IPRE Directive (enforcement of intellectual property rights)

María Pía González Pereira briefed the Executive Committee members on the steps taken and the latest developments after the European Parliament Committee on Legal Affairs discussed the Council proposed amendments on the 23 February in Brussels. 

The discussion at the EP Plenary will take place in Strasbourg on the 8 March and the voting on 9 March 2004. The Council could approve the resulting document on the Competitiveness Council on 11 March in Brussels.  

CALIMERA (Cultural Applications: Local Institutions Mediating Electronic Resource Access)

The Director of EBLIDA explained the content of the two meetings held by the CALIMERA participants in Lisbon, 5 December 2003, and in Brussels in January 2004. EBLIDA, as leader of Work Package 4 (Dissemination, Networking and Training), will issue a brief four-monthly newsletter in order to regularly disseminate the project activities and achievements. The newsletter will be delivered electronically. 

EUCD (European Union Copyright Directive)

María Pía González Pereira presented a summary of the current status of the EUCD national implementation.  

Winnie Vitzansky explained that in Denmark the next steps are being discussed although he Directive has not yet been fully implemented. She asked Frode Bakken to clarify the case of Norway. 

Frode Bakken explained that in copyright matters Norway cooperates closely with other Nordic countries. The EU legislation has to be implemented except for issues concerning Agriculture and Fisheries.   

Disa Svenskberg commented that the working group of the Finnish Library Associations on copyright has recently issued a Statement. The Director requested to receive the statement if available in English. 

Public Lending Right

The European Commission has recently taken action against 7 EU countries (Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Luxembourg and Ireland), as regards the implementation of the PLR Directive [92/100/EEC]. 

In view of the current concern expressed by national member associations and the latest national actions undertaken in some of these countries, the EBLIDA Executive Committee decided to discuss the matter in more depth. 

Tommaso Giordano explained the situation in Italy. The Italian colleagues are in contact with the Spanish ones and they have recently organised a video conference in Guadalajara (Spain) and in Cologno Monzese (Italy) on this regards. A group of professionals (Italy, Spain, and Portugal) and others are preparing a document on that issue in order to take actions at the European level. The Italian professionals (included the Italian Library Association) are also lobbying on the national authorities (e.g. members of the Parliament) in order to request the national government to maintain the exemption provided by the current Italian low.  

Pedro Hípola commented that Spain, Portugal and Italy are coordinated. In Spain a Manifesto has been issued and translated into these three languages. The library position to be exempted from payment of remuneration is widely supported at national level, including many authors, in opposition to right holders’ managers who would like libraries to pay. This position is also in line with the Spanish tradition.  

Pedro Hípola requested the support of EBLIDA in this matter as this position coincides with the EBLIDA one when the Directive was debated at European level.  

Tommaso Giordano agreed that EBLIDA should have a position towards the current situation. This should not be regarded as a Southern countries’ issue but as a concern for many European Union countries. Also it should be considered that the art. 5 of the Directive provide room for exemptions in order to allow different approaches according to the specific national culture and needs. He suggest that the principle of the national approaches to the implementation of the Directive 92/100 on the lending right, should be taken in account in the EBLIDA’s position paper on this matter.

Antonio da Pina Falcâo said that the situation in Portugal was similar to Spain and Italy.  If the national government has to pay the budgets for libraries will certainly be affected by important reductions. The Directive provides for the exemption from remuneration of “certain establishments”. In Portugal all lending institutions are exempted from payment. The Portuguese library community is preparing a national lobby strategy and a letter addressed to Romano Prodi, President of the European Commission.  

María Pía González Pereira commented that the European Commission has requested information from these countries on the implementation of certain provisions of the Directive. Each Member State has a particular situation and their library communities have to perform national lobbying actions towards their governments. EBLIDA could issue a general position. This is a sensitive matter that could harm the balance achieved in other European countries. National traditions and current situation of the remuneration subject are different. Therefore it is not advisable that EBLIDA intervenes in national specific details.  

Pedro Hípola suggested that the EBLIDA statement focuses on the possibility for the member States, provided for by the Directive, to apply the exemption from remuneration.  

After further discussion the Executive Committee agreed that the Director will prepare an EBLIDA general statement on the matter following the suggestions agreed by the Executive Committee.  
 

