WIPO-IRRO seminar

Organized by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in cooperation with the Indian Reprographic Rights Organization (IRRO), the Federation of Indian Publishers (FIP), the Authors Guild of India (AGI) and Ministry of Human Resources Development, Govt. of India during April 23-24, 2012, the WIPO-IRRO seminar on 'Copyright and the Publishing Industry' concluded successfully in New Delhi. Held on the occasion of the World Book and Copyright Day the major issues discussed in the two-day seminar included: current status of the publishing industry in India; intellectual property and the creative industries; the publishing value chain and supply chain: beginning, production, delivery and circulation; existing scenario of Copyright Law in India; exceptions and limitations to copyright and the access to knowledge; book publishing agreement and its basic elements; managing primary, secondary and subsidiary rights; reprographic rights and the importance of collecting societies: national, regional and international perspectives and experiences; electronic publishing; intellectual property implications of online publishing and digital distribution; and digital migration of publishing and the changing business models.

In the seminar, inaugurated by Swashpawan Singh, honorary advisor to the director general of WIPO, the eminent speakers included: Anand Bhushan, secretary general, and Shakti Malik, treasurer, IRRO; Sudhir Malhotra, president, RC Govil, past president, Dr Ashok Gupta, hony general secretary, FIP; Dr SS Awasthy, secretary general, AGI; Donna Hill of WIPO; Manas Pratim Saikia, MD, Cambridge University Press India; Prof Ashwani K Bansal, Faculty of Law, University of Delhi; Jens Bammel, secretary general, International Publishers Association, Switzerland; Pravin Anand, advocate and leading copyright expert; Olav Stokkmo, chief executive and secretary general, International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organisation; Emma House, trade & international director, Publishers Association; Sai Krishna Rajagopal, managing partner, Saikrishna Associates; Kristján B Jónasson, president, Icelandic Publishers Association, Reykjavík; Sanjiv Goswami, MD, Springer India; etc. An interactive panel discussion on ‘Emerging Trends: Opportunities and Challenges' moderated by NK Mehra, MD, Narosa Publishing House Pvt Ltd also took place. Prof Indra Nath Choudhuri, former secretary, Sahitya Akademi summed up the seminar.