Report from the CLM Meetings held during the 1999 IFLA General Conference in Bangkok

The business meetings, held on the Monday and Friday of the Conference week, successfully brought together reports on all of the activities in which members of CLM had been involved throughout the year. The work of CLM is being undertaken by smaller working groups made up of small numbers of CLM's members, and focusing on: i) the activities of the World Trade Organisation (WTO); ii) Privacy; iii)Copyright; iv)Education on copyright; v) the Florence Agreement; vi)mergers; vii) licensing.

Two crucial documents emerged from the work of the groups: a draft of the revised IFLA position paper on copyright in the digital environment, and a draft paper outlining IFLA's licensing principles. The revised IFLA Position Paper on Copyright in the Digital Environment was a vital document, as it is essential that IFLA has a clear position on copyright, especially in view of the WIPO copyright treaty. The draft document was discussed at length, and the final position paper is now being worked on with a view to being approved by the Executive Board as a policy document. The working group on licensing had produced a set of principles consisting of 26 key points: the group reported that licensing was a key area of concern for libraries everywhere, and that it should be remembered that the licensing environment should be seen as a positive environment for libraries. The Group is now working on developing the set of principles still further.

Another area of concern is the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights, and CLM members agreed that consistent representation from IFLA at key WIPO meetings was essential. IFLA had been represented at four key WIPO meetings this year, and reports have been made available on the CLM pages of Iflanet (http://www.ifla.org/III/clm/copyr.htm). International trade regulations are a new area for IFLA, but with new developments within WTO, it is important that IFLA gains a clear picture on developments, and joins efforts to put pressure on international trade organisations, in particular with regard to getting library and education removed from WTO trade agreements. The work of the WTO Working Group will be instrumental in this regard.

Members of CLM communicate mainly via the closed CLM listserv, which is maintained by the CLM Secretariat at IFLA UAP, Boston Spa. The main documents and other information are also available on the CLM pages of Iflanet. There is currently no representation on CLM from South America or from the Arab world, and the CLM Chair would be pleased to hear from anyone with experience in copyright matters interested in joining from these areas.

An extremely successful open session on copyright, "Value, importance and critical elements of copyright" was also organised by CLM during the Bangkok Conference. Attendance was very high, and delegates heard excellent presentations by Jim Neal, Annabelle Herd and Helge Sonneland on the objectives and philosophy of copyright law and protection; copyright issues in the digital environment; the role of librarians in the copyright debate at the local level; and the proposed new international database protection. The speakers also fielded much interesting and enthusiastic questioning and comments from delegates. The successful format is likely to be repeated at next year's conference, where there will be many new delegates, and many new developments in the area of copyright on which to report.

All IFLA members are encouraged to keep the CLM Chair and/or Secretariat informed of any legal issues in their areas which might be of interest to the Committee. Marianne Scott can be contacted at E-mail: mfscott@home.com, and the Secretariat at the IFLA Office for UAP and International Lending, British Library, Boston Spa, Wetherby, West Yorkshire LS23 7BQ, UK; at E-mail: ifla@bl.uk