In April 2024 the SCCR meeting of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) takes place. On that occasion the Secretary General of the EWC European Writers‘ Council, Ms. Nicole Pfister Fetz, will comment on Agenda Points 5 and 6 (Limitations and exceptions for libraries and archives; Limitations and exceptions for educational and research institutions and for persons with other disabilities) and the DRAFT IMPLEMENTATION PLAN FOR THE WORK PROGRAM ON LIMITATIONS AND EXCEPTIONS.

“Thank you, Madam Chair.

The European Writers’ Council congratulates on your appointment and thanks the WIPO Secretariat for its profound work, including the Panel on “Cross Border uses in the Educational and Research Sectors”, which had presented the flexibility of licensing as key for the mandates of cultural heritage and educational institutions.

Writers, Publishers, Booksellers, Libraries, Archives and Museums are all part of an interacting ecosystem. However special attention needs to be drawn to the sources of this ecosystem and its knowledge chain: to Authors, on whose vulnerable shoulders the book biotope stands.

Authors are not paid for their labour done, but only for the use of their works. Hence, they depend on an appropriate remuneration for every use, as only this leads to a fair revenue.

Exceptions and Limitations are undermining this core principle of “every use must be remunerated”.

Exceptions and limitations to authors’ rights and copyright must fulfil the three-step test criteria, embedded in the international copyright treaties, and require a respectful acknowledgment of the works of authors for the information society.

We trust the WIPO Member States to keep this approach.”

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