Presidential Address, IFLA Jerusalem Conference, August 2000
Christine Deschamps would like to begin by quoting during the past year. The first, Ithe following parable from the entirely internal to IFLA, was of Christine Deschamps, IFLA's Presi- Talmud. One day, King Solomon course the work carried out on the dent, has been the Director of the called over his chief Counsellor and revision of the IFLA Statutes, and Library of the University Paris V told him, "I read in the stars that the revision concerning the Core (René Descartes) since 1993. From everyone who eats from this year's Programmes. However I would not 1989 until 1993 she was Chef de crops will be stricken with mad- want to claim credit that was not Bureau in the Ministère de l'Educa- ness. What do you suggest we do due to me: it is clear that the excel- tion Nationale, in charge of all acad- about it, my friend?" lent drafting of the new Statutes emic libraries' automation, network- submitted to you is primarily the ing, interlibrary loan and union cata- "Your majesty, please order that work of our Secretary General, Mr logues. In 1988 she was Director of some of what is left over from last Ross Shimmon. the ISSN Centre. She spent 13 years year's harvest be kept for us, and working as a medical librarian in the we will not touch anything that is But naturally the general outlines largest medical library in France, grown this year." were drafted on the basis of the first as a reference librarian and work of an ad hoc Consultative then as Director of the Library of the "What would be the result, my Group, and were discussed by both University of Paris VII (Denis friend?", asked the king. "We alone the full Professional Board and the Diderot). Ms Deschamps serves on would remain with a sound mind, Executive Board, before being sent the Board of Directors of OCLC. In amongst all these men stricken to you. 1998 she was awarded the Insignia with madness. They would say that de Chevalier de l'Order National du we are the crazy ones and not them. The major idea underlying these Mérite, because of her international Besides, there is not enough left Statutes is undoubtedly to give commitment within IFLA, but also over from last year's crops to feed IFLA a structure both more democ- because of her work with OCLC. Ms the entire population!" ratic and better adapted to the Deschamps may be contacted at needs of the 21st century. Organiza- Bibliothèque de l'Université Paris V "So what can we do, Your tions, like individuals, grow old. (Rene Descartes), 49, rue des Majesty?" asked the Counsellor. They also need, at regular intervals, Saints-Pères, 75005 Paris, France King Solomon answered: "We have a facelift, a new garb, a complete (fax: (+33-1) 45449545; e-mail: no other solution than to be mad rejuvenation. That which was quite [email protected]). along with everybody else. But I suitable in the 1970s is no longer would like us to be different in this: suited to the year 2000, and the [Madame Deschamps delivered her that we should be aware of our development of IFLA's membership address in French during the 66th IFLA General Conference and Council, folly." requires better representation, a Jerusalem, Israel, 13-18 August 2000. broader management structure, and The French version may be found at "How is that possible?" asked the better supported and stronger exec-
Before speaking of my visits to Let us be clear: IFLA does not have librarians around the world, I the means to continue these pro- would like to emphasize two essen- grammes, and we would have gone tial lines of research and debate "into the red" as from next year. It
IFLA JOURNAL 26 (2000) 5/6 337 Christine Deschamps
is true that these programmes are their continuing commitment. But nize the need and the value of partly funded by certain national or there again, times are changing, IFLA's regional structure while, at university libraries, whose generos- and technical progress requires us the same time, enabling people in ity, year after year, I want to pub- to re-examine the content of our those regions to participate in the licly acknowledge. But that is not activities in order to help libraries overall professional programmes of enough, and IFLA cannot provide as best we can to rise to new chal- IFLA". the balance of the total cost. This lenges in a constantly changing situation, which is forcing us to environment. In this context, not to That is our ambition. I hope that look again at the structures of the change is to stagnate, and thus to everyone interested will contribute Core Programmes, is also therefore die. Libraries must prove their to the consultation so that we can the opportunity to go back to basics capacity to change, and the body come up with workable proposals. and think about the content of that represents them, IFLA, must be these programmes as much as their the first to organize change. I want As for my work dealing with IFLA's method of operation and funding. to reassure you that we will not external relations, I would say the change everything all at once for main theme this year has been con- Some libraries pay, and in addition the sake of changing, and jettison sideration of the training of new host a programme, and provide one achievements and successes. But we information professionals, these or more professional staff; some cannot continue indefinitely to "knowledge workers" as they are pay without hosting a programme; work according to old patterns, or often called. Librarians, documen- and some do not pay at all. There- else we will become slow and talists, archivists, museum special- fore, having determined the situa- inflexible. ists, all have common and overlap- tion by a report on the contribution ping competencies. To acquire of national libraries (only the As for the more delicate problem of these, common training should be library of the University of Uppsala, the future of Division 8, we are well envisaged, with specialized options Sweden, which hosts the ALP Pro- on the way to finding a solution according to different career paths. gramme, falls outside this category), which will allow the developing The development of the informa- we thought it necessary to cooper- countries to continue to work tion society and relevant new tech- ate with the Conference of Directors together, in accordance with their nologies is closing the gaps of National Libraries (CDNL) to try wishes, while at the same time - so between these professions. The and propose a programme of con- far from marginalizing them by management of records of archives tributions (in terms of budget, confining them in a separate struc- and particularly of electronic staffing, or other) which would be ture - will integrate them into the archives of commercial firms and shared more equally among these work of the Sections and core activ- private societies, the management libraries. ities. of image banks in museums, the notion of preservation and conser- Mr van Drimmelen, Director of the At last year's conference, the Work- vation, the storage and indexing of Royal Library of the Netherlands, ing Group on the Revision of electronic or traditional objects, and chaired the "Group of Seven" mem- IFLA's Statutes made a number of searching for these data, are tasks bers of the Conference of Directors recommendations. All except one common to all these professions. of National Libraries to help us found favor and have now been New methods of description - meta- come to an acceptable solution, incorporated in the proposed new data / numerical identifiers - form based on preliminary proposals pre- Statutes. However, the proposal to the basis of the work of codification sented to them at last year's confer- abolish the Division of Regional that librarians call cataloguing, but ence. I am delighted to say, that Activities (Division 8) was with- also of the daily work of related with the Group's help, we are very drawn, in the light of the debates professions. New competencies are close to agreement. during the conference. Instead, a appearing in step with the evolu- new Advisory Group, ably chaired tion of our professional tasks. In Some Core Programmes will be by Marjorie Bloss, was set up to particular I took part this last north- able to stay as they are, as they are explore the issues surrounding that ern winter, in discussions with the the only actors in their specific recommendation and its withdraw- Council of Europe on cultural work field. We are only starting to reflect al. That group has now produced a in the new information society - on this question. Some programmes very helpful discussion paper, after which a recommendation on feel themselves directly threatened. which I hope will result in firm pro- the new professional profiles was I believe I can clearly say here that posals, following discussions at this drafted. It is to be hoped that this it is not a question of getting rid of conference and the wider consulta- will be the harbinger of collabora- some programmes at any cost, or of tion exercise. As the paper says, we tion with all the professions related denying the importance of the role are aiming at a "structure in which to libraries, not only for training of the libraries which host and/or people can participate regardless of more appropriate to the needs of a fund them. On the contrary, thanks their geographic location. We want dramatically changing society, but are due to all these programmes to reduce the barriers to such par- also in the hope that this "rap- and libraries for their outstanding ticipation, recognizing that we can prochement" might enable the work, their unfailing generosity and all learn from each other. We recog- building of a new force in the infor-
338 IFLA JOURNAL 26 (2000) 5/6 Presidential Address, IFLA Jerusalem Conference, August 2000 mation professions, to give us more from many French-speaking coun- the FAIFE (Free Access to Informa- weight, visibility and power, by tries of sub-Saharan Africa, and ESI tion and Freedom of Expression) improving our representation to the (Ecole des Sciences de l'Informa- Committee has played an extreme- political decision-makers. We hope tion) in Rabat which also runs ly active role in supporting librari- to continue our discussions in order many cooperative regional projects ans working in countries where to move in this direction. for the Arab countries of the freedom of expression is not always Maghreb and possible a future respected. FAIFE also took part in a Still in the area of training, this regional office. In these two coun- UN-sponsored mission to evaluate year will see the realization of a tries, librarians have an enlightened the reconstruction of library collec- project already announced last year. vision of their mission to provide tions in Kosovo. We fulfil our com- The first IFLA/OCLC Fellows from training, and of the role of libraries mitments at all levels, for the developing countries will be in their respective regions. These greater good of libraries and librar- enabled to travel to the United relationships between IFLA and the ians around the world. States to undertake training in the main training centres in various practical applications of new tech- regions of the world must continue I would like to conclude here on an nologies and visit numerous Amer- to develop. The future of the profes- optimistic note. For the first time ican establishments. Those fortu- sion depends on it. since the payment system for nate enough to be granted this IFLA's membership fees was set up, opportunity to improve their Parallel to those visits, I also visited we have succeeded in finding a knowledge while discovering the countries which are working on the budget solution which allows us to libraries of the USA will then have preparation of future IFLA Confer- announce here today a significant to pass on their knowledge to their ences. Argentina, the USA, and Ger- reduction in fees for institutional own countries, and we hope this many gave me a warm welcome members in the least developing will contribute to the improvement (literally in the case of Argentina countries. At the same time, we are of training courses on the new where it was 25 degrees Celsius proposing to apply small changes to information and communication hotter than in Paris!) and demon- reflect increases in costs every two technologies. More training, more strated quite remarkable efficiency years, so as to avoid sudden drastic standardization, more compatibility and organization. I met there some increases at irregular intervals. and interoperability - this is the aim important local personalities, and From now on, the least developed of my work for developing coun- also association members of IFLA countries will pay a membership tries, as well as for others who may who will be asked to contribute to fee nearly 60% lower than other be further ahead in the use of tech- the preparation of the conference. countries. This is real progress nological equipment but who are Each country has its difficulties, its toward real democracy within IFLA, not necessarily more effective due particular local situation, but also which will, I hope, allow countries to wrong use of their resources. To its treasures to be discovered, its in difficulty to continue in member- work together with librarians ready commitment and its enthusiasm. ship of IFLA and to benefit from all to confront the difficulties of inter- Believe me when I say this augurs the advantages of membership. national cooperation, in order to well for our future Conferences! Despite their financial problems, help all countries find points of they will be able to remain mem- agreement and common pro- Before concluding, I would like to bers of the library community and grammes, that is our goal in add that I have also, as each year, the greatest benefits of solidarity improving professional training worked in liaison with UNESCO, will be gained. courses. IFLA sees this as a prime the International Council of obligation. Archives, the International Federa- Those then were the main aspects tion for Information and Documen- of my work over the past year. I Over and above this work of princi- tation, the International Council of wish you all a useful and enjoyable ple, I have also undertaken some Museums, and the International conference, that brings together the professional visits. This year it was Organization for Standardization. guardians of books in the country the turn of Senegal and Morocco, This year, we have pursued our dis- of the book, at the beginning of a with special attention paid to their cussions with the publishers, and I new millennium... training organizations. I was wel- have set up links with the Interna- comed in turn by EBAD (Ecole de tional Book Agency, while the Com- Bibliothècaires et d'Archivistes de mittee on Copyright and other Reference Dakar - the School of Library and Legal Matters has continued its Archive Studies in Dakar) which work representing libraries in insti- 1 In Comtes du Yiddishland. Paroles do provides training for professionals tutions working on copyright, and peuple juif. Paris: Ed/ du Seuil, 2000.
