As the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) held the 38th session of its Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR), Luke Alcott spoke on behalf of the International Authors Forum (IAF) to give a brief statement on the study on copyright in the digital environment. Although the study currently only focuses on digital music services, it is important that WIPO involves itself in the opportunities and challenges all authors face in the digital environment. He said:
Speaking on behalf of the International Authors Forum, whose 70 members represent more than 700,000 authors worldwide, we would like to thank the delegation of Brazil for their proposal on this important issue.
In the digital environment, creators’ works are used more than ever and we would like to thank members who acknowledge the importance of appropriate remuneration to foster the work of creators.
We particularly welcome the fact that a deeper investigation into the value chain of works being used online is considered in the scope.
We look forward to the results of the study. We thank the secretariat for their very important work on this.
WIPO is a special agency of the United Nations dealing with copyright at an international level. The SCCR includes government representatives of the 191 UN member states.