navigating Copyright for Libraries - Purpose and Scope, edited by Jessica Coates, National Library Australia; Victoria Owen, University of Toronto, Canada; and Susan Reilly, Irish Research Electronic Library, Ireland.
IFLA is proud to share its 2022 statement on open access (OA), "10 years of the IFLA open access statement: a call to action". The statement affirms the value of open access and related initiatives, outlining IFLA's ongoing work in the area. It also offers a commitment to "lead by example, and complete the transition of IFLA’s publications to OA".
Attending the 87th World Library and Information Congress in Dublin? Take the opportunity to check in with the Knowledge Rights 21 team and find out more about how you can get involved and contribute to its goals, especially on Thursday 28 July, 13:15, in Liffey Hall 2.
The Knowledge 21 Programme, of which IFLA is a a partner organisation, has launched a call for bids for funding to carry out work to promote copyright reform in Europe. Deadline: 30 September.
The Knowledge Rights 21 Programme, of which IFLA is a partner, has launched a call for individuals or organisations who can support advocacy at the national level around copyright law and policy reform in Europe.
The Knowledge Rights 21 Programme (KR21), of which IFLA is a partner, has launched a call for proposals to undertake work on copyright and advocacy training.
In the week of World Intellectual Property Day 2022, IFLA has released the Executive Summary of its research report "How well did copyright laws serve libraries during COVID-19?".
IFLA has joined with organisations focused on defending rights of access to education and research in signing on to an open letter for World Intellectual Property (IP) Day.