ECA has on 27 February written to the Intergovernmental Committee that is elaborating operational guidelines for the interpretation and implementation of the UNESCO Convention for the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions:
Dear Sir/Madame
The European Council of Artists (ECA), an umbrella of interdisciplinary artists' councils and organisations from 26 countries across the continent took an active part in the preparations for, and the drafting of, the UNESCO Convention for the Protection and Promotion for the Diversity of Cultural Expressions in 2001-2005, and is now monitoring the elaboration of operational guidelines by the Intergovernmental Committee.
We have noted that while the concrete measures for capacity-building etc., mentioned in the draft guidelines of Article 14 - Cooperation for Development are quite numerous and detailed, a proposal put forward by the Austrian delegation to include artists' rights, i.e. authors' rights and neighbouring rights for performing artists, has been rejected.
An efficient management of the Intellectual Property Rights is of great importance for artists' chance to make a living from their particular art. It is also a precondition for the establishment of locally managed culture industries in the developing countries. There are already several examples of positive culture cooperation experiences to learn from, such as the Swedish support of the establishment of an artist-managed collecting society in Mozambique or information activities in Ghana and Mali enjoying Danish development support.
ECA therefore urges the Intergovernmental Committee to reconsider its position and to include information on artists' rights and enforcement thereof as it is an important measure for the capacity building and the technology transfer benefiting the developing countries.
Yours sincerely,
Michael Burke,
President