6.    Professional Qualifications

María Pía González Pereira explained the current status concerning the legislative process undergone by the Directive on the recognition of professional qualifications. Although the stage reached is far from the beginning EBLIDA should fully engage in the matter, as approved by the Executive Committee in October 2003. 

The EBLIDA Annual Council Seminar on Professional Education would be a good opportunity to clarify the issues and raise awareness among the membership.  

Britt-Marie Häggström expressed her concern on which professions should be addressed by EBLIDA, e. g. librarians, archivists, information professionals, documentalists. 

She proposed the creation of a platform of professional organizations seeking recognition of professional qualifications and asked how could this match with the statement in the EBLIDA Draft Strategy 2004 – 2007 that EBLIDA deals with institutions and not with professionals. This should be clarified prior to issue any official position on this regards.  

Tommaso Giordano said this is an issue that should be discussed also within the national associations. He asked if in fact it would be convenient to be regulated or not. In Italy attempts have been previously made but have not been approved by the national Parliament. The Italian Library Association will also propose a representative to participate in the EBLIDA working group. 

Sue Brown commented that there is confusion about qualifications at EU level and among the libraries, archives and museums colleagues. This has been stated in the CILIP’s document on a new framework of qualifications. In 2005 CILIP will produce a new qualifications framework which will include a certification process for non-professional librarians. 

María Pía González Pereira explained that this Directive is about regulated professions and tries to unify former EU legislation on the matter. At this stage it would be difficult to request the introduction of a yet non-regulated profession.   

Sue Brown commented that in the UK there are regulated professions which match the Directive.   

Frode Bakken suggested setting up the EBLIDA Working Group on Professional Education as soon as possible in order to initiate the discussions on these matters.

Britt-Marie Häggström agreed that it was necessary to settle the working group as soon as possible and volunteered to participate in it. 

Finn Vester commented Denmark will propose a representative to join the working group. 

Frode Bakken suggested inviting EUCLID to attend the working group’s meetings as observer. He proposed that the group appoints a Chair among its participants who will closely coordinate the activities with the Director.  

The Executive Committee approved the suggestions made and appointed Sue Brown as Chair of the working group.

María Pía González Pereira will convene the current participants to hold a first meeting as soon as possible although the group will remain opened to other EBLIDA members who wish to join.

7.    GATS (General Agreement on Trade in services)

Kjell Nilsson, Chair of the EBLIDA working group on WTO matters, introduced the proposal to organise a Seminar on the GATS and TRIPS (Trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights). He explained the concerns for libraries, as contracts, within the digital environment, diminish the importance of copyright legislation thereby totally disrupting the balance of interests between rights holders and users which has for so long been one of the goals of such legislation.  

The Executive Committee approved the organization of this workshop, which will take place in Cambridge on the 20 and 21 September 2004. Its main aim is to raise awareness among the target groups, namely politicians, officers of library associations, the EBLIDA Executive Committee, the EBLIDA Copyright Expert Group, lecturers and students of library schools. It is expected to convene around 50 participants whose registration fees would be the basis for the funding of the event. The EBLIDA President was invited to give the welcome speech. 

The members of the EBLIDA WTO working group will organise the practical arrangements for the event in order to support the EBLIDA Secretariat. 

As requested by Kjell Nilsson, the Executive Committee agreed that EBLIDA will guarantee 2.000 Euros as a reserve for the event, although it is expected to have a higher benefit which would be kept within the EBLIDA budget.

8.    EBLIDA Annual Council meeting, Estoril May 2004

Antonio da Pina Falcâo introduced to the Executive Committee members the proposed programme for the Seminar on Professional Education and the background of the speakers. 

He acknowledged the efforts of the Director in convening a speaker from the European Commission taking into account the particular moment that May will represent for this Institution due to the accession of the ten new members of the EU. 

The speaker on behalf of archives has still to be confirmed. The Executive Committee requested Berndt Fredriksson to support the presentation on archives.

María Pía González Pereira suggested that EUCLID be invited to attend the Seminar in Estoril. 

Jan Ewout van der Putten requested Sue Brown to introduce the EBLIDA Working Group on Professional Education, but unfortunately she will not be able to attend the Council meeting in Estoril.  

Pedro Hípola, Vice President of EBLIDA, proposed to invite representatives of CertiDoc as observers. 