IFLA JOURNAL 26 (2000) 5/6 339 The Outsider as Insider: Speaking Earnestly about the Rushdie Case
Arne Ruth peaking in a city which is the smoke rises from the blackening Ssite of David's kingdom and of pages, so the breath of the crowd Arne Ruth is a Swedish journalist the Jewish temple, of the crucifixion grows hotter. God is great, Allah and visiting professor at Stockholm of Jesus, and of Muhammad's akhbar! University. He was born in Berlin and ascent to heaven, and where history came to Sweden in 1945 via is relentlessly evoked to fuel sup- Does this ring a bell? In the early Bernadotte Aid. He studied philoso- port for some particular vision of 1990s, a novel was burned by mili- phy, English and political science at the future, is deeply symbolic for tant British Muslims in Bradford, a Gothenburg University and journal- me. I am an agnostic, which means real town in the north of England, ism at the University of South Flori- that I am an outsider to all argu- as part of an ideological battle start- da. Mr Ruth worked for several ments based on religion. Yet, as a ed by a dictator proclaiming to have Swedish daily newspapers and the secularist, I recognize that art a direct line of communication to Swedish Radio and Television Corpo- inspired by religion is part of my heaven. Through a strange ration. In 1977 he became cultural identity as a human being. You sequence of events, its author was editor at the daily, Expressen and in don't have to be a believer to be projected onto the world stage, 1988 he became editor-in-chief for inspired by the beauty and mystery seemingly drawn into the centre of culture at the leading liberal daily of visions of the sacred formed by a "clash of civilizations", described newspaper, Dagens Nyheter. Mr artists rarely known by name. as inevitable by a political scientist- Ruth left Dagens Nyheter in 1988, Jerusalem, regardless of conflicting turned-apocalyst, Samuel P. Hunt- and since then he has published religious claims, belongs to that ington. works on European culture and poli- universal heritage. Sharing tics. He is the author of Trans Jerusalem is surely the only way of The author of Fatima's Scarf, for- Europe Express with essays on cul- uniting it. Even as an outsider, I mer literary editor of the New tural and political trends in Europe, want my part of its universality. Statesman, David Caute, makes no and co-author of Samhället som bones about the fact that he's writ- teater (Society as Theatre), which I count on your profession as allies ten a satirical roman à clef. The analyzes the aesthetics of Nazism in a never-ending effort: making Satanic Verses is reinvented as The as a means of social persuasion. knowledge, including artistic Devil: An Interview in his novel, During the Balkan wars he was visions, accessible to every human and elements of the plot clearly link strongly engaged in writing about being as part of a universal her- the main character, the Egyptian- and supporting cultural activity in itage. born author Gamal Hamel, to the solidarity with Sarajevo. Arne Ruth real-life Salman Rushdie. In both is an internationally known advo- I don't have to tell you that such a cases, books are burnt, a fatwa is cate for freedom of expression and vision is still utopian. And the delivered, and the author goes into was the Chair of the Swedish Rushdie case, of course, is a case in hiding. Gamal Hamel has a vision Rushdie Committee. He may be con- point. I will start by quoting from a of himself as a writer-turned-super- tacted via the IFLA FAIFE Office at British novel, published two years star. His conceited, talented and Islands Brygge 37, DK-2300 Copen- ago, Fatima's Scarf, indicative of provocative presence dances in and hagen S, Denmark (fax: +(45) several aspects of the problems we out of the plot. 33667064; e-mail: [email protected]). are now facing in the cultural field. [Mr Ruth delivered his paper during the The scene is a public square in The title is taken from another 66th IFLA General Conference and Coun- Bruddersford, an imaginary English character, a troubled, anorectic 15- cil, Jerusalem, Israel, 13-18 August town with a large Muslim popula- year-old schoolgirl staging her own 2000.] tion: protest against the book by wearing a Muslim headscarf, a hijab, in defi- The silence of three thousand ance of her school's regulations. tongues is awesome as the satan- Symbolically, this is central to ic book is held aloft by Mustafa Caute's perspective: the paradox Jangar. Intently the all-male that an act of acquiescence to the crowd observes the fastening, the norms of a minority culture, per- pinning (as if a wild animal has formed in support of the banning been trapped), the dousing of fuel and burning of a novel, could also - the sudden spurt of flame which be regarded as a liberating mani- brings a vast exhalation from six festation of protest against a brand thousand lungs.... As the flames of racism masquerading as emanci- take hold and the devil's oily pation.
340 IFLA JOURNAL 26 (2000) 5/6 The Outsider as Insider: Speaking Earnestly about the Rushdie Case
And in a strange way, by satirizing normal political process, is a con- "bunny", Playboy's visual image, the hypocrisy of Western liberal fusing new phenomenon. The logic was now a marker on a range of permissiveness, Fatima's Scarf of social and political behavior products from T-shirts to condoms. unintentionally presages its own based on the idea of similar moti- Of course, the editor told Schiffrin, publishing fate. According to the vations is becoming more and more in order to develop the market, accompanying publicity material, nebulous. These changes are now Playboy would be very careful not this book is "the novel no British very influential in defining the aes- to offend Beijing's old men. Sure publisher would print". Twenty-five thetic field. enough, a week after their lunch, publishing houses turned it down, Playboy cancelled a contract to and Caute had to publish it himself. The number of styles seems to be print an excerpt from author Paul constantly increasing, innovation Theroux's outspoken book about That seems to be only the tip of the and relinquishment appearing Hongkong. iceberg. British writer Jenny Taylor almost simultaneously. Even the has made a study of unofficial cen- most dominant of the post-religious Rupert Murdoch's infamous deci- sorship affecting books dealing mythologies has evaporated: the sion not to broadcast BBC on his with Islam. It is doubly depressing: sense of historical progression. Chinese cable television network tacit submission to religious pres- Punks and skinheads spotlighted and the extravagant launching of sure on the part of publishing hous- the social phenomenon of reconsti- an unreadable book by Deng es and university departments, and tuting the loss of conventional iden- Xiaoping's daughter by his Ameri- no public outcry over their lack of tity by a provoking personal style. can publishing house Bantam commitment to the principles of Their attitudes were poles apart, Books - a hundred thousand dollars open discussion. but they shared the method of aes- were invested to bring her to the thetic invention. Styles within the United States - prove the dangers of youth culture arise on the spur of book publishing becoming part of I'll make no bones about my own the moment, changing and disap- global media empires. Controlling position on the issues raised by pearing in ways that cannot be the market also means reducing Fatima's Scarf, both by its content anticipated. Their network spans choice. The mechanism of Retail and its fate. I've been Chair of the the world, regardless of distance. Display Allowance, the money paid Swedish Rushdie Committee until And the inventions very often by American publishers in order to all the committees were dissolved become the rallying cry of some have their presumptive bestsellers in late 1998. Symbolically, I am part of the fashion industry, rapidly prominently exposed by giant among the targets of David Caute's destroying any challenge originally bookstore chains like Barnes & satire: a member of the smug liber- present. Commercially, even the Noble, effectively eliminates the al-establishment circle trying to ele- middle class has been infected by chances of readers choosing from a vate its status by appearing morally the lifestyle germ. In this entire large range of titles. André committed while neglecting the field, confusion is surely the only Schiffrin's new publishing house, concerns of a downtrodden minori- stable tendency. The Free Press, continues to publish ty. Yet, I am perfectly willing to read translations of high quality world Fatima's Scarf as a novel of the What has been lost in this muddle literature. On average, Barnes & times. It deals with a hidden is the core of the modernist project: Noble, with approximately 1000 malaise in late 20th century democ- the idea of creating art of universal stores, used to order 300 copies and racies: the idea of emancipation significance. If aesthetics is nothing sell about one tenth of them. When turning in on itself. Its fate in the more than a myriad of personal Schiffrin publicly pointed to this publishing industry proves the rele- identity characteristics, the concept absurd situation, Barnes & Noble vance of its subject. The Enlighten- of guarding its free development stopped ordering his line of books ment has begun to vacillate and its becomes irrelevant. altogether. liberation perspective to dim. Commercial art, now increasingly They also blocked the sale of The Part of that is the result of social handled by globally based multime- Satanic Verses for a while after the changes in the Western world. dia empires, has no problem about fatwa was issued, ostensibly to Increasingly, traditional material being defined in strictly instrumen- guard employees and customers motivations intermingle with newly tal terms. André Schiffrin, the (two more US book chains did the formed ethical, religious and aes- American publisher who left the same). And in Europe, several pub- thetic attitudes connected to differ- once legendary Pantheon Books lishing houses bowed to pressure. ences in sex, ethnicity, age and when Random House, the new own- The worst case is Kiepenheuer & social appearance - all of them far ers, requested a very high profit Witsch in Cologne, Rushdie's tradi- less stable than ideologies based on level as the set basis of operations, tional German publisher. When the the class divisions of the traditional has told an illuminating story. In German edition finally emerged, it industrial society. Especially in the 1997, he lunched with the New York was the result of a collective Nordic countries, the emergence of editor of Playboy magazine. They author's publishing effort, led by a spectrum of minority positions, discussed the success of Playboy Hans Magnus Enzensberger and only partially connected with the ventures in Communist China. The Günter Grass.
