IFLA – C4C Brussels event – March 2014

On 20 March, the International Federation of Library Associations & Institutions (IFLA) and Copyright 4 Creativity (C4C) organise a breakfast debate (08.00-09.30) to discuss whether the existing international and EU copyright framework strike the right balance between access to information, research and innovation, and the need to protect creators. This event is kindly co-hosted by MEPs Amelia Andersdotter (Swedish, Greens/EFA) and Marietje Schaake (Dutch, ALDE). The event takes place in the private salon of the European Parliament in Brussels.

This debate is very timely, as European Commissioner Michel Barnier announced early February that he will issue a Whitepaper on the EU copyright reform by June 2014. Simultaneously, copyright exceptions and limitations for libraries and archives are high on the agenda of the World Intellectual Property Organisation’s (WIPO) Standing Committee on Copyright & Related Rights (SCCR). The debate at WIPO focusses on the need for mandatory international standards to safeguard access to information through libraries and archives in the public interest.

Please find a summary of the event below, and a summary by IFLA here.

Program (08.30-09.30)

Hosts

Amelia Andersdotter (MEP, Greens/EFA)
	Amelia Andersdotter is a Member of the European Parliament. As part of the Greens/EFA political group she is a member of the Committee on Industry, Energy and Research. An expert on copyright, Amelia is a highly sought after international speaker and thought leader on topics pertaining to IT-policy and intellectúal property. She has been named one of the worlds ten most important internet activists for the year 2012.
Marietje Schaake (MEP, ALDE)
	Marietje Schaake is a Member of the European Parliament for the Dutch D66 within the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) political group. She serves on the Committee on Foreign Affairs, where she focuses on neighbourhood policy, human rights and internet freedom. In the Committee on Culture, Media, Education, Youth and Sports she works on Europe’s Digital Agenda and the role of culture and new media. In the Committee on International Trade she focuses on intellectual property rights, the free flow of information and the relation between trade and foreign affairs.

Speakers’ Bios

Kerstin Jorna (Director Intellectual Property Directorate, European Commission, DG MARKT – EC)
	Kerstin Jorna is Director of the Intellectual Property Directorate of the Directorate-General Internal Market and Services at the European Commission. She is a German national. She joined the Commission in 1990 as a civil servant. During the last 20 years Kerstin held various positions in the internal market directorate, amongst others as assistant of the director general as well as in the secretariat general as member of the negotiating team for the Nice treaty. After a stint as commission spokeswoman for regional policy and institutional affairs, Kerstin joined successively the cabinets of Michel Barnier, Günther Verheugen and Jacques Barrot. Kerstin studied law in Bonn, Hamburg and Bruges.
Ellen Broad (Manager Digital Projects & Policy, International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions – IFLA)
	Ellen Broad is Manager Digital Projects and Policy at the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA). Previously, Ellen worked on copyright and access to information advocacy in Australia as Executive Officer of the Australian Digital Alliance, and as copyright law and policy adviser for the Australian Libraries Copyright Committee, promoting flexible copyright laws for the Australian IT sector, schools and universities, libraries and archives and consumers.
Susan Reilly (Projects Manager, Association of European Research Libraries – LIBER)
	Susan Reilly is Projects Manager at the Association of European Research Libraries (LIBER). Susan works across a range of European projects related to open access, digitisation, digital preservation and research data management.
Vincent Bonnet (Director, European Bureau of Library, Information and Documentation Associations – EBLIDA)
	Vincent Bonnet is Director of the European Bureau of Library, Information and Documentation Associations (EBLIDA) since 2010, combining his passion for libraries with his interest in European affairs, copyright and access to information. Before starting work with EBLIDA he worked in France both as a trainer for a private company that serves libraries and as a civil servant in public libraries.
Moderator: Stuart Hamilton (Deputy Secretary General & Director of Policy and Advocacy, International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions – IFLA)
	Dr. Stuart Hamilton is the Deputy Secretary General and Director of Policy and Advocacy at the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) . He gained his PhD in Library and Information Science from the Royal School of Library and Information Science in Copenhagen, Denmark where his research examined freedom of access to information on the Internet worldwide, and the ways in which libraries can overcome barriers such as censorship or the digital divide to ensure that library users receive the best possible access to online information resources. He has lectured extensively around the world on his PhD subject and other intellectual freedom matters, walked 5000 miles across the United States in search of what Americans really think about Europeans, and published his findings in print and online.