Britt-Marie Häggström supported this suggestion reminding that there is a questionnaire issued by CertiDoc some months ago which results may be available for the time of the EBLIDA Council. 

The Executive Committee approved the Agenda proposed and the suggestions made.

Antonio da Pina Falcâo explained the practical arrangements that are being made. The venue for the Council is expensive and BAD has offered to share the costs for the Estoril Congress Centre on Friday 14 May and look into the possibility that a local library or archive could host the EBLIDA Council meeting on Saturday 15 May.  

Antonio da Pina Falcâo said that the social programme arranged for the BAD national congress could be offered free of charge to the EBLIDA members. Details will be disseminated through the EBLIDA Secretariat when available. BAD has offered to sponsor the Executive Committee meeting prior to the Council and invited the Executive Committee members to join the dinner with the BAD national congress participants on 13 May. 

Jan-Ewout van der Putten thanked BAD for their support and expressed his willingness to share these events with the Portuguese colleagues. 

Finn Vester suggested changing the information items on the proposed Agenda for the Council meeting to Saturday morning and tackling the decision matters on Friday afternoon. 

After discussion the Executive Committee agreed to discuss the EBLIDA Draft Strategy on Friday afternoon and the information points on Saturday morning. The Friday meeting will be opened to the Portuguese colleagues who wish to attend. 

The Executive Committee agreed that María Pía González Pereira sees into the possibility of preparing an EBLIDA Brochure for the Council in Estoril.

Britt-Marie Häggström offered to support the Secretariat on this task and print the brochures at the DIK in Sweden.

Irena Sesek and Melita Ambro joined the Executive Committee meeting to present the National and University Library (NUK) and the Union of Associations of Slovenian librarians.  

Irena Sesek gave an introduction of the functioning and history of her organization highlighting the previous cooperation with EBLIDA through the TECUP and CELIP projects. 

The Union, open to all Slovenian librarians, has a governing board composed by eight regional Presidents and Sections’ Presidents, of whom some are also staff of NUK. 

Melita Ambro explained that the Association is currently at a crossroads immersed in a re-organisation process in order to make it more efficient and effective. 

She expressed their concern towards the real meaning of belonging to the EU as librarians, although they look at other EU countries’ associations and organisations in order to acknowledge their concerns and management. 

Jan Ewout van der Putten expressed his understanding of the Slovenian colleagues’ demands and suggested that EBLIDA and its members may well serve as reference by sharing their experience. The organisation is large in membership although the Secretariat is small. The Director does the lobbying and networking tasks. 

Frode Bakken said that the resources in an association are crucial. Presidents are usually busy and it is necessary to hire professional staff in order to fulfil the work. 

Irena Sesek commented that the Slovenian Association is funded by the Ministry of Culture as regards activities but not for personnel, which they need for its management. 

Britt-Marie Häggström commented how well known the Slovenian colleagues were for their active participation in previous European Commission funded projects like PULMAN and also on issues as lifelong learning. 

Winnie Vitzansky commented that although this is a complicated issue to be addressed with limited time, it is important to assess the resources available and needs. She considers necessary to count on an Executive Director or Secretary General in order to fulfil the political networking and put the organization in contact with the world outside the library community, e.g. politicians, archives, museums. There is not one single model. Each model suits different needs.

Frode Bakken commented that the Slovenian Association has a large membership base (1.400 members within a 2 million population), and this could lead to greater resources.

Melita Ambro said in March 2004 they will be preparing new Statutes for the Association which may result in a different structure in autumn. They would be delighted to host an EBLIDA annual Council meeting in Slovenia.

She also explained the good organization of the Slovenian library system as regards cataloguing and databases. The Ministry for Information Society supports the technological development of libraries. Citizens are more and more dependant on libraries as cultural centres in their region.

María Pía González Pereira asked how the Slovenian libraries and professionals faced the need to implement the EU legislation when becoming members of the European Union.

Melita Ambro commented the transformation that has been taking place in the last two or three years but there are still concerns on this regards among the library community.

Irena Sesek said librarians are not fully aware of the European legal issues, such as copyright, which affect libraries.

María Pía González Pereira explained how EBLIDA deals with these legal matters in front of the EU Institutions.

Britt-Marie Häggström asked how the Code of Ethics developed by the Slovenian Association was implemented by the librarians.

