Geneva Declaration on the Future of the World Intellectual Property Organization
Encyclopedia
The Geneva Declaration on the Future of the World Intellectual Property Organization is a document signed in 2004 by a number of non-profit organizations, scientists, academics and other individuals urging the World Intellectual Property Organization
(WIPO) to focus on the needs of developing countries with respect to intellectual property
legislation.
The authors and signatories believe that the "world is facing a crisis in the governance of knowledge
, technology
, and culture
," in particular due to unequal access to vital medicine
s and education
, anticompetitive economic
practices, concentration of ownership
, technological measures such as digital rights management
(DRM), the fair compensation of authors and creators, and the locking up of the public domain
by private
interests.
The Declaration criticises WIPO for embracing "a culture of creating and expanding monopoly privileges, often without regard to consequences," and calls for the organization to shift its focus from intellectual property as an end in and of itself, to a means for benefiting humanity. In particular, it calls for a moratorium on the now-common practice of harmonizing intellectual property legislation throughout the developing world to the laws as they exist in the United States
and Europe
.
World Intellectual Property Organization
The World Intellectual Property Organization is one of the 17 specialized agencies of the United Nations. WIPO was created in 1967 "to encourage creative activity, to promote the protection of intellectual property throughout the world"....
(WIPO) to focus on the needs of developing countries with respect to intellectual property
Intellectual property
Intellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...
legislation.
The authors and signatories believe that the "world is facing a crisis in the governance of knowledge
Knowledge
Knowledge is a familiarity with someone or something unknown, which can include information, facts, descriptions, or skills acquired through experience or education. It can refer to the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject...
, technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
, and culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
," in particular due to unequal access to vital medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
s and education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
, anticompetitive economic
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
practices, concentration of ownership
Ownership
Ownership is the state or fact of exclusive rights and control over property, which may be an object, land/real estate or intellectual property. Ownership involves multiple rights, collectively referred to as title, which may be separated and held by different parties. The concept of ownership has...
, technological measures such as digital rights management
Digital rights management
Digital rights management is a class of access control technologies that are used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, copyright holders and individuals with the intent to limit the use of digital content and devices after sale. DRM is any technology that inhibits uses of digital content that...
(DRM), the fair compensation of authors and creators, and the locking up of the public domain
Public domain
Works are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...
by private
Private property
Private property is the right of persons and firms to obtain, own, control, employ, dispose of, and bequeath land, capital, and other forms of property. Private property is distinguishable from public property, which refers to assets owned by a state, community or government rather than by...
interests.
The Declaration criticises WIPO for embracing "a culture of creating and expanding monopoly privileges, often without regard to consequences," and calls for the organization to shift its focus from intellectual property as an end in and of itself, to a means for benefiting humanity. In particular, it calls for a moratorium on the now-common practice of harmonizing intellectual property legislation throughout the developing world to the laws as they exist in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.