Copyright, culture and cooperation take centre stage at WIPO-organised regional meeting in Tunisia

In Tunisia, a two-day conference brought together the Heads of Copyright Offices in the Arab region for discussions on copyright, collective management and cooperation. The meeting, held on 29-30 March, was organised by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture and the Tunisian Copyright Office (OTDAV). The Tunisian Minister of Cultural Affairs Mohamed Zinelabidine defended the need to protect creators and the benefits of collective management for the cultural sector. This was reinforced by WIPO Deputy Director General Sylvie Forbin, who underscored the importance of regional meetings in gathering policy-makers and representatives of creators and rightsholders, such as CISAC and International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organizations (IFRRO).

Collective management presents a highly diverse picture in the Arab region. Some countries have established collective management organisations in this region, while others have no societies at all. A strong interest exists in developing CMOs in the coming years. Similarly, copyright legislation varies significantly from one country to another.

CISAC was represented by Legal and Public Affairs Director Adriana Moscoso del Prado during a panel on “The role of collective management organizations in reaping the benefits of culture”. 

IFRRO Policy Advisor Pierre Lesbruguères and GESAC Senior Legal Advisor Martine Rezzi also spoke. CISAC detailed its governance efforts, such as CISAC’s Professional Rules, as well as the structure of the confederation, global collections data by region and lobbying efforts to improve legislation throughout the world. Alongside the transfer of value campaign, strong interest was raised in regards to the resale right campaign, notably by the representative of Sudan who publically supported the recent steps taken by WIPO with the support of CISAC for a resale right event.

CISAC highlighted recent regional efforts that are improving communication and collaboration, such as new agreements with African organisations ARIPO and the African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI).

Technical efforts by societies themselves were also highlighted, such as Latinautor, as was the importance of CMOs to have a common shared documentation structure like CIS-Net and using ISWC identifiers.