IFLA JOURNAL 26 (2000) 5/6 341 Arne Ruth
William Nygaard, director of the be whisked home in an instant. But there was no legal way of blocking Aschehoug publishing house in the slippers have long been inac- the wish of the owner, appealed to Oslo, is a model contrasting case. A cessible except as an investment for Mr Saito's conscience, declaring fortnight after the fatwa, he was the super-rich. They are forever that "a work of art remains the pos- publicly threatened, following a locked away behind glass and session of the world at large, even if mass demonstration by militant armor plating. The magic of the you have paid for it". Muslims on the streets of Oslo (Nor- fairy tale is transformed into a com- way has a large Pakistani commu- mercial product and thereby loses Mr Saito's creditors were probably nity). His home, office and staff its power to liberate. more narrow-minded in their defin- were placed under police surveil- ition of the matter, but they decided lance after continued threats. Yet, This story is a striking metaphor for to keep the asset to safeguard their within two months, Aschehoug present-day commercial realities. interests. The canvas was left in the launched The Satanic Verses in According to Souren Melikian, arts warehouse where it had been kept Norwegian translation, six weeks correspondent for the International wrapped in cotton ever since Mr ahead of schedule. When the book Herald Tribune, the targeting of Saito bought it. It had, of course, was launched, two Norwegian paintings and art objects by been purchased as an investment, bookstores were set on fire and a investors, including funds, means not for display. third received a bomb threat. Mus- that traditional connoisseurs are lim organizations in Norway then being driven out of the market. A year ago, however, while dozing brought the matter to court, using a Objects are rarely bought out of to the BBC World Service's morning blasphemy paragraph still to be desire, and handling them has noth- news bulletin, I heard an item that found in the Norwegian constitu- ing to do with estimating their instantly brought me awake. The tion. The matter was dismissed by a quality. In Melikian's words: BBC reported that the painting had civil court two and a half years apparently disappeared, and there later. In the meantime, a year after The consequences for the living was now speculation that the inher- the fatwa, Aschehoug had pub- culture are incalculable. Whether itors might, after all, have followed lished the first paperback edition in the talk is about paintings, sculp- the wish of the deceased. the world (US readers had to wait ture or objects, a certain form of another year and British readers intimate acquaintance with the Luckily, this proved unfounded. A three more years for their paper- art that can only develop from few days later, it turned out that Dr back editions). In 1993, Nygaard tracking objects and assessing Gachet is alive and well. And it's narrowly escaped an assassination them out of personal desire is not the first time that he has been attempt. He never bowed one inch vanishing... The end of sponta- resurrected. The former Wall Street in his support for his threatened neous collecting is not just sap- Journal reporter, Cynthia Saltzman, author. ping the foundations of tradition- has traced the painting's history in al connoisseurship. It will alter a book named after it. In 1933 it Viewed against the wider tenden- the relationship of those brought was, it seems, owned by Frankfurt's cies in the publishing world, up within Western culture to the Städtische Gallerie, and the direc- Nygaard seems to represent a heritage of the past, which will tors hid it in the museum attic to threatened species. He acts in accor- seem infinitely more remote. save it from being burned by Nazi dance with a very special tradition: leaders. Eventually, Göring got hold regarding literary innovation as the This pessimistic message has been of it and used it to fund his collec- core element of his trade, to be pointedly illustrated by a surrealis- tion of tapestries. It was sold in guarded against both political and tic train of events culminating in Amsterdam in 1938 for what at the commercial pressures. And the sec- Japan last year. time was a staggering sum of USD ond kind of threat may be more 53,000, and it finally escaped to the insidious than the first one, because In the spring of 1990, at the peak of United States with the new owner, it's rarely admitted. the art market boom, Vincent van Jewish financier Siegfried Kra- Gogh's Portrait of Dr Gachet was marsky. It was his heirs who sold One of the short stories in Salman sold to a Japanese paper magnate the work to Mr Saito at Christie's Rushdie's collection, East/West, by the name of Ruoei Saito, then 75 1990 auction. deals with the relationship between years old. He paid a cool USD 82.5 finance and serious art in the late million, which is still a record for Had the news of the final destruc- 20th century, in East and West any work of art. tion of the painting proved correct, alike. It tells how the magic of the I would have had second thoughts fairy-tale is transformed into a Mr Saito passed away in 1996. about my general revulsion to financial product and thereby loses Before he died, he made a public harsh punishment. My desire for its power to liberate. A pair of red statement declaring that he wanted revenge, however, would have been slippers are to be sold at an auction the canvas to be cremated with in vain. The destruction of art in New York. They possess a magi- him. On hearing this, a representa- works should have been on the list cal power straight out of The Arabi- tive of Amsterdam's van Gogh of the Nazi leaders' crimes against an Nights. Whoever wears them can museum, while conceding that humanity. Morally, they are. But
342 IFLA JOURNAL 26 (2000) 5/6 The Outsider as Insider: Speaking Earnestly about the Rushdie Case capitalism is a different matter. cussion, openness and fairness far be unnecessary and thus involve Owners may do whatever they like beyond the reduction of every deci- free action; it should be outside of with their legal possessions, with sion to market procedures. ordinary life; it should involve the the very limited exception of the instant gratification of needs and buildings classed as belonging to a McCloskey is one of several econo- desires; and it should be closed and common heritage. mists who have started to confront limited, running its course and thus the orthodoxies presently held by having a meaning in itself, but also On the national level, pride and our establishment as eternal truths. embodying rules for its actual exe- shame would block the kind of The role of culture in relation to the cution; and it should contain an ele- arrogance shown by Mr Saito. A economy is a crucial aspect of this ment of tension and chance. Dutch or Flemish financier might way of thinking. I got an inkling of think twice before declaring that he what's going on by staying in Ams- wants to bring a van Gogh painting terdam for three weeks last August. Truly innovative art, the aesthetic with him into heaven. To me, the Arjo Klammer is the world's only discoveries which might eventually problems inherent in globalization Professor of the Economy of Art influence the commercial sector as do not lie in the process as such. and Culture, holding this chair at well, has to be based on a different The interlinking of the economies Amsterdam University. And he set of criteria than market expecta- of the world is an inevitable seems to be a driving force in a con- tions. It should be regarded as a process, driven onwards by the certed effort to remove the arts game in which a sense of quality is technological leap of electronic from the present grip of reduction- generated among those taking part. communication which we are all ists. And they have to be risk-takers. benefiting from. The real danger is The innovative artist puts his or her the reductionism used to legitimize Klammer has published an antholo- career on the line in developing the emerging global power constel- gy on this entitled The Value of Cul- specific artistic forms, which means lations. ture - On the Relationship between changing established rules. Obvi- Economics and the Arts, where, ously, this process is never totally The logic of accumulation inherent among others, McCloskey's essay independent. If the artist is to reach in the dominant school of econom- can be found. The cover is fittingly an audience, market forces, bene- ics has no ethical basis except exist- covered by Van Gogh's Portrait of factors and/or authorities will have ing legal formalities, varying from Dr Gachet. to be involved. But the crucial ques- country to country. The ideology tion is to what extent the Homo Ludens' definition of the act of cre- presently defining the rules of the Klammer's book introduced me to ating can be supported by social game says that only the market can one of the most interesting institutions. judge the true value of anything, attempts recently made to define including art. the interaction between the materi- al and creative aspects of aesthetic The orthodoxies which lack concern I have this on the best authority. innovation. Drawing, among others, for posterity - the Saito type of atti- Deirdre McCloskey is an American on Dutch historian Johan Huizin- tude - and are now eliminating economist deeply indebted to the ga's theory of human play, outlined playfulness in the arts field will so-called neoclassical Chicago in his book Homo Ludens from have to be combated with the kind School, the founding institution of 1938, the German economist of energy shown over the past 40 the economic approach that Michael Hutter points out that eco- years by those involved in the envi- presently holds sway in the world. nomic activities can be regarded as ronment movement. A new, hereti- She has, however, recently changed a game, given meaning and struc- cal way of thinking among econo- her position. In a brilliant essay, ture by a general compliance with a mists is probably a sign that a Missing Ethics in Economy, she firm set of rules. The apparent seemingly impermeable structure makes the following observation of objectivity of the game is ended of thought is beginning to crack. her former line of thought: "In pol- whenever a crucial element ceases icy questions the ethical position to function. Money is such an ele- that economics recommends is that ment. The inflation present in the In my opinion, the concept of uni- of the social engineer, who provides Weimar Republic meant that versality has to be rediscovered. It is plans indifferently for full employ- regardless of what may have been closely linked to quality. And there ment or extermination camps. The printed on the banknotes, people is no other way of judging the sig- social engineer will protest that he had to learn bartering in a pre-cap- nificance of a work of art than mak- would have nothing to do with italist fashion. This predicament has ing it the subject of public discus- extermination camps. But then he reappeared in present-day Russia. sion. This has been a major element must ask where he draws the line, in advancing artistic freedom in the an ethical deliberation that econo- The arts are a different sort of post-war period. Media conventions, mists are reluctant to undertake." game, very much what Huizinga however, work against serious McCloskey makes a strong case for defined as the essence of play. reflection on such issues once the reviving the original bourgeois Huizinga suggested a number of controversies spread beyond the virtues, enlightenment ideals of dis- basic criteria for a game: it should national realm.
