November 24 to 25, 2008, WIPO organized a conference on Collective Management of Copyright. Some 400 participants from all over Europe took part in the event.

The conference was held in Brussels, organized by WIPO (The World Intellectual Property Organization) in association with the European Grouping of Societies of Authors and Composers (GESAC) and in cooperation with the Association of European Performers’ Organisations (AEPO-ARTIS), and the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC).

At focus was the future evolution of collective management of copyright and related rights, facing extraordinary challenges with economic, cultural, technological and legal implications.

WIPO Director General, Mr. Francis Gurry, assured participants that “copyright and related rights remain high on the agenda of WIPO. (…) WIPO has an important role in supporting the tool of collective management, especially with respect to the developing countries”, Gurry said.

The Conference provided an inclusive forum for discussion of challenges arising from technological developments and trends in the digital market, rights management information systems and competition issues. Discussions focused on the future of collective management in the digital environment, and considered a range of improvements in the application and management of rights introduced by collective management organizations worldwide. It provided an opportunity to deepen the dialogue between stakeholders in the creation, licensing, and dissemination of creative content and allowed participants to draw on European experiences.

A wide range of issues was addressed, including the role of digital right management technologies in supporting the creation of new business models for legitimate delivery of protected content and collective management; interoperability; interactive online and mobile services; user-generated content and social collaboration platforms; good governance of collective management organizations; and double taxation of royalties.

Some 400 participants from collective management organizations, lawyers, academia, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, developers of digital technology and services and creative industries took part in the event.

More on WIPO’s webpages.