Melita Ambro explained the Code of Ethics, dated 1995 and widely promoted among the library community, was being updated. 

María Pía González Pereira asked about the recognition of the profession in Slovenia.

Melita Ambro and Irena Sesek explained that since 1987 librarianship has been recognized at University level. There are Library and Information Science and Book studies recognized by University, Master and Doctorate degrees.

The Executive Committee thanked the Slovenian colleagues for sharing their experience and look forward to their contribution in the future.

10.    EBLIDA Strategy 2004 – 2007

Jan-Ewout van der Putten commented on the working group meeting in The Hague in January 2004. The productive discussions resulted on the Draft Strategy submitted to the Executive for comments and ulterior submission to the Council. 

After discussion it was agreed to include the professions as part of the EBLIDA representation mission, as it is also stated in the EBLIDA Constitution. Therefore “EBLIDA should promote and defend the interests of the library, archive and information sectors and professions working for the European citizens”.

It was also agreed to include a brief glossary of acronyms and terms at the end of the Strategy document in order to facilitate reading. 

The Executive reviewed and agreed the amendments suggested to the following sections (see also EBLIDA Draft Strategy 2004 – 2007):

President Foreword

Britt-Marie Häggström suggested reflecting in the President Foreword that this new Strategy is a result of reviewing the previous EBLIDA Strategy of 2001.

Kjell Nilsson disagreed with the statement in the Draft Strategy that EBLIDA is the “…single representative of libraries, archives and information sectors in Europe”. He said LIBER also lobbies for the research libraries at European level.

Mission statement

Britt-Marie Häggström proposed to add to the first bullet point the non-formal education.

Objectives

Berndt Fredriksson suggested omitting “But it is also the EBLIDA aim” and to change the wording of the first bullet point as follows: “To voice the library, archive and information sectors in Europe”.

Lobbying and Monitoring

The list of broad policy issues will be drafted as follows:

ü       Intellectual property rights [including World Intellectual Property Organisation issues]

ü       Information Society issues

ü       Professional Education

ü       Culture

ü       International Trade matters e. g. GATS, General Agreement on Trade in Services & TRIPS, Trade Related aspects of Intellectual Property Rights

Membership

Frode Bakken commented on the Nordic meeting between library associations which took place in November 2003. The EBLIDA membership and voting rights were discussed regarding the possibility for individual libraries and institutions to become full members if they wish. There were arguments in favour of both positions, but this possibility could mean more involvement from members and more resources available to EBLIDA.  

After discussion Jan-Ewout van der Putten concluded this is an item to be inserted in the Agenda of the Executive Committee meeting in autumn and put forward to the Council for decision at the Cork meeting in 2005.  

Financial Resources

Further to the suggestion by Britt-Marie Häggström and after discussion it was agreed to suppress the last phrase under this section regarding additional voluntary contributions by members.

Communication

The Executive Committee agreed to highlight here the effectiveness of the EBLIDA mailing list as a communication tool.

Cooperation with other organisations

The Executive Committee decided to include LIBER and EDItEUR, and exclude EIA form the list. 

The Executive Committee agreed that Sue Brown would also review the amended Draft Strategy document liaising with the Director.

11.    EBLIDA Finances: Draft Budget 2004 & Financial Statement 2003

María Pía González Pereira introduced the updated version of the Draft Budget 2004. The Director is in permanent contact with Klaus-Peter Böttger in order to discuss with him every issue concerning the Budget 2004 and the Financial Statement 2003, as agreed by the Executive Committee meeting in The Hague (October 2003).  

The Draft Budget 2004 is still under preparation as there are some outstanding expenses calculations. The final version of the Draft Budget 2004 is expected to be ready by mid March 2004.

The Director requested Bouwer & Officier accountants to check and audit the EBLIDA accounts for 2003 and produce the Financial Statement of the year. Two draft versions have already been produced and sent to the Secretariat for review. The final version of the document is expected to be finished by mid March 2004.  

María Pía González Pereira explained that there are 8 new Associate members expected for 2004. The reason of this is that the new EU countries’ potential full members could be allocated to the associate membership status during 2004 if requested as a transition solution, due to their often commented lack of resources to cope with a full membership annual fee. In 2005 the new EBLIDA members that comply with the conditions stated in the Constitution would be allocated to the correspondent Full membership fee band.