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The Rushdie case is a vivid illustra- In November the following year, matter particularly if someone rec- tion of the failure of international Rushdie visited Stockholm and ognized him - the important thing media to come to grips with occur- received Swedish PEN's Kurt was whether people knew in rences that defy classification in tra- Tucholsky Award for exiled authors advance when and where he would ditional news terms. CNN-style tele- from Bengt Westerberg, deputy be popping up. Salman enjoyed vision creates and destroys events prime minister and leader of the three hours' leave from the prison on a minute by minute basis. Its Liberal Party. At the award ceremo- of the fatwa. shroud of objectivity is based on the ny, Rushdie wore a button portray- assumption of immediacy, instantly ing Franz Kafka. When I asked him The following day, we were to meet leaving behind what was last what it stood for, he replied that he with three Danish ministers who it reported and leaving the audience had always regarded Kafka as the was hoped would be willing to with little chance to check the greatest humorist of them all. plead his cause with the EU as part records. The quality dailies, once Laughter, he said, deserves to be of the new strategy. His liberation the main coordinators of the public taken seriously. was still nothing more than a dis- agenda, cannot escape the same tant ray of hope. predicament. The ever-narrowing Two and a half year later, in 1995, time frame of TV-dominated news nothing about the terms of As the big dipper slowed to a halt increasingly leave hindsight and Rushdie's imprisonment had on that evening in Copenhagen, analysis out of the picture. Rushdie changed. But his laughter bubbled Carmel Bedford - coordinator of the was an early victim of this game. up just as readily. Salman trans- international campaign - turned formed a May evening in Copen- and whispered in my ear: "This is a When he had evaded the death hagen to a surrealistic happening, bit like our struggle against the threat for a thousand days, he making members of the Rushdie fatwa. Twists and turns that no one described his predicament in a Committees let go, as if we had can foresee. A long slow haul and tongue-in-cheek essay entitled A been fifth graders on a school out- then everything happens at light- Thousand Days in a Balloon. He ing. ning speed. And suddenly we're was, of course, living underground, back where we started". constantly forced to move from We rode the big dipper at the Tivoli place to place. At the same time, he fairground, yelling in unison on the felt suspended high above reality, bends and the steep inclines. It was Neither she nor anyone else could unprotected and constantly under a giddy, hair-raising experience. have known that, though beset with scrutiny. The glow of the colored lights made unpredictable developments, the the early summer twilight magical. campaign was about to turn a cor- Rushdie the human being and The air was mild and saturated ner. It would take another 760 days author had vanished from sight. with the scent of flowers. before the Joint Rushdie Defence What remained was a symbolic fig- Committees could issue their final ure by the same name, saint to Salman was at the centre of the statement. We met at the Vok- some, devil to others, protagonist in party. He whooped louder than any- senåsen Conference Centre in Oslo, a global drama. one as the dipper rushed down run by the Swedish Ministry of Cul- from the heights, crashed his ture. After consultation with The first time he broke his isola- dodgem head-on into all and Salman on the phone, we agreed to tion, on 12 December 1991, his sundry, wearing a fiendish grin, and dissolve the network. imprisonment had lasted for 1032 took his seat in the big wheel with days. Rushdie turned up in New an utterly infectious smile of Three weeks earlier, on 25 Septem- York, and addressed the students at delight. For once, we were all able ber 1998, I had watched a smiling the graduate school of journalism at to laugh at ourselves. Giving our- Salman Rushdie raise his fist in Columbia University on the occa- selves up to play we were totally in front of more than a hundred jour- sion of the 200th anniversary of the the present. nalists and photographers at the US Bill of Rights. Article 19 offices in Islington High Security was governed by Danish Street in London. It was a gesture of For this particular audience, he pragmatism. The bodyguards victory but also of defiance. During extended the metaphor of his life allowed us to improvise in our two chaotic and exuberant hours one more step in the direction of enjoyment of the place's attractions. facing the media he redefined the playful absurdity: the balloon that They themselves remained discreet- terms of his existence. The room had kept him shut away had actu- ly in the background. Anyone not in was packed, but the only guards in ally been a soap bubble. Now he the know would never have sight were the two police officers was bursting the bubble, stepping guessed their true role. positioned at the entrance. Symbol- forward anew as a visible figure, an ically, Salman defused the impact of author with a tongue-in-cheek atti- This was eminently human. Who the fatwa. Having been very much tude to his strengths and weakness- would have expected to bump into present as a writer during the fatwa es who refused to play the part of Salman Rushdie in a dodgem car at decade, he now reappeared in per- the living legend. the Copenhagen Tivoli? It did not son.
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The day before, Iranian Foreign mistake in the Western world to terms of argument as relevant to a Minister, Dr Kamal Kharazzi, and accept religious terms as the defin- political solution. While the Thatch- his British counterpart, Robin Cook, ing elements in the conflict. Rather er government vacillated by half had addressed a press conference at than relating the fatwa and the applying the concept of a sacred the UN General Assembly in New ensuing acts of violence against the religious space, the Norwegian gov- York. In an official declaration, Italian and the Japanese translators ernment initiated the political issued jointly with a statement by of The Satanic Verses and its Nor- change at state level in 1992 by the British government, Dr wegian publisher, William Nygaard, allowing government ministers to Kharazzi promised that the Iranian to the theology of Khomeini, we meet Rushdie and, through diplo- government had "no intention nor should see it as a result of his con- matic channels, by consistently is going to take any action whatso- cept of state. opposing the fatwa with arguments ever to threaten the life of the based solely on international law. In author of The Satanic Verses or In Kamrane's view, Khomeini's Britain, the Blair government even- anybody associated with his work". "sacralization of the game" should tually made this approach the core be viewed as traditional political of the British position. In doing so, The International Rushdie Defence power play using unconventional it finally forced the Iranians into Committee had been formed in means. The Iranians could argue formally recognizing the secular London a week after the fatwa, that the conflict emanated from an element of the conflict, while sym- since then using the Article 19 attack on Islamic sacred values, bolically preserving the purely reli- offices as its campaign centre. In incomprehensible to any outsider, gious definition. 1992, the Norwegians had started rather than from a position taken the process of forming nationally- by a totalitarian government using In political terms, the leadership of based committees. Now, in our final religion to legitimize its hold on a theocratic state had finally been statement, we told the world that power. As a result, the defense of forced to accede to international "the aims of the campaign had Rushdie and the principle of free- rules, no longer able to use a differ- been fulfilled". dom of expression were deadlocked ent concept of universality, the into an issue where arguments binding force of religion, as its We all realized that taking this posi- based on international law could be source of legitimacy in foreign rela- tion was a gamble. It was the end dismissed as irrelevant by the Irani- tions. result of a redefinition of the con- ans. And many Western intellectu- flict that had increasingly influ- als fell into the trap of seeking to The fact that this meant a distanc- enced our strategy from 1994 solve the conflict by means of dia- ing of the political sphere from reli- onwards. Rather than focusing on logue with supporters of the fatwa, gious prescriptions was noted in the fatwa as a religious edict, we in the false hope of some kind of Iran as well. Three weeks after the had targeted its political implica- compromise eventually emerging. declaration by the Foreign Minis- tions. Expert consultants from the ters the Union of Hezbollah Stu- Muslim world had told us that we In Khomeini's political theory, the dents, a leading bastion of ortho- could possibly force the Iranian power to govern rests on a direct doxy in Iran, issued a statement government into issuing a political relationship with divinity, making defining the British-Iranian declara- declaration that it would abstain religious authority the only legiti- tion as an illegitimate separation of from implementing the fatwa, but mate source of leadership. Accord- religion and politics, causing "deep we would never succeed in making ing to Kamrane, it is a mistake to regret and sorrow among Iranians it formally revoke it in religious view this as a traditional Islamic and all the Muslim world". The terms. It is normal Islamic practice concept. Rather, Khomeini's politi- Hezbollah Students accused the to let the power of a religious edict cal theory mirrors traditions of Khatami government of overstep- dissipate over time. By settling the Western Enlightenment while ping a crucial boundary, taking a issue politically we could start to claiming to represent the opposite. decision which "belongs exclusive- de-escalate the symbolic confronta- In its acceptance of formal elements ly" to the spiritual leader, Ayatollah tion and hope that the religious of modern constitutionalism, like Khamenei, who, it was declared, malediction would fade. the establishment of a representa- "hasn't retreated a single step from tive parliament, while at the same (the late) Ayatollah Khomeini's In 1997, Benoît Mély, a member of time leaving the ultimate political decree". the French Rushdie Committee, decision-making to a religious lead- drew our attention to a book recent- ership, including the choice of who This position may enjoy support in ly published in France, La fatwa is allowed to enter the political parts of the Iranian power structure. contre Rushdie, by Ramine Kam- arena, it should be viewed as a dec- But in formal terms, it seems to be rane, an Iranian-born political sci- laration of war on secularization as based on an illusion. Ayatollah entist at Paris University. Distin- an aspect of modernity. Khamenei's total silence on the guishing between the theological, matter indicates that the separation political and strategic aspects of The campaign eventually left the of religion and politics in relation to Khomeini's thinking, Kamrane sacralized version of the conflict to the fatwa has been acceded to by claimed that it had been a major one side, accepting only secular Khomeini's successor. If this situa-
