Creative Economy: A Feasible Development Option

9.5 WIPO Development AgendaAt the WIPO General Assembly in 2004, two developingcountries, Argentina and Brazil, proposed the introductionof a Development Agenda for WIPO 23 addressingthe needs and concerns of developing countries with regardto IPRs. Another 12 developing countries supported theproposal and negotiations have started. In June 2007, WIPOMember States reached an agreement on a WIPODevelopment Agenda, a set of proposals aimed at integratingdevelopment concerns more closely into policymaking inthe field of intellectual property protection. The 45 itemsrecommended to the WIPO General Assembly for action aregrouped into the following six broad clusters:■■■■■■■technical assistance and capacity building;norm-setting, flexibilities, public policy and public domain;technology transfer, information and communication;technologies and access to knowledge;assessment, evaluation and impact studies;institutional matters, including mandate and governance; andother issues.Many of the proposals agreed upon refer directly to thecreative industries, copyright or the protection of creativeworks. For example, one proposal calls for a greater emphasison the cultural industries in WIPO technical assistance activities,and another mentions the importance of strengtheningnational capacity for the protection of domestic creations. Inaddition, several proposals deal with issues that are relevant tocopyright and the creative industries without explicitly referringto them. These include, for example, proposals calling fordeepening the analysis of a rich and accessible public domain,expanding the scope of activities aimed at bridging the digitaldivide, promoting pro-competitive licensing practices, initiatingdiscussions on how to further facilitate access toknowledge and technology, and undertaking new studies toassess the economic, social and cultural impact of the use ofintellectual property systems in Member States.Furthermore, there are a number of proposals thatoutline principles that WIPO is to follow when conductingdevelopment-related activities, such as technical assistance ornorm-setting, including in the field of copyright and otherareas that may be of relevance to the creative industries.The June 2007 meeting of the Provisional Committeeon Proposals Related to a WIPO Development Agenda alsorecommended the establishment of a Committee onDevelopment and Intellectual Property to plan, monitor,assess and report on the implementation of the WIPODevelopment Agenda. Such a Committee would also have abroader mandate to discuss intellectual property and development-relatedissues. It would therefore be a forum inwhich Member States could present new issues of concernthat relate to intellectual property and development, includingissues of relevance to the creative industries.In November 2009, WIPO convened a conference on“Building Partnerships for Mobilizing Resources for IP andDevelopment” to address Recommendation 2 of the WIPODevelopment Agenda. The aim was to support developingcountries, with a particular focus on LDCs and Africa, toaccess resources to promote the legal, commercial, culturaland economic exploitation of intellectual property in thedeveloping world. The conference provided practical examplesillustrating how the development impact can be achievedthrough the integration and use of intellectual propertyrights in national development plans and in the context ofthe UN Development Assistance Framework and PovertyReduction Strategy Papers. Debates focused on three mainareas related to intellectual property, namely: (i) aid fortrade; (ii) science, technology and innovation for development;and (iii) the digital divide. The purpose was to helpforge partnerships with development agencies and the donorcommunity, and to identify ways in which this work mightbe supported by charitable foundations and through publicprivatepartnerships. 24The Convention establishing WIPO entered into forcein 1970. In April 2010, the agency celebrated the 40thanniversary of this date by unveiling a new logo and newvisual identity, in line with the new directions being taken tokeep pace with the rapid evolution of intellectual property inthe 21 st century. The intention was to send a clear sign of theOrganization’s revitalization and strategic reorientation with9The international dimension of creative-industries policy23 WIPO (2007). Press Release: “Member States Adopt a Development Agenda for WIPO”.24 http:// www.wipo.int/tk/en/folklore.CREATIVE ECONOMY REPORT 2010245