Frode Bakken requested to state the current status of the EBLIDA bank accounts and the total assets available at the beginning and at the end of 2003 and present these figures to the next Executive Committee meeting and to the Council members.  

María Pía González Pereira commented on the tight financial resources available, even with the 4% raise of the membership fees in 2004.

Britt-Marie Häggström commented that a previous EBLIDA Council decided that a reservation should be made for personnel in case of unexpected difficult financial situation.

After further discussion of the items included in the Income and Expenditure fields of the Draft Budget 2004, the Executive Committee decided to clarify the Membership income difference between 2003 and 2004.  

The Executive Committee agreed to include the new EU countries’ membership status as an item for discussion in the Agenda of the next Executive Committee and Council in Estoril.

12.    EBLIDA Workshop in a candidate country: clash with GATS Seminar 2004

Britt-Marie Häggström suggested holding the autumn Executive Committee meeting together with the GATS Seminar in Cambridge, in September 2004.  

After discussion and due to the clash of dates for many members it was decided that the Executive Committee will meet on 12 and 13 November 2004. Prague was suggested as a possibility but a final decision on the place will be taken in Estoril.

13.    Annual Council Minutes Uppsala, May 2003

The Annual Council Minutes were approved by the Executive Committee.

14.    WSIS, results form Geneva and Next Steps

Winnie Vitzansky explained the major lobby effort that the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) has meant. It is the first time that libraries are clearly involved in an international United Nations conference on Information Society. 

She provided the Executive members with a copy of the IFLA WSIS team report on the achievements of the Geneva meeting in December 2003 [See IFLA at the WSIS, February 2004, Encl.]. 

Winnie Vitzansky said that United Nations has expressed the will that the national government delegations include civil society representatives. National Library associations should contact their governments and include representatives on the delegations. The support from EBLIDA will be needed for the lobbying actions regarding the WSIS.

15.    Cultural Industries, latest developments and Further Steps

Britt-Marie Häggström explained the current situation on European creative industries, which include music, films and authors concerns. She highlighted the fact that the European Economic and Social Committee have included libraries and museums as disseminators and distributors of culture in its latest Opinion (INT/181), dated 28 January 2004.  

Britt-Marie Häggström emphasized the need for EBLIDA to create a working group on culture in order to discuss this and other culture-related matters in-depth.

16.    EU Info Points, current status and Further Steps

María Pía González Pereira summarized the steps taken on this regards. The letters expressing the EBLIDA Position were sent to the European Commission and European Parliament representatives in November 2003. The European Commission has extended the financial provisions for Info Points and Carrefours in 2004. A further final solution will be discussed with the Council and European Parliament.

17.    EBLIDA website

María Pía González Pereira briefed the Executive Committee members on the latest modifications on the EBLIDA website following the EBLIDA Work Programme 2003 – 2004, approved by the Executive Committee. The intention is to keep the new sections progressively updated.  

The Director emphasized the need for EBLIDA to have an up-to-date and re-designed website as a powerful means of lobbying and promotion.  

After discussion the Executive Committee approved that the Director will present a proposal on the requirements and costs to update the EBLIDA website for the meeting in autumn.

18.    EBLIDA Hot News: from paper to electronic version

María Pía González Pereira explained that previous surveys among the membership have resulted in a slight preference for keeping the Hot News paper version. 

Disa Svenskberg said a solution could be to switch to an electronic version and send an alert via the EBLIDA mailing list.  

Pedro Hípola suggested that the Director presents to the next Executive Committee meeting statistical information on the last two years visits and use of the EBLIDA website.

Jan-Ewout van der Putten suggested that another questionnaire be sent to the EBLIDA members.

19.    National reports

Finland

Disa Svenskberg commented on the latest developments taking place in Finland. All research libraries have the same library system, the Voyager, and the development of the cooperation is deepening twofold.  First, all the polytechnic libraries have chosen to be part of the cooperation. The research libraries took the system in use in the summer 2001 and the polytechnics are now in the process of implementing the system. The research libraries have jointly acquired a portal-program, MetaLib. A preparation for take it in use have begun and it is expected to be ready for customers by next autumn, when MetaLib will publish a new version of the program. Though the program is common for the libraries and a big part of acquisitions of electronic periodicals is centralised on national level, there will be a big effort for every library to get their resources in to the portal. 

