Francis Gurry, Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) pronounced last Friday a keynote speech on The Future of Copyright. After the speech of European Commissioner Nellie Kroes at the Forum d’Avignon, and in line with Lawrence Lessig’s recent speech at WIPO, this conference is an historical turning point. At the highest level, those in charge of copyright policy are conscious that it will need a deep reform and reorientation, or risks disappearing totally. It is an evolution one must welcome, assist, and defend against the present circumvention of multilateral organizations such as WIPO by bilateral negociations (Free Trade Agreements) or plurilateral negotiations between friends of property fundamentalism (ACTA). However, one must also recognize that it can constitute only one component of a modern intellectual rights policy. Unless its mandate is reformulated, WIPO can only care for the rights defined in the treaties it is in charge of, or those that are being negotiated in its arena. The key requirement of an intellectual rights framework adapted to the digital era is for non-market1 activities of individuals to be free of any proprietary restriction. This does not make them a lawless domain, but it means that an intellectual production placed in the hands of any person, can be used outside markets by that person, without property claims being possibly opposed to that usage. Is this heretical? Not more than permitting everyone to speak or write without anyone being able to claim property on language and writing. However, it is not a doctrine that WIPO can today profess. More at: http://paigrain.debatpublic.net/?p=2932&lang=en For French-readers: http://paigrain.debatpublic.net/?p=2918 Best, Philippe