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tion holds - and it has now done so the main reason why The Satanic perspective that even sacred books for almost two years - it seems to Verses caused such violent reactions can be read as invented visions of indicate a fundamental change in was its literary sophistication in human existence, created collective- the Iranian definition of state and treating its theme. Al-Azm reminds ly at specific points in history. This religion. In their recently published us that James Joyce's Ulysses was quality of transience makes sophis- book, Iran: comment sortir d'une prosecuted for blasphemy, obsceni- ticated literature anathema to révolution religieuse, Islamologist ty and subversion, and was banned authorities that base their power on Olivier Roy, and political scientist, in the United States until 1933, and singular interpretations of religious Fahrad Koshrokavi, interpret the in Britain until 1936. He makes the texts. official statement as a definite sign case for a universal definition of of the emergence of an autonomous aesthetic modernism as an integral At one point in The Satanic Verses, political sphere in Iran. part of the Enlightenment project. Rushdie deals jokingly (and pre- sciently) with the risks involved in Looking back now at our playful By using religious mythology as using religious mythology in a excursion with Salman to the elements in a powerful piece of fic- work of art. The actor, Gibreel Far- Copenhagen Tivoli, we in fact, with- tion, appropriating a canonical ishta, who has miraculously recov- out realizing it, had started to Muslim story for his own creative, ered from a fatal disease, is to reduce the impact of the fatwa. We artistic and literary purposes, appear in another Indian "theologi- claimed the right to have fun Rushdie started a process of literary cal" film, this time exploiting core regardless of the weight of authori- emancipation in the Muslim world. ingredients of a sacred text. The two ty. Play and fiction are two related He pointed to a door opened a cen- producers involved try to assess the ways of using the imagination. tury ago by literary modernists in risks: Throughout history, they have been the West, but up until now largely anathema to monolithic structures. inaccessible in Muslim countries. In It would be set in an imaginary Al-Azm's view, this modernist and fabulous city made of sand, One day before the campaign avenue will never be closed again, and would recount the story of ended, on 18 October 1998, the regardless of the fatwa. the encounter between a prophet Rushdie Committees hosted a sem- and an archangel; also the temp- inar entitled "The Fatwa Decade - Authors with a Muslim background tation of the prophet, and his An Acid Test of Universal Values" at will, inspired by Rushdie and with- choice of the path of purity and the Voksenåsen Cultural Centre in out asking for permission, use the not that of base compromise...It is Oslo, established as a gift from the history and symbols of Islam as fic- a film...about how newness Norwegian government to the peo- tional ingredients, as Western enters the world. But would it not ple of Sweden in recognition of authors have done for centuries, be seen as blasphemous, a crime Swedish support during the years of many of them prosecuted until against..."Certainly not"..."Fiction occupation. recently. The Finnish author Hannu is fiction; facts are facts. Salama's novel The Midsummer Among the speakers at the seminar Dance was banned for blasphemy The idea of creating a work of art were the German author Hans and sentenced to be burned by Fin- defined according to its inner laws Magnus Enzensberger - who, as I land's Supreme Court as late as means taking all sorts of risks. stated earlier, was instrumental in 1968. It was released only by a spe- When Hannu Salama made his launching a collectively backed cial decision from Finland's Presi- speech of defense at the mid-1960s German edition of The Satanic dent Kekkonen. Helsinki trial, he defined the core of Verses when Rushdie's publisher this position: that art should be Kiepenheuer & Witsch backed down Haideh Daragahi offered an argu- judged in relation to its inner qual- in 1989 - the Syrian philosopher, ment related to Al Azm's perspec- ities. Sadik Al-Azm, the Iranian author, tive in another essay written in Faraj Sarkoohi, now in German 1990, Reclaiming The Satanic Vers- As I see it, the outcome of any exile, and the Iranian literary schol- es as Literature. In her view, The creative process leading to a ar, Haideh Daragahi, living in Swe- Satanic Verses can be read as a con- work of art is by no means den and a consultant to the Swedish figuration of the process by which dependent on whatever my inten- Rushdie Committee. The playful humans are faced with "the knowl- tions may have been when I took role of literature as a universal edge that truth is not unitary and up my pen, but on what that value regardless of national borders eternal, but time-bound and con- work of art - which pursues its and religious and ethnic differences tentious within itself - the truth not own course - may require in figured prominently in the discus- of religions, but of art." Since every order to assume the shape sions. reader will interpret it differently, a demanded by my sense of form work of fiction is an invented vision and my capabilities, a shape from Throughout the fatwa decade, start- which can never pretend to be any- which the slightest deviation in ing in his 1990 essay The Impor- thing but transient. By establishing one direction or another would tance of Being Earnest about fiction as an alternative method of necessitate changes in other parts Salman Rushdie, Al-Azm held that interpretation, authors raise the of the work as well. In my per-
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sonal opinion, I managed to write tinent? But we read the portrait of pointed the way. She defied all a work that corresponded to the Mr Raman Fielding in the novel as imaginable conventions, including demands placed on it by my an intimate study of the archetypal the golden rule that the English sense of form. The fact that this villain; and we shudder at the were divinely entitled to Ireland. work may not be of the highest thought of what can happen when quality is not due to any lowering politics becomes a business Wilde the Irishman was the very of artistic standards on my part, approach using the exploitation of incarnation of the artist as heretical for instance by interrupting the prejudice as its marketing concept. outsider. His true crime was to have narrative to give free play to any outshone every native Englishman blasphemous motives I may have Conventional British wisdom holds in the art of being English. He so had, but to my limitations as a that Rushdie was driven to chal- mastered the social conventions human being. lenge fate by arrogance and hubris that he could make them appear rather than by artistic vision (a sug- ridiculous. He raised the mannered Salman Rushdie has made exactly gestion made by thriller writer John chatter of the English upper classes the same point: "you have the sense le Carré in 1997). Public comment to the level of near-absurdity. By that the universe is writing your in Britain has had an accusatory seeming to focus on the surface book. The idea of pragmatism sim- undertone, even from the lips of plot, he made his real theme soci- ply doesn't feature on the scale of supposedly radical intellectuals. To ety's double standards. The ruling what you are doing". He stated this me, however, Rushdie's main prob- classes constantly tempt fate by in reference to his latest experience lem seems to be that he has mas- flouting their own conventions. of the consequences of practicing tered the British style of writing Time and again, Lady Bracknell in artistic freedom. Amongst other better than most natives. He can be The Importance of Being Earnest things, his novel The Moor's Last mistaken for an insider. This makes reiterates her inflexible system of Sigh has caused one of India's most him an even more dangerous out- rules, only to violate it in the next colorful political entrepreneurs - a sider. The general lack of support instant. To make life endurable, man who has established mafia for his case from the English liter- Algernon and Jack use double iden- rule in Bombay by playing the ary elite and the revulsion among tities. And Gwendolyn and Cecily xenophobia card - to explode in Britons with a nostalgic feeling for raise superficiality to new heights fury at what he views as a mali- the Empire, like Mrs Thatcher, seem by refusing to marry anyone who is cious portrait of himself in the to prove my point. not called Ernest. novel (nowadays, it is hard to get hold of it in the very city where its Imagine for a moment that a thor- The Irish had been denied access to main events are set). oughly British author like Graham their own language. They avenged Greene or William Golding had suf- this by cultivating sarcasms about Rushdie has said that he took the fered the same kind of fate as the "mother country" and using the trouble to make the character as Rushdie. I suspect that this would English language as dynamite. unlike this Mr Thackeray as possi- have been ranked a national disas- Swift, a Dubliner by birth, had set ble. To make absolutely sure that no ter. From this perspective, the the satirical tone back in the 18th one should take the satire seriously, attempted satire of David Caute's century. he chose to make the character an novel Fatima's Scarf - the one I impassioned lover of cricket. He referred to at the beginning of this Wilde and Yeats and Joyce and could not imagine anything that lecture - turns in on itself. Beckett all belong to this communi- might be further from Mr Thacker- ty of outsiders. In time, the circle ay's domain. But it was precisely Sadik Al-Azm's choice of title for has widened. The quarter of the this that infuriated Bombay's mafia his essay on the Rushdie affair, The world that the British suppressed is boss more than anything else. Importance of Being Earnest about now exacting its tribute from the Rushdie, verily a man of sound lit- Salman Rushdie, should be viewed suppressor. Talented writers from erary instincts, had unwittingly hit against this background. By using the former colonies are ridiculing him where it hurts most. Cricket, it the title of an Oscar Wilde play as a the conventions in the same way as turned out, was Mr Thackeray's metaphor for Western double stan- their Irish predecessors did. Like secret passion. dards, Al-Azm points to the poten- Wilde, Salman Rushdie is an immi- tially liberating role of the outsider grant who has mastered the English This illustrates very clearly what is among us. style better than the natives. That is so special about the imaginative tal- why a satire like The Satanic Vers- ents of a truly gifted author. With- To understand his point, one should es scourges Thatcher's and Major's out realizing it in advance, he look at Wilde's Christian names: Britain at least as hard as Khomei- touches the most sensitive spots in Oscar Fingall O'Flahertie Wills, ni's Iran. contemporary life. In Europe, only a born and raised in Dublin. handful of people know who Mr The heart of the paradox lies in the Thackeray is. And - outside Britain His mother, Jane, who used the pen- language and the diction. Rushdie and Ireland and possibly Malta - name "Speranza" (from the world attended Eton and Cambridge and who cares about cricket on our con- of Dante, her idol), set the tone and assimilated the tone of the upper
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classes. Wilde arrived at Oxford as a gling with all the paradoxes of to a year in prison for blasphemy. 21-year-old and rapidly suppressed human existence. It was no In the Austrian film version, the his Dublin accent. And he absorbed almighty god who determined his director Werner Schroeter used a the style so totally that with his worth but his own actions. The lives performance of the play by Teatro extravagant flourishes in both lan- of both Christ and Muhammed Belli in Rome as a basis and set it guage and dress he was able to pro- gave rise to narratives that defined in the context of a reconstruction of voke the fury of "real" Englishmen. historical eras. the writer's trial. His appearance and behavior con- stituted a permanent satire on the Most of us Europeans had forgotten The fact that the court's decision circles to which he belonged, the controversies over blasphemy passed almost unnoticed shows the including the shadow world of the in our own history and thus were lack of a European perspective on homosexuals. utterly surprised when the Rushdie such issues. In support of its ruling, case came along. But there is a dis- the European Court applied the But there was also a more profound tance between myth and reality principle of giving national defini- reason for playing the dandy. Dur- when it comes to real freedom of tions of human rights a certain lati- ing his years in Oxford, he perpetu- the arts. Right now, there is a battle tude, regardless of the symbolic ally ridiculed the university's reli- going on not only in Egypt - where implications of upholding outright gious rituals. At an exam where he the Syrian author Haydar Haydar censorship at a European level. In had said something particularly has been accused of insulting the the case of blasphemy, this increas- offensive he was ordered by way of Prophet Mohamed with his novel A es the danger of a broader defini- punishment to do an impromptu Banquet for Seaweed - but in tion in the future. As long as the act translation of the story of Judas and Greece as well (the fact that a num- of satirizing Christian symbols can the 30 pieces of silver from the ber of prominent Egyptian intellec- be regarded as an offense, there is Greek. He accomplished the task tuals have taken a strong stand in no valid argument against giving with such panache that the profes- support of Haydar proves the rele- other religions the same kind of sor wanted to let him go after only vance of Al-Azm's perspective). The protection. The US Supreme Court a couple of verses. "Hush, hush," novel M to Nth Degree, by Greek provided a classic explanation of replied Wilde, "let us continue so former left-wing MP Mimis why this trap must be avoided in its that we may know what befalls the Androulakis, has been banned by a 1952 decision to free Roberto poor fellow". local court. Rosselini's film, The Miracle, for To treat the Bible as a fascinating showing in the United States: book of stories rather than god- In 1993, the European Court of given truth, as Wilde did, bordered Human Rights upheld a decision In seeking to apply the broad and on blasphemy. But Wilde stood his made seven years earlier by an Aus- all-inclusive definition of "sacrile- ground to the end. In De Profundis, trian court to stop the film Das gious" given by the New York the long, harrowing letter he wrote Liebeskonzil (The Council of Love). courts, the censor is set adrift from prison to his former lover, The original judgment clearly upon a boundless sea amid a Lord Alfred Douglas, there is a pas- reveals a