Dr. Nagao

Dr. Makoto Nagao, Librarian of the NDL, introduced the targets, runup and various events of the 2010 National Year of Reading in Japan in the beginning of his keynote speech. He referred to the long-standing “morning reading” activities in schools and “children’s bunko” activities by voluntary individuals or groups.
Looking at the diffusion of e-books and digital reading devices in Japan in recent years and describing the possible change in the future as the “E-book Revolution,” Dr. Nagao suggested the possibility of using the NDL as a distribution platform for digital publications.
The digital library project of the NDL, including the digitization of library materials, web archiving, development of a search system and the amendment of the related law, was explained.
He described the ideal digital library as the provider of a knowledge system not unlike memory organization in the human brain as equipped with the structurization and search (“disassembling and reassembling”) of books.
Lastly, Dr. Nagao pointed out that the present framework of copyright was not a perfect fit for and need to catch up with the current information society. He proposed the possible creation and utilization of a database of copyright holders, as well as promoting the idea of creative commons especially for academic works. He ended his speech saying that he expected WIPO to rise to the challenge and thoroughly debate the visions for the future.

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Ms. Geidy Lung from WIPO overviewed the basic notions and history of the international legal protection framework of copyright and related rights. She mentioned the right of reproduction and the right of making available on demand as new issues in the digital age. She also referred to the protection of audio-visual performances and broadcasting organizations, and various aspects of limitations and exceptions as pending issues for WIPO.
Ms. Caroline Morgan, Chair IFRRO Legal Issues Forum, talked about why the legal framework is important to authors and publishers referring to the present situation of international legal framework in the Pacific region and the current challenges faced by copyright holders in the digital era.
Mr. Jonathan Band, Policy Bandwidth, introduced the international copyright law frameworks from the library-oriented perspective and emphasized the need for harmonization of exceptions for lawful library uses.
In the subsequent discussion chaired by Mr. Herman P. Spruijt from IPA, various issues related to copyright were debated, including the binding power of international copyright law frameworks, overcoming a negative view of copyright, building an adequate balance between each stakeholder, and others.

Ms. Lung

Ms. Morgan

Mr. Band

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Ms. Geidy Lung reported the importance of the copyright sector to the economy. WIPO’s guide of copyright and challenges were introduced as copyright is considered an important tool for the growth and productivity of industries, employment and investment based on creativity and information.
Mr. Bruce Funkhouser, Vice President of IFRRO, introduced the beginning of copyright through the history of “copying a work.” Questions on the need of copyright law and the role of copyright law management organizations in fostering or hindering creativity were addressed. Further changes in the future in which copyright may have to adapt or be radically altered to meet the needs of creators and nations was also introduced.
Mr. Matter Schruers, Vice President for Law & Policy at the CCIA, presented the economic significance of fair use and related copyright limitations and expectations to a national economy, drawing upon recent economic studies commissioned to study the U.S. and European economies.
In the discussion chaired by Mr. Tsuyoshi Saito, President of the Japan Academic Association for Copyright Clearance, several questions on copyright were posed: the economically optimal term of copyright; fair use in the publishing industry; publishers’ position in the copyright law as there is no relevant provision in Japan; the economic effects of copyright infringement; the economic impact of open access to copyright, and so on.

From left, Ms. Lung, Mr. Funkhouser, Mr. Schruers and Mr. Saito

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Mr. Winston Tabb, Chair of the IFLA Copyright and Other Legal Matters Committee, specifically introduced 12 principles regarding minimum limitations and exceptions for libraries and archives, which had been proposed by IFLA to restore the imbalance between the intellectual property rights of authors and the needs of users.
Ms. Magdalena Vinent, IFRRO President, emphasized the effectiveness of collective licensing to gain legal access to copyrighted works, and presented various licensing models of operations of the Reproduction Rights Organisations (RROs) in the world as well as the main types of licenses. Some IFRRO initiatives were also mentioned.
Ms. Franziska Eberhard, IFRRO Vice President, reported on current trends in reading, taking up some new devices in fashion such as E-readers, Tablet-PCs and Smartphones; she offered an overview of advantageous changes in the publishing business and libraries, which have been brought about by the dissemination of these digital facilities.Mr. Herman P. Spruijt talked about diverse publishing sector’s challenges and issues in the digital age, and mentioned how to provide high-quality contents at low cost.

From left, Mr. Tabb, Ms. Vinent and Ms. Eberhard

In the following discussion chaired by Ms. Lung, various issues were raised, such as a big role for copyright societies in secondary use, relations between the legal deposit system and copyright, and how to deal with orphan works and out-of-print books in digitization.

