IPA at IFRRO World Congress

From 27-30 October, in Singapore, the IPA was represented at the World Congress of the International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organisations (IFRRO) by Secretary General José Borghino, Co-Chair of the Copyright Committee Lui Simpson, member of the Copyright Policy Working Group Peter Schoppert, and Edmund Wee the President of IPA member the Singapore Book Publishers Association.

The Congress included the usual range of meetings dealing with legal and collective licensing issues, and public lending right. This year's keynote speakers included Singaporean Minister for Law and Second Minister for Home Affairs, Edwin Tong, who spoke forcefully about Singapore's search for a balance between creativity and innovation on the one hand while ensuring a sustainable system of compensation for rightsholders on the other. In her keynote, World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Deputy Director General, Sylvie Forbin spoke about the forthcoming meeting in Geneva of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights as well as a range of other WIPO initiatives.

Of special interest for publishers at this congress was the successful election of Ana del Arco Blanco, the IPA's candidate for the position of Director representing publishers on the IFRRO Board. Currently Director of Publications at Comares, a Spanish academic publisher specializing in Humanities and Social Sciences, Ana del Arco was President of the Andalusian Publishers Association, representing 70 publishers within the Federación de Gremios de Editores de España (IPA's Spanish member). She is a lawyer specializing in intellectual property and the author of a number of publications analyzing the legal aspects of the technological challenges facing publishers today. We welcome Ana del Arco Blanco to this important position on the IFRRO Board.