religious bias: "The public myriad of conflicting currents of sage about how he views Christ. projection...of Das Liebeskonzil, in religious views, with no charts Whether or not this saviour figure which God the Father is presented but those provided by the most was holy was unimportant. Christ both in image and in text as a vocal and powerful orthodoxies.... was above all a pioneer of artistic senile, impotent idiot, Christ as a Under such a standard the most freedom, a free man in all things cretin and Mary Mother of God as a careful and tolerant censor would who would not let his actions be wanton lady with a corresponding find it virtually impossible to governed by any conventions what- manner of expression came within avoid favoring one religion over soever. And in his remarkable the definition of the criminal another, and he would be subject essay, The Soul of Man under offence of disparaging religious pre- to an inevitable tendency to ban Socialism, in which he rejected the cepts as laid down in section 188 of the expression of unpopular sen- idea of the right of ownership as a the Penal Code". timents sacred to a religious basis for society - an extremely minority...It is not the business of provocative position to take in Eng- There is an historic irony in the fact government in our nation to sup- land in those days - Wilde advocat- that such a decision has been press real or imagined attacks ed the right of the free development upheld at the European level. The upon a particular religious doc- of the individual irrespective of film is based on a play by the trine, whether they appear in class. The goal of history was to Bavarian author, Oscar Panizza, a publications, speeches or motion make the artistic freedom that rediscovered turn-of-the-century pictures. Christ had been the first to achieve modernist who made religious and available to all. political hypocrisy his main target. In this respect, The United States is In Kaiser Wilhelm's Germany, he more deeply modern than Europe, In the same way, Rushdie provoked found no lack of inspiration. His despite the fact that religious atti- the fatwa by describing the prophet play was banned by a Munich court tudes there are more closely related Muhammed as a free-thinker strug- in 1895, and Panizza was sentenced to politics. The Supreme Court deci-
348 IFLA JOURNAL 26 (2000) 5/6 The Outsider as Insider: Speaking Earnestly about the Rushdie Case sion was influenced by the fact that for ensuring that privileged In Salman Rushdie's book for chil- to be an American also means to be arena is preserved is not that dren, Haroun and the Sea of Sto- a member of a minority. European writers want the absolute free- ries, written for his son while the Nation States were largely shaped dom to say and do whatever they fatwa kept them separated, the boy by a concept of homogeneity, often please. It is that we, all of us, asks his father: "What's the use of both in terms of ethnicity and reli- readers and writers and citizens stories that aren't even true?" The gion. But we have now reached a and generals and godmen, need best answer to that question lies in stage where parts of the American that little, unimportant-looking the act of creation, which doesn't experience are relevant in defining room. We do not need to call it end with the writer, but includes European social and cultural issues. sacred, but we do need to remem- the reader as well. Utopia still rests ber that it is necessary. where it has always been found - in In his essay, Is Nothing Sacred?, people's imaginations and powers about images of divinity as at once The essence of modernism in the of creativity. inhibiting and liberating metaphors arts is really a redefinition of the - published soon after the fatwa - idea of a sacred space. And it's Rushdie writes: exactly this aspect which fuels the In order to be truly liberating, anger of religious powerholders, works of art have to be accessible to Literature is the one place in any fearing the emergence of an all, guarded against commercial, society where, within the secrecy inevitable plurality, incompleteness political and religious infringe- of our own heads, we can hear and contradictoriness in modern ments. Librarians can have a key voices talking about everything interpretations of the human condi- role in making this possible in East in every possible way. The reason tion. and West, North and South.
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G. Y. Baklanov y subject is "The Role of Word ple about a present he had received Mand Book in Covering Histo- from a little girl from Sweden. "This Mr G. Y. Baklanov, a Russian writer ry". However isn't it by the word morning I received from her the and public figure, is the author of that history is violated? Bread is cut award which is even greater than many novels and novellas published by the knife. But how many people the Nobel Prize: five flowers, each in 36 countries. He is a Laureate of have been cut by that same knife? for every year of her life which she the State Literary Prize, which he owes to streptomycin". There are, of received in 1982 and in 1998. For In the beginning there was the course, many others: the paragon of many years he was the Chief Editor word. And the word was God. Russian literature, Ivan Bunin; and of the literary journal Znamya. Since Apparently believers would under- the world-famous economist Vasily 1998 he has been a member of the stand this in a similar way: God is Leontiev. Russia and Denmark Board of Pushkin Library Megapro- the creator and the beginning of all share the ninth and tenth place as ject (Open Society Institute, Russ- that exists. For non-believers, the far as Nobel laureates are con- ian Federation) engaged in supply- atheists, the message of this state- cerned. But is the population of ing 5,000 Russian libraries with ment is the absolute power of the Denmark comparable with that of books from Russian publishers. At word in the first place, because Russia? However, there are eight present Mr Baklanov is an active every deed is preceded by thought Nobel laureates in Denmark and public figure, whose life is devoted and the thought is expressed in eight in Russia. And yet there are to creating and establishing a new word. The thought that cannot be nearly twice as many more Nobel democratic society in his country. expressed in simple words is noth- laureates who are emigres from His ideas on the activities aimed at ing; it must be thrown away. Russia. the development of libraries as infor- I know the history of my country, mational, cultural and community Russia, better than any other; that's Nevertheless, the first man who centres are well-known and popular why I will mainly use examples went to space was a Russian citizen. among Russian libraries. Mr Bak- from Russian history, obviously These are the scientists' gifts, the lanov may be contacted at expressed by word. We had been highly qualified work and high Lomonosvsky prospect 19, apt. 82, told generation after generation for technology behind this feat. In fact, Moscow 117311, Russian Federa- more than 70 years that the October even before the Revolution Russia tion. Revolution of 1917 was the greatest exported bread even though the harvests were worse than in Ger- [Mr Baklanov delivered his paper at the event in world history, the greatest 66th IFLA General Conference and Coun- achievement for ourselves and for many or in England. But there was cil, Jerusalem, Israel, 13-18 August mankind. Tons of books were writ- space, a lot of open space, to our 2000.] ten about it, and indeed our schools benefit. And now we have been and universities, even though they importing bread for many decades. were ideologically biased, gave our I wish all could be measured by students a good education. It is not bread alone! At the fronts of both accidental, therefore, that today the civil war and the Great Patriotic scholars of our country are working War of 1941-1945, in the Stalin in many universities throughout labor camps, there was hunger after the world and they are valued and "the collectivization" when bread appreciated, while we, after the Iron was also exported in order to buy Curtain broke down and the fron- tools, when it was taken away from tiers were opened, are having a those starving to death. All of these painful sensation of a permanent calamities, were described as good "brain drain". and righteous deeds in the history textbooks and in the so-called cur- In fact, the problem of "brain drain" rent fiction. For example, take is not new for Russia. There were Mikhail Sholokhov's The Plough quite a few bright people, who, Soils Upturned written in the glory because of different forms of dis- of collectivization. In all of those crimination, had left Russia under calamities no one knows how many the Emperors Alexander III and millions perished. Some say there Nicholas II soon after the Revolu- have been as many as 100,000,000 tion. Streptomycin, which saved victims. Dostoevsky warned that millions of lives from tuberculosis, such things might happen. was first discovered by the Russian emigre, Selman Waksmann. At the And what about the word in this Nobel Prize reception he told peo- respect? In the camps where "ene-
350 IFLA JOURNAL 26 (2000) 5/6 The Role of Word and Book in Covering History mies of the people" were sent, polit- few letters were enough to express The historic era has lasted no more ical prisoners bitterly called crimi- it; there it was "triumphed in Rus- than five or seven thousand years. nals "friends of the people". During sia", and here it was "triumphed More than 300,000 years ago our the French Revolution there had over Russia". ancestors learned to use fire. About also been "enemies of the people" 35,000 years ago they learned how and "friends of the people", and it to cook and to sew. More than 6,000 was not infrequently that "friends As another example, the Emperor years ago they learned how to grow of the people" were soon to become Nicholas II was declared guilty of their own food. As for writing and "enemies of the people" and went many Russian misdeeds. And consequently written historical to the guillotine. An interesting indeed, entering the First World sources, these are only 5,000 years coincidence, isn't it? And the words War was an act of pure madness for old. It is but natural, however, that remained the same. Russia; it would not need nor would all those figures reflect our current it profit from war victories either in knowledge about the past, but no Europe or in Africa. We sold our Sometimes in order to change the more than that. In Africa not so own Alaska for practically nothing, message of historical events only long ago the remains of two crea- and that was not so stupid after all, one letter, not even one word, was tures were discovered in the because in case of a military con- enough. For decades it had been evening light, and as a result of this flict it would have been too far said and written that the victory of discovery mankind became at once away to defend. It was really absurd revolution in Russia was the great- 1.5 million years older. Those were to enter the world slaughter, to kill est achievement. Recently I saw a man's ancestors, and scholars even in the battlefields five million Russ- documentary film on World War I, managed to calculate that they ian soldiers and officers for the about everything that preceded the were "he" and "she" and she was sake of the Dardanelles and the Revolution in Russia. "Documen- shorter, and that she turned Bosphorus. Today the pendulum tary" does not necessarily mean around ... has swung back: the emperor-mar- irrefutable, genuine, etc. The differ- tyr is likely to be canonized before ence between a documentary film long, as he had really been assassi- Wasn't there history before writing? or a documentary book and a fea- nated together with his whole fam- Wasn't there knowledge? Weren't ture film or a book of fiction is not ily. However, his life and that of his there encyclopedias? There were no that large. Do you know the blocks family could have been spared; they libraries, that's for certain. And yet, with letters with which children could have left for abroad, for at there were encyclopedias. Old peo- compose words? You can make dif- that time there were countries to go ple were the oral encyclopedias of ferent words out of the same blocks. to; in many European countries his their time. They were keepers of Now, out of authentic documents relatives, the representatives of the memory and experience, they were each of which is absolutely doubt- House of Romanov, still reigned. No scientific manuals in all or separate less, in a similar way you can com- one, however, expressed any wish branches of knowledge. They must pose this or that historical picture. to receive the abducted emperor. have been people of no more than A book of fiction, a film for which The words, the same words were 30; life at that time was brief but the author's imagination is quite used both for destroying and for they knew what youth could not important, the fictitious characters refusing to receive, that is, to save. know, what the men of their tribe with the prototypes or without And the more horrible the event is, would have had to learn by them- them, will ultimately express what the more solemn are the clothes selves, to gain the knowledge anew. the author meant to say, his attitude made of words that were supposed They knew what plants were of the world, of the event. In the to cover the nakedness of history. poisonous, which of them were not same way, a documentary film or a fit for food, which plants could be documentary book, express the used to heal wounds; they knew same thing. They are truly depen- Here, in Israel it is appropriate to how to keep and make fire, how to dent on the author's intention. Con- remember that before taking the make clothes, raise babies, and so sequently, this or that world picture decision about the final solution, on. Kipling's aphorism, "No one is composed of documents similar the total extermination of all the except grandmothers should raise a to those of the children's blocks. Jews, part of the Jews had been child, for mothers are only able to The only difference is that a docu- exiled from Germany. The steamer make children", has its historic ori- mentary work of art is more to be with the exiles on board was gins. Respect for old men is not just trusted. Why? It is not invented. The accepted by no country; neither the a cultural tradition, sympathy for documents are authentic, it was not USA, nor Canada, nor Australia the weak, or the result of deliberate for nothing that they had been kept wanted the Jews. And this encour- upbringing - here historical, and, secret all this time... aged Hitler. The steamer came back, what is even more important, and the captain who had seen all genetic roots are observed. It is not To return to the film I mentioned, eventually shot himself. Of course unlikely that the tribes' survival the last words of the film are: "The the Jews were not told, "Go back to depended more upon the old men allies triumphed over Germany and die, we don't care!" The words were possessing knowledge and experi- the revolution triumphed over Rus- decent; this is what diplomacy is ence than on the hunters who were sia". Quite a different message. A for. physically stronger and younger but