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Prof. Levy

Prof. Hideo Levy gave a stimulating keynote speech on “the internationalization of literature.”
As a translator of Japanese literature into English in his youth, he contributed to the dimension: the global transmission through translation and dissemination of texts written in various national languages. However, a desire to write original works in Japanese, his non-native language, gradually developed in his mind, which turned him into another dimension: creation across the boundaries of language and culture by individual authors themselves.

Such bilingualism is well known in the post-colonial studies of English literature, but Prof. Levy pointed out that this could be also found in ancient Japan and globally in modern times, introducing various examples such as Yamanoue no Okura, a great 7-8th century poet whose origin is said to have been the Korean Peninsula and who created poems in the Japanese language; Lee Yanji, a Korean-Japanese modern writer; Yoko Tawada, a Japanese writer who writes her works in German and Japanese; Kenzaburo Oe, the Japanese Nobel Prize-winning writer, who recounts that an encounter with the French language had been instrumental in the verse of his literature.

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Mr. Spruijt and Ms. Matsuoka

Mr. Herman P. Spruijt talked about publishing as an important element in civil society. He emphasized books and literary reading were important in developing national knowledge and economy, and governments needed to be the custodians of their national book culture. He also spoke of a culture of reading and the core elements of national book policy to promote a culture of reading.
Ms. Kyoko Matsuoka, Director, Tokyo Children’s Library, talked about the change of the quality of children’s reading in Japan based on her job. She told us that she was worried about what would happen to the quality of children’s reading when the present-day changes in the means of communication were further accelerated. She stated that a good reader who can feel and think deeply was potentially a good global citizen, who would be in great demand in times of difficulty.

Ms. Tise and Ms. Morgan

Ms. Ellen Tise, President of IFLA, reported on the role of libraries in the reading process. She emphasized the functions of reading and engagement with fellow human beings in the creation of a society and stated that reading helps people. She stressed that reading was crucial for growth in every country and libraries must promote good reading.
In the subsequent discussion, the chair, Ms. Caroline Morgan, remarked that the speakers all agreed that there was a virtuous circle between literacy, reading, and good citizenship. Various issues related to reading and literacy were debated, including the language in which people read, several issues related to the recovery from cultural damage inflicted by the earthquake in Haiti, the future roles of publishers and libraries, and others.

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Mr. Hiroyuki Taya, Director General of the Administrative Department of the NDL, reported on the history and characteristics of the digital library and the digitization of materials in Japan, especially the approach of the NDL. The significance of digitization, MLA cooperation, international cooperation, and future planning were also introduced.
Ms. Ingrid Parent, President Elect of IFLA, introduced some of the partnerships of LAMs, libraries archives and museums, across Canada, North America and internationally. Examples of convergence in digitization projects, new kinds of research and examples of open access were also reported.
Mr. Aubery Escande from Europeana talked about “Reading Europe: European culture through the book” which highlights selected literary contents within Europeana. Outlines of the European Library, organizational ground for Europeana, and the mission of Europeana, which is to make European information resources easier to use in an online environment, were also reported.
The presentation of Mr. Olav Stokkmo, Chief Executive and Secretary General of IFRRO, considered the extent of the digital challenges and identified the main principles to be addressed in the collaborative efforts. It also presented best practice examples from digitization projects in Europe such as in Norway and Germany, and the ARROW project which is partnered by stakeholders.
In the discussion chaired by Mr. Taya, interesting questions such as authenticity of information, issues on English dominance on the web, the digitization of the in-print copyrighted materials and the policy of the European community to digitize such materials were posed.

From left, Ms. Parent, Mr. Escande, Mr. Stokkmo and Mr. Taya.

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Mr. Kawamura

Mr. Hiroshi Kawamura, President of the DAISY Consortium, talked about reading rights promotion activities by libraries represented by the IFLA and the DAISY Consortium for persons with print disabilities. He explained that an integrated e-book standard of EPUB and DAISY to be developed by the collaboration of the International Digital Publishing Forum and the DAISY Consortium will enable publishers to use one file to publish in diverse format including those to meet the needs of persons with print disabilities. He also noted that while copyright must be well respected and protected, measures to protect copyright should not impinge upon the reading rights of persons with disabilities.
Ms. Geidy Lung gave an explanation about the Stakeholders’ Platform, WIPO-led process for facilitating access to copyrighted works by persons with print disabilities involving multiple public and private sector stakeholders. She also introduced a three-year pilot project of the Platform named Trusted Intermediary Global Accessible Resources (TIGAR) being assisted by the DAISY Consortium and rights holders.

