WIPO project on Intellectual Property and the Public Domain

The WIPO project on Intellectual Property and the Public Domain is fully described at http://www.wipo.int/edocs/mdocs/mdocs/en/cdip_4/cdip_4_3.doc

Abstract (excepts from this document):

Component (1) Copyright and Related Rights:
 
Uncertainty over copyright ownership and status of works may result in works not being made available to the public, even where no living person or legal entity asserts claims to ownership of copyright, or where the owner has no objection to such use.  With respect to works of unknown authorship or in respect of which the owner cannot be identified (“orphan works”), uncertainty can undermine the economic incentive to create, imposing additional costs on subsequent users/creators wishing to incorporate material taken from existing works into new creations.  In recent years, commentators have highlighted the importance of registration/deposit of copyright and related rights in the evolving digital environment, beyond the traditional functions of facilitating the exercise of rights, for example, as a means to prove the existence and/or ownership of a work, and to identify works that have fallen into the public domain.  In relation to copyright registration systems, the role of Rights Management Information (RMI) has tremendous potential for identifying and locating content.  RMI is increasingly used in the networked environment, which helps users to customize their searches, find the content they are seeking, and where appropriate, enter into licensing agreements with right owners.  Understanding how different registration and deposit systems function (both those established in the public sector, as well as the emerging private ones) will thus prove useful in order to identify works that have fallen into the public domain.  It is important to understand how different jurisdictions define the public domain, directly or indirectly, and to identify the existing initiatives and tools, technical and legal, which can facilitate access to, use, identification and location of public domain material.  In addition, there is a need to clarify the relationship between copyright limitations and exceptions and the public domain, including legal, conceptual and functional aspects. 
 
Surveys and studies proposed for the Development Agenda should be able to take advantage of work which has already been undertaken by WIPO for different purposes in the area of registration of copyright works, such as a Survey of National Legislation on Voluntary Registration Systems for Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR 13/2) undertaken at the request of Member States, in November 2005, and the WIPO Seminar on Rights Management Information which took place in 2007.
 
Component (3) Patents:
 
One of the essential elements of the patent system is the public disclosure of patent information, which includes both technical and legal information relating to patents.  Information dissemination policies, the legal framework and technical infrastructures all play an important role in supporting access to and use of publicly available patent‑related information and in facilitating the identification of technology that is in the public domain.  In the context of the Standing Committee on Patents (SCP), discussions were held on two studies prepared by the Secretariat; “Exclusions from Patentable Subject Matter and Exceptions and Limitations to the Rights” and “Dissemination of Patent Information” (SCP 13/3 and 13/5).”  These studies include useful information about the role of the patent system in the identification, access and use of technology that is in the public domain.  As explained in the study on dissemination of patent information, the public domain in relation to patent law consists of knowledge, ideas and innovations, over which no person or organization has any proprietary rights.  Subject matter in the public domain with respect to patents, could be identified by confirming the absence of legal restrictions on use (i.e., exclusion from patent protection under applicable laws), the rejection of a patent application, the expiration of patent protection, non-renewal, and revocation or invalidation of a patent.  However, in practice, it is often hard for the public to identify the validity of relevant patents due to the lack of effective tools in many jurisdictions such as patent legal status databases accessible to the public… “