Hilsen til International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organisations' 25-årsjubileum

(On behalf of the Minister of Culture)
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Distinguished delegates: ladies and gentlemen

I am very pleased to wish IFRRO a happy 25th anniversary!

In this time you have been a significant contributor to society’s understanding and respect of copyright and related rights. You have informed decision-makers and actively participated in the international copyright debate. It all started here in Oslo, and I am very happy to be able to congratulate you today: once again in Oslo: by the invitation of our own Kopinor.

IFRROs work is perhaps more important than ever: These are troubled times for copyright and related rights: but also very interesting times. The technical developments these past 25 years have been tremendous, and the challenges we face are equally great. Writers and artists – and their publishers - are facing a fundamental change in their traditional way of doing business.  Illegal copying on the Internet is a sad fact for all right-holders in the digital world.  On the bright side: Lively discussions are taking place, and I enjoy taking part in this ongoing debate. Digitisation is fundamentally a good thing and enables us to enrich our lives.

One of the challenges of copyright today is that the legislation is considered to be overly complicated and difficult to understand. This is one of the motivations for Norway’s own planned copyright revision. The language of experts is rarely simple, we can agree on this. Another challenge is the persistent and dangerous myth that copyright in itself is outdated and old-fashioned. But the concept of copyright: to value an author’s creative work as we value any other work: this is the cornerstone of all society.

The principles underlying copyright in the Berne Convention are simple: The author has an exclusive right over her own work. As a user, you need to ensure you have permission when enjoying someone else’s creative work, regardless of which medium you want to use. This is very simple! And yet it is so difficult; as the international debate and various developments show.

We should not over-react. But it is essential that our society should not expect or accept an evolution where we do not compensate authors for their creativity and contribution to our lives. I fear for our cultural diversity, not only for small languages like Norwegian and the other Nordic tongues; but also at a more global scale. 

I think that the copyright community has realized that we need to be even more focused and constructive than before: and consistently emphasize that what is at stake is not certain business models, but the promotion and preservation of the many different creative voices of our society.

Copyright and related rights are a very important part of cultural policy. A well-functioning copyright system is by far the best way authors and artists can support themselves. Artists and right-holders are also doing a good job informing users – both the young and the not-so-young- that illegal copying is in fact hurting writers and other artists. During the recent campaign before the Norwegian parliamentary elections, right-holders in Norway cooperated on a successful petition and information campaign that can be translated as: “Share - not steal”.  (In Norwegian this rhymes, so it sounds even better!)

At the same time the right-holders and their organisations have a huge responsibility to ensure that users have legal alternatives.  Now is the time to agree on standards and practices to help us access works legally and simply on-line.

I also want to take this opportunity to promote and recommend the Norwegian and Nordic system for rights clearance for reproductive rights: the extended collective license model. In our copyright legislation we give an extended collective license to users having an agreement with a right holder organisation in the relevant field: for reproduction rights the organisation is of course your host, Kopinor.  The user then has a license to use a work within the terms of an agreement, regardless of the particular author or right holder being a party to the agreement or not.  This model has functioned well for about 30 years in the reproductive rights field: first for photocopying – we forget now what a huge issue the advent of photocopying was – and for the past few years also for digital uses.  The success of this model is in part due to the excellent work being done by right-holders such as Kopinor and its member organizations, as well as the other right-holder organizations in Norway and the rest of the Nordic region.

From a government and legislator viewpoint, it is a system that functions smoothly, obliterating the need for detailed legislation and unwanted, time-consuming bureaucracy. The parties themselves discuss the terms and the area of use, taking into account technological developments as they come along. The extended collective license model can be useful also on a European level if we develop the existing national systems into robust cross-border solutions.  I am happy to note that the European Commission in its recent “Communication on Copyright in the Knowledge Economy” is planning to examine extended collective licensing systems.

Here in Norway the government a few years ago gave our National Library permission to digitise their entire collection of works. We are a relatively small country, but this is a huge task that will take many years and lots of resources. But I am very happy that we have started it. The main objective is of course the preservation and promotion of our cultural heritage. Users can access the digitised material in full on the premises of the National Library. A large number of works are available online free of charge for Norwegian Internet users. This is a result of our successful “Bokhylla”- (Book Shelf) agreement between the Norwegian National Library and Kopinor.

I know that you have been discussing Google Books and their agreement and settlement for some time. We follow this case with concern, and I applaud the IFRRO and your member organisations for your excellent work on this issue. We strongly support the the Europeana - the European Digital Library: and we have every intent to continue to do so.

Norway is strongly committed to discussions and developments in the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). We also welcome recent developments in WIPO regarding the rights of audiovisual performers.  I also support structured and focused work regarding limitations and exceptions. The Ministry of Cultural Affairs has brokered a successful deal enabling disabled users digital access to protected works: the agreement is between the Norwegian Library for audiobooks and Braille and right-holder organisations. We are also -in the Nordic region- developing ways to increase cooperation to improve access for disabled users.

The work in WIPO regarding access to works for the visually impaired is important, and Norway has supported the establishment of the Stakeholder’s platform.  I do hope we will be able to find an acceptable solution, agreeable to all.  This issue, as well as other aspects of access to works will be on top of the international agenda in the foreseeable future. Any further developments of international copyright must be on the multilateral level.

I also wish to congratulate IFRRO on your numerous capacity building - activities for developing countries. This work is very important, and is an investment for the future of copyright. The Norwegian Copyright Development Association (Norcode) was established in 2007 by Kopinor and four other collective management organizations with the main objective to carry out international development work in the copyright field. In 2009 WIPO and Norcode arranged a successful training program here in Oslo with assistance from IFRRO copyright experts: the follow-up will be in Ghana later this year.  The Ministry of Foreign affairs, as well as the Norwegian Ministry of Culture and Church Affairs and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) were happy to provide financial and other support for the program.

Distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen;  I want to wish you a happy 25th anniversary!  Congratulations!  And I wish you the best of luck with your future activities. I hope you will all have an interesting meeting and a happy stay here in Oslo.