Transcript IDEC campaign and Brazilian reform of copyright

IDEC campaign and Brazilian
reform of copyright law
Guilherme Varela
IDEC activity in copyright
• Access to information is a basic premise for the
realization of citizenship, which is a fundamental right
for every person.
• The Internet extends the capabilities of the real
environment and shows signs of its actual potential for
democratization
• In this context, there are the rights and demands of the
consumer-citizen. On the other hand, there are the
laws that regulate the use, circulation and sharing of
educational and cultural works, expanding or
restricting the range of access to them.
Brazilian copyright law
• The Brazilian copyright has proved itself
insufficient and inadequate to handle the new
demands that emerge with the technological
age.
• It comes out restrictive, inflexible and less
dedicated to the public interest.
• The reform therefore becomes imperative for
the effective access to goods and their proper
use.
IDEC work
• IDEC develops projects of civil society to
debate the issue and to enable consumer
awareness referring to copyright.
• IDEC has a steady job advocacy and helps to
consolidate improvements in the Brazilian law
• Idec articulates a network to organize
seminars and to produce content for the
subject.
Brazilian Copyright Law
• Copyright Law N⁰ 9.610, from 1998.
• key points of the law:
– Incompatibility with the new uses of works permitted by
new technologies,
– the absence of a clause that allows the full use of copyright
works for educational and scientific purposes
– the incompatibility with the appropriate preservation work
of organizations to protect the cultural heritage
– insufficient guarantees for access to works in the public
domain.
– inadequate protection of authors in their relationship with
cultural intermediaries
The reform process
• Conducted by the Ministry of Culture since
2007
• The draft bill proposing the reform is on the
brink of entering public consultation.
• The goal of Idec is to help ensure the
consumer's right to knowledge, culture and
information and to assure an effective balance
between copyright protection and public
interest.
Ministry reform proposal
• Principles: there must be balance between
copyright protection and the guarantee of the
full exercise of cultural rights and other
fundamental rights.
Limitations to copyright: are allowed:
• a) reproduction of works that are legitimately
acquired, made in a single copy by the own scribe
for private and noncommercial use.
• b) reproduction of works legitimately acquired for
purposes of portability or interoperability
• c) reproduction of speeches, conferences and
classes, the publication being prohibited,
• d) reproduction and distribution of works to be
used by people with disabilities, and
reproduction for use in resume or portfolio,
Limitations to copyright. Are allowed:
• e) use of short extracts from works of any kind, or
full works in the case of visual arts,
• f) reproduction of works by museums, libraries,
archives, conservation, archiving and
preservation;
• g) display visual and musical performance
without gainful intent, being free for educational
purposes, cultural diffusion and to stimulate the
debate;
• h) reproduction of the work out of print.
Reform proposal
• Charging for the photocopy
• Prohibition of the mechanism that enables the artificial
bribe of the public performance of works and
phonograms
• Government supervision of copyright management
organizations
• Duties of the collective management bodies
• Duration of economic rights: the life of the author plus
70 years.
• Non-voluntary licenses
• Revision of contracts
The Other side
• Central Office Copyright Collection (Ecad).
• ABDR (Brazilian Association of Reprographic
Rights), ABPD (Brazilian Association of Record
Producers), APCM (Association of Film and
Music Piracy), Abramus (Brazilian Association
of Music and Arts), Ecad (Central Bureau of
Collection and Distribution of Copyright)
• CNCDA (National Committee for Culture and
Copyright Law)
CNCDA
• resistance to any change in the law
• disseminates innocuous "anti-piracy"
propaganda.
• establish a direct relationship between piracy
and violence, drug dealing or organized crime.
• provides broad support for political and
ideological repression against the practice of
photocopying
Main points for the consumer
• there is no specific clause that allows the copy
for educational purposes.
• Permission for the services of photocopiers
• law does not allow consumers to take
photocopies of books for your own research.
Conclusion
• the Brazilian copyright law is too rigid, banning
access, by consumers, to goods for fair use. At the
same time, the law does not even contemplate
the real need of the authors. An anachronistic
situation, in which the law favors neither the
public nor the copyright protection.
• With a direct relation to this situation, the
Brazilian reform process of the copyright law
gains relevance.