[WSIS CS-Plenary] Statement by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) to UNESCO delegates

[Sasha Costanza-Chock]

February 9, 2005
Paris, France

To Delegates to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural 
Organization (UNESCO), Second Session of the Intergovernmental Meeting 
of Experts on the Preliminary Draft Convention on the Protection of the 
Diversity of Cultural Contents and Artistic Expressions

Statement by the International Federation of Library Associations and 
Institutions (IFLA):

The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions 
(IFLA) represents the interests of library and information services and 
their users worldwide. It is the global voice of the library and 
information profession and is a long-time accredited NGO 
(non-governmental organization) with UNESCO.

IFLA's core values include the "belief that people, communities and 
organizations need universal and equitable access to information, ideas 
and works of imagination for their social, educational, cultural, 
democratic and economic well-being."  These values coincide precisely 
with those underlying the draft Convention.  That is why libraries want 
to be, and are natural, partners with UNESCO in the development and 
exchange of cultural resources.

The draft Convention obligates its members to ensure that all 
individuals have an opportunity to create, produce, disseminate, 
distribute and have access to cultural expressions.  Libraries – and 
their sister cultural institutions, archives and museums – exist to 
carry out those obligations.  Whether public or private, wherever 
located, we document, preserve and provide access to both current and 
historical cultural expression.  Libraries are a critical element in 
education of every imaginable kind.

IFLA very much appreciates the efforts of the delegates as they have 
worked on the many difficult issues presented in crafting such an 
important Convention.  A major continuing concern, however, is the 
language in many places in the current draft that shifts the 
Convention’s focus away from nurturing cultural expression and towards 
an emphasis on stricter enforcement of intellectual property laws.  We 
believe that this tilt is particularly misplaced in a treaty that 
derives from a Declaration calling out for balanced intellectual 
property laws.  Such balanced law - which promotes both the rights of 
creators and the needs of users who require access to information - is 
critical to libraries.

Significant international trade and intellectual property treaties – as 
well as other international bodies such as the World Intellectual 
Property Organization - are already in place to deal with these matters. 
  We urge you not to let this convention become more about trade and 
intellectual property rights rather than about international cooperation 
to promote cultural diversity.

Contact on behalf of IFLA, www.ifla.org:

Miriam M. Nisbet
Legislative Counsel
American Library Association
1301 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20004
202-628-8410 (phone)
202-628-8419 (fax)
mnisbet at alawash.org