Draft Bill to Amend the Copyright Law

Proposed section 36 of the Copyright Law exempts libraries, archives and museums from the payment of royalties for representing, executing, reciting and reading literary or artistic works which have already been published.

In turn, new section 36 bis would exempt libraries, documentation centers, public archives or archives belonging to non-profit institutions, scientific institutions and teaching institutions from the payment of royalties and from having to request authorization from the author in the following situations: (i) when lending protected works which form part of their collections, and (ii) when reproducing by any means scientific, literary or artistic works executed by said institutions; provided such reproduction does not affect the normal performance of the works involved, as defined in that same article.

The proposed amendment of section 29 of Law No. 25,446 exempts from the sanctions established in this law those institutions listed in the exemptions set forth in the copyright law.

According to the proponents of the bill, the current copyright law grants authors a supreme and prevailing economic monopoly on their works, an exclusionary right which deprives citizens from the right to study and research and have access to knowledge and information; and prevents libraries and other cultural institutions from their purpose of facilitating, spreading and programming such tasks. This is so because the copyright law does not provide for exceptions in their favor as regards reproduction, representation, performance and recital of works, unlike the international copyright treaties (Berne Convention, GATT TRIPs, WIPO) ratified by the Argentine Republic.