The research libraries have begun the work to map the research literature in all libraries. The project title can be translated as "Knowledge map". The first phase to find a thesaurus for this purpose is ongoing. It is expected that this same thesaurus will also be useful in indexing the resources in local libraries. 

The Finnish-Swedish Library Association has completed the project to investigate the school libraries in the Swedish speaking schools. The result was not very encouraging. The Project was funded partly by the Ministry of Education, who are funding a continuation of the project, which aim is to develop the school libraries and the education of the teachers who manage them. The project was too big for a small association, so it is managed from the Centre of further education at Åbo Akademi, Vasa.

Norway

Frode Bakken explained that the library community in Norway is delighted with the government approval to undertake a study on libraries in society. Also an office has been provided for research libraries and common projects on digital issues have been awarded.

Spain

Pedro Hípola said that the national legislation on libraries in Spain is mainly connected with the regional governments. In this context, ‘second versions’ of library legislation in the regional level are now being produced.

The Spanish library associations are weakened but on the contrary the archive organisations are improving.

The Ministry of Culture is organising a major conference on public libraries next autumn. This is the second edition. The first one was really successful.

As regards the public lending right issue results are expected to be delayed due to the national elections taking place on the 14 March. Cooperation is maintained with Italy and Portugal.

The situation of CDs is a major concern. Right owners of audiovisual rights have an agreement with the computer industry for the selling of blank CDs. Users associations are trying to oppose this situation. Some individual users are even requesting detailed invoices including the remuneration costs charged.

Another issue of concern is the regulation of the curriculum for the training of librarians at University level. Archive representatives are against a joint training curriculum. In March a joint proposal on this regards will be submitted to the Ministry of Education, who are also evaluating the university libraries in Spain.

20.    Any other business

President’s Report

Jan-Ewout van der Putten stated his intention to change the focus of EBLIDA. He commented on the opened and productive meeting held in The Hague in January 2004 to discuss the EBLIDA Strategy, which has been amended and approved by the Executive Committee members.  

Another relevant goal for the EBLIDA President is to bring EBLIDA closer to IFLA so as to share expertise and burden of issues. Jan Ewout van der Putten said he intends to meet Mr R Ramachandran, new IFLA  Secretary General, and afterwards he himself, Ramachandran and María Pía González Pereira could meet together in order to strengthen this cooperation.  

Annual raise of membership fees

As agreed by the EBLIDA Council, the membership fees will be raised on an annual basis taking as a reference the Dutch inflation rate percentage. In 2003 the rate was calculated around 2.5 %.

The Executive Committee approved that the EBLIDA membership fees for 2005 will be raise at a 2.5% rate. 

EBLIDA – ICA meeting

Berndt Fredriksson and María Pía González Pereira are meeting with ICA members on the 19 March 2004 in Paris, as a first step towards closer cooperation with Archives.

Pedro Hípola expressed his content that the Director and Berndt Fredriksson were holding this meeting and suggested introducing one or two specific topics on archives in the Agenda for the next Executive Committee meeting.

Berndt Fredriksson welcomed the suggestion, although many issues are common for libraries and archives. He emphasized the fact that he and the Director are approaching the ICA section for Professional Education which is a good starting point for closer cooperation.

EBLIDA Working Groups

Frode Bakken commented on the effectiveness of the EBLIDA working groups on specific matters as they are a free of charge expertise source. He emphasized the suggestion to create an EBLIDA Working Group on Culture and on Information Society issues and even the possibility to create an ad hoc working group on each broad policy issue. The Working Groups should have a close contact with the Director but also relief the Secretariat from more work burden. A Chair for each working group could be chosen form among the members.

Jan Ewout van der Putten suggested including this issue for discussion at the Executive Committee meeting in November, in connection with the discussion on the EBLIDA Work Programme 2005.

21.    Next meeting

The next Executive Committee meeting will take place in Estoril (Portugal), prior to the annual Council meeting, on 13 May 2004. The date for the EBLIDA autumn Executive Committee meeting will be 12 – 13 November 2004. The place will be decided in Estoril.

22.    Closure

Jan-Ewout van der putten thanked the executive Committee members and the Slovenian colleagues for their contributions.