IFLA JOURNAL 26 (2000) 5/6 351 G. Y. Baklanov
inexperienced. Of course there were Stalin's time; the word "gene" was their lives but hide their children tribes who treated old men as pari- not to be uttered, and Efroimson behind themselves, save them? This ahs and killed them, for hunger at was one of those geneticists who is the subject of research in Efroim- that time constantly accompanied were persecuted. A second point, no son's The Origins of Altruism. He people. They might be left some- less important, is that this theory explores all these "whats" and where in the woods, by the fire and was considered "ideologically "whys" from the point of view of a without food. As a result the devel- harmful". According to the official geneticist. "There is every reason to opment of those tribes came to a doctrine, our method of education believe", he writes, "that in the standstill, they degenerated and creates a completely new human nature of man there is something perished. On the contrary, the tribes being. It was not so primitive, not inherent to it to inspire him to jus- that added to their own experience so straight forward, of course. But tice, to heroism..." and knowledge, the newly acquired this doctrine was strongly support- experience and knowledge of the ed by official propaganda; it was new generations, did survive. Just devised by philosophers, kinder- How had it been happening for mil- imagine what would happen if we - garten nurses and school teachers. lions of years? The mechanism is so powerful, for whom both easy Certainly education, provided it is approximately the same. For many and hard work is done by electrici- consistent enough, can achieve a thousands of years, a little baby had ty, machines and all kind of equip- great deal. always been the most helpless, the ment which will soon become as most defenseless creature on earth. clever as we are - were deprived, The times change as fast as the He had neither claws, nor fangs, nor quite suddenly of all our knowl- wind. Each time period creates warm skin. Along with brain edge, books, the ability to read and books that belong to it. However, growth, with the increase of man's invent, to build houses. Just imag- there are eternal books which have power, this period became longer ine if we were taken naked and already survived centuries, and they and longer. Only those babies who brought back to the times of antiq- will last for many more centuries. were protected by their parents, by uity, left all alone to face storms, These are by Euripides, Shake- the whole pack, were able to sur- floods, diseases, cold weather. And speare, Pushkin and Tolstoy. As dif- vive. This is precisely how natural we cannot even light a match, we ferent as they are, these books have selection was made, although in do not know how to make fire ... one thing in common: they appeal many situations the survivors were Being quite untrained, we would to man's good intentions. Let's take those who had the strong instinct of have perished even faster than Pushkin's lines: "I woke up good self-preservation, who were egotists. those wild tribes. Since I have feelings with my lyre". Pushkin And yet those most likely to survive already mentioned "genetic roots", I doesn't speak of the abstract good were those babies who were pro- would like to say something about and evil but what is inherent in tected by their packs, kin, tribes the work of our late geneticist man, what should and could be which had developed strong Efroimson; I used to know him awakened. instincts and emotions to defend while he was alive; I mean his most not themselves but their children, intricate work The Origins of Altru- We inherit the color of our eyes, our the whole team, to defend quickly, ism. Nearly 30 years ago, with a lot features, our voice, even our ges- both consciously and unconsciously. of fears supplied by the necessary tures - and this is clear to us, this This is how the system of instincts, after-word of a distinguished acade- does not surprise us. And what emotions on which conscious altru- mician, it was eventually published about our character, our moral ism is based, had strengthened and in the journal, Novi Mir. Efroimson traits? Can these vague, obscure increased. And it is this group of brought it to Tvardovsky, and Tvar- things be inherited? emotions which urges man today to dovsky accepted it and liked it, but take actions which are not prof- In his Ethics Kropotkin, prince and it was published only after Tvar- itable and are even dangerous for Russian revolutionary, theoretician dovsky's expulsion from Novi Mir. himself, but from which others can of anarchism, wonders, "Why By the way, the Novi Mir of today profit. should a man, on the strength of and the Novi Mir whose editor was some mental or emotional process, Tvardovsky have nothing in com- refrain of his own free will from "Biologically based", the geneticist mon except for the color of the what can bring him pleasure? Why writes, "the natural essence of man cover and its title. One of its critics does he frequently bear all kinds of manifests itself in different social recently wrote to the Novi Mir edi- deprivations, lest he be not unfaith- fields. One social structure may fur- torial staff in the following way, ful to his moral ideal?" ther its appearance, while another "You're but wasting what Tvar- social field may suppress or distort dovsky has left you". But this is Why really? After the Ashkabad it." People of the 20th century know apropos. earthquake which destroyed the those social structures only too entire city at the end of the 1940s, well. Fascism, totalitarianism, Why then did it take courage to the men were found dead in the racism, and extreme nationalism have this work published? The windows and the women were are not based on altruistic feelings, point is, everyone still remembered found huddled over their children. and they caused instead the great- how genetics had been beaten in Well, what made them not spare est tragedies of today and yesterday.
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Let me give you one more final sandals, from the old manuscripts, very soon pulp fiction, detective quotation from The Origins of up to the books of today - had pre- novels, will be written by comput- Altruism, a work which is very dear served all the best things that man ers, not man. The programmer will to my heart, to my perception of the had done for many centuries. And devise a programme one day, and world and man: "One can, with what about Word? "By Word the there will be no Agatha Christie, no conviction, affirm that humane atti- sun was stopped, the cities were George Simenon who can be com- tude, kindness, chivalry towards destroyed by poets", Nickolay pared with it; the computer will women, sympathy to old men, chil- Gumilev wrote. An exaggeration? more quickly find the way from the dren, aspiration for knowledge are Perhaps. But wasn't it the poet who labyrinth of the detective plot and those qualities that inevitably and wrote it? will, in a moment, spit out the directly developed under the pres- ready-made novel. sure of natural selection and were We are entering the age when part of the features which man machines made by man become inherited". stronger than their maker in many Let us hope, however, that in the fields that formerly were ruled by future art will be made by artists Great books - from the parchments man only. The computer already only. of which Roman soldiers cut their beats the greatest chess player, and
IFLA JOURNAL 26 (2000) 5/6 353 Information, Commodification and the World Trade Organization
Steven Shrybman From WIPO to the WTO countries who wanted to limit any agreement about IPR to the trade in Steven Shrybman is a lawyer in pri- ntil the launch of the Uruguay counterfeit goods. A critical element vate practice in Ottawa, Canada. URound trade negotiations, mul- of the US strategy was the estab- For the past 12 years his work has tilateral rulemaking in the IPR area lishment of a domestic regime1 focused on international trade and had been dominated by the World authorizing the unilateral imposi- investment law, a subject about Intellectual Property Organization tion of trade sanctions against which he has written and published (WIPO) which still has administra- nations that it regarded as being extensively. Many of his articles tive responsibility for most impor- engaged in unfair trade practices. have been translated into several tant conventions in the area of Moreover the majority of the cases languages, and published in the intellectual property protection. But to invoke these unilateral sanctions United States, Europe and Asia. His by the mid-1980s, US frustration asserted the interests of US-based most recent work, A Citizen's Guide with the failure of WIPO to provide pharmaceutical and media corpora- to the World Trade Organization, for the effective enforcement of tions. was co-published by James Lorimer those treaties and conventions had and the Canadian Centre for Policy grown to the breaking point. Its Naturally US unilateralism was Alternatives. Mr Shrybman has been domestic film, pharmaceutical, and resented, and particularly by those retained to provide advice and rep- agric-chemical corporations were who accused it of ignoring the copy- resentation to citizen groups, trade adamant about the need to provide right violations of its own compa- unions, and government with their intellectual property more nies. Nevertheless, the coercive respect to international trade issues than hortatory protection. Thus, as effect of these sanctions, even when as these concern the environment, the USA continued in vain to build only threatened, soon produced the health care, public services, natural credible enforcement mechanisms desired result. Thus, as was the case resources policy, and intellectual into the WIPO framework, it decid- so often when the views of devel- property rights. He currently serves ed to pursue its objectives in other oped and developing countries on the Board of the Institute of Agri- venues as well. diverged, those of the former pre- culture and Trade Policy, is a vailed and the TRIPs Agreement research associate of the Canadian Accordingly in 1986, among US was born as an integral part of Centre for Policy Alternatives and is proposals for a new Round of trade comprehensive international trade one of three Canadian members of negotiations to reform the GATT, regime under the auspices of a the International Forum on Global- was the novel idea of negotiating newly founded WTO. ization, an international alliance of within the framework of a new activists, writers and scholars who trade regime - an international As the US had insisted, the TRIPs are working together to address the agreement for intellectual property Agreement provided a broad frame- challenges raised by the globaliza- protection. That Round, which got work for IP protection, and incorpo- tion of the World's economy. Mr underway at Punta del Este, rating by reference the most impor- Shrybman may be contacted at Uruguay in September 1986, would tant WIPO conventions. However,
