Creative	   Commons	   statement	   on	   Using	   Copyright	   to	   Promote	   Access	   to	  Information	   and	   Creative	   Content	   at	   CDIP/9	   (Geneva,	   May	   2012);	   prepared	  but	  not	  delivered.	  	  	  Thank	  you	  Mr	  Chairman.	  	  	  We	  would	  like	  to	  congratulate	  the	  Secretariat	  for	  commissioning	  such	
  a	  thorough	  and	  important	  report.	  Creative	  Commons	  believes	  that	  copyright	  can	  indeed	  be	  used	  to	  promote	  access	  to	  information	  and	  creative	  content.	  The	  issue	  of	  access	  to	   knowledge	   is	   of	   considerable	   importance	   to	   WIPO’s	   work	   on	   development,	  and	  particularly	  in	  achieving	  its	  work	  on	  the	  Development	  Agenda.	  	  	  There	   is	   a	   lot	   to	   discuss	   from	   each	   of	   the	   three	   papers	   that	   constitute	   the	   report.	  
As	   a	   small	   comment	   on	   format,	   we	   would	   have	   liked	   to	   have	   had	   the	  recommendations	  adequately	  numbered,	  as	  at	  the	  moment	  it	  is	  a	  bit	  difficult	  to	  refer	  to	  specific	  items	  in	  a	  concise	  manner.	  	  	  Having	  said	  that,	  we	  would	  like	  to	  encourage	  the	  prompt	  implementation	  of	  the	  following	  recommendations:	  	  1. From	   Part	   I,	   we	   echo	   the	   call	   to	   have	   more	   work	   at	   WIPO	   that	   informs,	  educates	  and	  promotes	  Open	  Access	  for	  education	  and	  research.	  	  2. From	   Part	   II,	   we	   second	   the	   call	   for	   WIPO	   should	   include	   open	   source	  licensing	   and	   IPR	   issues	   in	   technical	   training.	   We	   are	   fully	   aware	   that	   this	  is	   already	   taking	   place,	   but	   we	   would	   like	   other	   open	   content	   licensing	  tools	   to	   be	   included,	   not	   just	   for	   software.	   This	   would	   include	   Creative	  Commons	  and	  other	  open	  content	  licensing.	  	  3. From	   Part	   III,	   we	   share	   the	   report’s	   assessment	   that	   many	   member	   states	  do	   not	   have	   any	   laws	   and/or	   policies	   promoting	   access	   to	   and	   re-­‐use	   of	  government	  information.	  This	  is	  a	  situation	  that	  has	  to	  be	  reversed,	  so	  we	  agree	   wholeheartedly	   with	   recommendation	   2,	   which	   states	   that:”	  “Governments	   should	   be	   encouraged	   to	   clear	   the	   copyright	   status	   of	  public	   sector	   information	   and	   other	   intellectual	   property	   rights	   that	  might	   prevent	   the	   public	   from	   accessing	   and	   re-­‐using	   public	   sector	  information.	   Governments	   might	   consider	   implementing	   one	   of	   three	  models:	  (1)	  placing	  all	  public	  sector	  information	  in	  the	  public	  domain;	  (2)	  excluding	   only	   official	   acts	   from	   copyright	   protection	   and	   allowing	   re-­‐use	  of	   other	   types	   of	   public	   sector	   information	   under	   permissive	   (open)	  licenses,	   or	   (3)	   protecting	   all	   public	   sector	   information	   but	   allowing	   re-­‐use	  through	  copyright	  waivers	  or	  permissive	  (open)	  licenses.”	  Thank	  you.