Mr. Bammel

From the publishers’ perspective, Mr. Jens Bammel, Secretary General of IPA, pointed out the challenges in adapting digital works to the needs of persons with print disabilities. In place of copyright exceptions and retro-digitization, he suggested getting publishers to integrate the data structure and additional information that visually-impaired persons need into the original production to substantially reduce costs and to expand access. The necessity of collaboration and trust between charities and publishers was emphasized.

Mr. Olav Stokkmo outlined the roles of the Reproduction Rights Organisations (RROs) in initiatives which aim at enhancing the access to content by people with reading impairment, and the IFRRO’s assistance in the activities. In the subsequent discussion chaired by Ms. Jennefer Nicholson, Secretary General of IFLA, speakers deepened the debate on the “trusted intermediaries” between creators or other rights holders and people with print disabilities, and the prospect for the TIGAR project.

Mr. Stokkmo and Ms. Nicholson

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A panel discussion on the subject was held by Mr. Winston Tabb, Ms. Magdalena Vinent, Mr. Herman P. Spruijt, Ms. Geidy Lung and Dr. Makoto Nagao moderated by Mr. Stuart Hamilton (IFLA) and Mr. Olav Stokkmo. As Mr. Hamilton moved speakers to make short comments, speakers mostly agreed that rather than polarize the argument from different angles on access and copyright, they should start working together on the issue they can agree on; digitizing and thereby salvaging out-of-print, out-of-commerce orphan works from falling into a limbo; ensuring access to information for visually impaired people.
Dr. Nagao then presented the business model in which there is a digital library to provide full online access to the users, a non-profit library agency to handle the charging of small fees for use and give them back to publishers and right-holders, and an opting-out choice available for publishers and rightholders. The model was favourably commented on by other panelists with Mr. Spruijt pointing out that the presence of a micropayment system and the non-profit nature of a library agency may make it win-win for publishers and users, and Ms. Vinent stated that it is a good start and mentioned the possibility of reproduction rights organizations (RROs) acting as intermediaries for publishers and right-holders within the scheme. There were several questions about the model from the floor ranging from the possibilities of overseas access to the provision of automated translation of the contents.
Mr. Stokkmo then moved the discussion to WIPO-led initiative to discuss the issue of orphan works on a global level. Ms. Lung introduced the Global Meeting on Licensing in which the issue was one of the main topics and explained that it will be topic for the future work of WIPO in the context of development agenda as well as of the activities of the culture and creative industry sector. Mr. Band commented that by differentiating the solutions for each category of orphan works, such as easily identifiable and claimable media like books from easily orphaned media such as photographs, such a global approach would become more feasible.
In closing the discussion, Mr. Hamilton concluded that with such common ground to work on as orphan works and Dr. Nagao’s model, the signs for stakeholders to co-operate on enhancing accessibility to copyright works are encouraging.

From left, Mr. Hamilton, Mr. Tabb, Ms. Vinent, Mr. Spruijt, Ms. Lung, Dr. Nagao
and Mr. Stokkmo

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Mr. Olav Stokkmo was given the task of making a summary of the Symposium. He began by quoting a dystopian vision of 2080 described in Neil Postman’s Technology: The Surrender of Culture to Technology in which people can no longer read and understand the news and need it to be dramatized on the screen: a future, Mr. Stokkmo warned, not far-fetched if we allow illiteracy to prevail.
That having been said, he pointed to the brighter side by mentioing several reading promotion initiatives discussed in the Symposium. He then went onto argue that copyright, admittedly complicated and on which speakers do have differing views, remains indispensable to intellectual activities on which reading stands. On the other hand, he remained open to a few instances of providing access through exceptions and limitations such as for preservation purposes in libraries. Mr. Stokkmo also touched upon the issue of publishing; he emphasized that there is a strong co-relation between literacy and publishing environment and was optimistic that publishers will adapt to the rapidly transforming digital environment by developing new business models. Such new technologies, he argued, especially benefit people with reading impairment and print disabilities.
Rounding up the argument, Mr. Stokkmo urged all participants to set aside feuds over copyright and collaborate. There is a far greater issue at stake. All of them face more than enough challenges to preserve the culture of reading and prevent Neil Postman’s vision of an intellectually-inertial future from becoming reality. In conclusion, he quoted twin axioms that best summarize the Symposium: Dr. Nagao’s “Through knowledge we prosper” and Mr. Spruijt’s “Through good cooperation we will survive.”

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