354 IFLA JOURNAL 26 (2000) 5/6 Information, Commodification and the World Trade Organization tect workers rights of preserve bio- even larger trade deficits that the diversity. But with the birth of WTO Canadian Periodicals and US runs. For example in 1996 US a truly effective global enforcement Other Cultural Goods trade deficits of USD 183 billion regime has been established to were offset by trade surpluses of compel adherence to all WTO USD 74 billion in the area of ser- requirements. When confronted For Canadians and many others, it vices. with an adverse ruling from the is easy to understand the global Appellate Body of the WTO, the los- dominance of US-based media, as a To ensure that its cultural trade sur- ing party has two options: shed the contest between the USA and other pluses continue to grow, the US has offending policy, programme, prac- cultures, and in many ways this is seized on international trade rules tice, law or regulation - or pay the precisely what they are. But it is to enforce the continued domina- price in trade sanctions. Moreover, also true that these dynamics repre- tion of global markets by US corpo- because of the principle of cross- sent a struggle between increasing- rations. In the first three years after retaliation, those sanctions can be ly monolithic media corporations the advent of the WTO, seven trade applied to any aspect of the offend- and communities determined to cases have been brought concern- ing nations international trade maintain some modest opportunity ing cultural products, all but one by economy - in other words, where for their own forms of cultural the US on behalf of its media they would be felt most. expression. In fact, concerns about giants. the pernicious influence of large media corporations have also been The first of these cases to be The two WTO decisions I describe raised in the US itself. resolved involved the challenge to here reveal just how influential this Canadian cultural measures intend- international regime will be in No less an American cultural icon ed to protect its domestic maga- determining the policies and prac- than The New York Times has zines and periodicals. Thus Canadi- tices of nations when it comes to sounded the alarm about "growing an cultural programmes have the intellectual property protection. The threats to the nation's cultural her- dubious distinction of being the first of these involved a challenge to itage." But, when President Clinton first to fall victim to WTO rules.2 Canadian cultural measures intend- received the recommendations of Given Canada's long-standing ed to protect its domestic maga- the special committee he had estab- efforts to deal with its particular zines and periodicals from being lished to consider the problem, he vulnerability to the hegemony of entirely swept away by a torrent of evinced little interest in acting on US culture, it is not surprising that US-based publications. This was the its recommendations to revitalize Canada would be the first target of first challenge to invoke WTO rules public and private support for cul- US efforts to promote its agenda for in service of a large transnational ture in the US. establishing greater IPR protection media corporation (Time Warner internationally. before the merger with America In fact, not only did his administra- Online) and elicited from the WTO tion do nothing to rein in the power The domination of Canadian maga- some rather disturbing pronounce- of such media empires as Time- zine markets by US-based publica- ments about culture as a tradable Warner, but it actually took up the tions is not a recent phenomenon; commodity. cudgel on its behalf to assail efforts in fact, it has existed since the first by other nations to resist the tsuna- decades of this century. (In 1925, for The second case to expose the mi of US corporate culture. example, US magazines sold in importance of WTO disciplines con- Canada outnumbered Canadian cerning intellectual property Given the power of the large media publications by a margin of 8:1.3 involved a challenge to US copy- corporations, it is not surprising And, for just as long, Canadian gov- right laws. This case provides the that the US Executive Office has ernments have sought, with varying first opportunity to observe WTO shown little enthusiasm for trying degrees of determination, to pre- rules in action with respect to the to hold back the tide of increasing- vent Canadian publications from enforcement of the Berne Conven- ly concentrated corporate control of being entirely swamped in a sea of tion for the Protection of Literary cultural expression. But there is US print media. and Artistic Works (hereafter the another and more important reason "Berne Convention"). Again a great for the US administration to ally In the mid-1960s, the Liberal gov- deal is revealed about the biases of itself with the AOL-Time Warners of ernment of the day, firmly commit- the WTO when it is challenged to the world, and this has to do with ted to strengthening Canadian cul- recognize the non-commercial importance of cultural and informa- tural institutions, established aspects of intellectual property poli- tion services trade to the US econo- import tariffs under the Customs cy and law. Because both decisions my. Act to ensure the viability of at least are likely to have an enormous a small number of Canadian maga- impact on the cultural and intellec- For example, the US balance-of- zines. The tariffs were specifically tual property rights policies of all trade surpluses in cultural products designed to address the problems nations, they are worth considering and services are enormous, and created by "split-run" US-based in some detail. particularly important given the magazines.
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A "split-run magazine" is a spin-off tions could purchase a full-page ad goods provisions of the GATT.5 A of a parent publication designed for for roughly half the cost of compa- magazine was a magazine regard- a particular regional or niche mar- rable space in editions prepared for less of its origin, content or per- ket. As spin-offs recycle much of the regional US markets. spective. As the Office of the United editorial content of the parent, they States Trade Representative put it, are relatively inexpensive to pro- Faced with a direct challenge to the the case had "nothing to do with duce, so advertising space in the ban on split-run magazines, the fed- culture. This is purely a matter of typical split-run can be offered at a eral government scrambled for a commercial interest."6 substantial discount. This is obvi- response. Thus in June 1996 the ously a bargain for advertisers seek- government tabled legislation, Of course Canada protested: surely ing to reach that particular regional which would impose an 80% excise a magazine's content should be or niche market, but a disaster for tax on the gross advertising rev- considered a distinguishing feature. local publishers competing for enue of split-run magazines. To A magazine developed specifically those advertising dollars, while cov- counter charges that it was discrim- for a Canadian readership, pub- ering the higher cost of producing inating against US publishers, the lished by a Canadian company, and original publications. excise tax would be applied to mag- written from a Canadian point of azines distributed outside Canada, view could not, it argued, be con- In an attempt to level the playing including those published by Cana- sidered "like" one developed in and field for Canadian publishers, the dian publishers. for another cultural, political, and federal government effectively social context. imposed an import ban on split-run Not unexpectedly, Time Warner magazines. To reinforce this prohi- took a dim view of the bill, and To support its case, Canada stressed bition, amendments to the Income warned the federal government of the importance of advertising rev- Tax Act were also made, prohibiting its proposed legislation. But, when enues to Canadian periodical pub- Canadian companies from deduct- Canada proceeded anyway, the US lishers, and described the direct cor- ing the costs of advertising in non- government galloped to the rescue relation between circulation, adver- Canadian publications. By all of one of its most influential corpo- tising revenue, and editorial con- accounts, the measures worked: rate citizens and filed a complaint tent: the larger a magazine's circu- Canadian publications grew sub- under the WTO. Casting aside the lation, the more advertising it could stantially in number and circula- putative support for Canadian cul- attract. With greater advertising rev- tion, and the regulations created a tural sovereignty, the US invoked enue, a publisher would be able to truce between US and Canadian the new and powerful dispute spend more on editorial content. publishers that endured for nearly processes of the WTO to assail all The more the publisher spent, the three decades.4 Canadian programmes covering more attractive the magazine would split-run magazines, including be to its readers, the greater its cir- some that had been in place for culation, and so on. Conversely, the This is not to say that US maga- decades. loss of advertising revenue would zines were denied an ongoing and produce a virtual death spiral: prominent presence in Canada. In While several technical issues were declining editorial content, reduced 1992-93, for example, US magazine argued, the essential thrust of the readership, and a further reduction exports to Canada were worth more US complaint was that Canada was in the ability to attract advertising. than USD 600 million; Canada pro- discriminating against US split-run vided 80% of the foreign market for magazines in favor of its own Not only was the WTO's Appellate these publications. However, by the domestic magazine and periodicals Body (AB) unmoved by Canada's early 1990s, US publications had industries. Canada, it argued, was arguments, but it actually used been consolidated under the control in breach of WTO obligations to them to buttress its conclusion that of a handful of very large media provide "national treatment" to US and Canadian magazines were corporations. As US media markets Time Warner products under GATT in direct competition and therefore had long been saturated, new Article III. "like goods" within the meaning of growth opportunities had to come Article III of the GATT. The AB through global expansion. To win the case, the US would have made repeated reference to earlier to succeed with an argument that it trade decisions concerning alcoholic This in part explains why one of the had been unsuccessfully advocating beverages and beer, in which trade world's largest media conglomer- in the international arena for panels had dismissed the notion ates, Time Warner, announced in decades - that information and that differential treatment of goods April 1993 that it would be pub- other forms of cultural expression might be justified because of a bev- lishing six "special editions" of are essentially commodities and erage-particular characteristic. Sports Illustrated in Canada, elec- should be treated just like other Adopting a purely market-oriented tronically transmitting the content goods or products. In this particular approach to the issues before it, the from the US to Canada, where it instance this meant persuading the AB took pains to explain: "The would be printed and distributed. WTO dispute panel that magazines GATT is a commercial agreement, Canadian advertisers in these edi- should be subject to the trade in and the WTO is concerned, after all,
356 IFLA JOURNAL 26 (2000) 5/6 Information, Commodification and the World Trade Organization with markets." Thus, what was true WTO disciplines finally defeated its holders were very modest - by its for beer is true for cultural "goods": efforts to preserve these important account less than USD 500,000 if they compete, they are alike. cultural programmes. But viewed annually - an impact radically from an international perspective, smaller than the USD 53.65 million Thus under WTO rules, a news the Canadian periodicals case really annual price tag the EC pegged its magazine is a news magazine, must be seen as a watershed in the revenue losses at.9 regardless of its character, orienta- establishment of an international regime to provide for the protection tion, or national perspective. One It is also worth noting the irony, or of intellectual property in precisely can only assume that the same perhaps justice (given the accusa- the same way as it would any other principles would apply to other tions of double standards levelled at good or commodity. forms of cultural expression: a the US), of the world's foremost newspaper is a newspaper, what dif- promoter of IPRs being on the ference could national orientation defensive with respect to its own and subject matter make? As has United States Fairness in Music Licensing Act copyright laws. But whatever the now become the norm for WTO motivation or merits of the EC com- decision making, the court of last plaint, the most important conse- appeal under the WTO demonstrat- The first WTO case to consider quences of this trade dispute ed a stunning ability to keep its issues of copyright protection devolve from what the panel had to focus on trade policy objectives, no involved a challenge by the Euro- say, or didn't say, when for the first matter how skewed its reasoning pean Communities (EC) to provi- time copyright issues were consid- might appear in the larger view. sions of the US Copyright Act estab- ered within the framework of the lishing certain limitations to the TRIPs Agreement. