Discussions of international copyright laws usually are reserved for court briefs and judicial hearings. But in the age of the internet, such laws could determine whether all scientists share the most current information in their fields..

Copies and Rights

More than 10,000 physicists attended the 1999 Centennial Meeting of the American Physical Society, held in Atlanta, Georgia (USA), from 20-26 March 1999. The meeting marked the largest gathering of physicists in the history of the profession. Representing, the ICTP/Third World Academy of Sciences Donation Programme was Hilda Cerdeira.

At the conference, Hilda Cerdeira participated in a panel discussion examining an issue of critical importance to the future well-being of scientific research in the South--namely, national and international copyright laws as they pertain to electronic publications. Other session speakers included Martin Blume, American Physical Society; Ian Butterworth, formerly with the British Institute of Physics; Jean-Marc Quilby, EDP Sciences in France, and Sukekatsu Ushiodo, Japan Physical Society.

In her presentation, Cerdeira noted that two conflicting principles, both recognised by the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, have complicated the dissemination of scientific information at a time when new information technologies make such dissemination more rapid and cost-effective than ever before.

On the one hand, the UN Declaration states that every individual deserves access to scientific information. On the other hand, the Declaration states that every individual also has the right to receive legal protection--largely in the form of copyright laws--for the scientific knowledge that he or she creates.

Many observers maintain that relatively rapid and largely cost-free distribution of information has been a critical factor behind scientific progress since the time of Isaac Newton. Now, new information technologies--most notably, the internet--have created unprecedented opportunities for even more rapid and lower cost information dissemination. In the years ahead, such opportunities are likely to reach even the most remote corners of the developing world as scientific institutions throughout the South acquire the necessary hardware and software.

However, to take full advantage of these new technologies, information will have to be downloaded (in effect, electronically copied), a process that puts these new methods of information dissemination on a collision course with national and international copyright laws.

In light of these trends, Cerdeira's talk focused on this critical question: How can we retain a delicate balance between an individual's right to enjoy access to scientific information and the equally important right for researchers to receive protection for their findings and discoveries? Both rights must be secured for scientific progress to continue in the future, especially in the developing world.

When two inherent rights of equal importance come in conflict, solutions become difficult. Yet, if we fail to find a way to achieve a balance between the public and private good, scientists in the developing world are likely to find themselves information-deprived in the age of information. Such a trend would have untold adverse consequences for scientists from the South and, perhaps even more importantly, for the five billion people living in the developing world, who are banking on science and technology to secure a better future for both themselves and their children.

Following the session, Cerdeira was asked to become part of an International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) Working Group on Communication in Physics that will examine the difficult and delicate issues surrounding international copyright laws and regulations at a time when electronic communications is emerging as the driving force behind the exchange of scientific information. News from ICTP will keep you posted on the committee's progress.

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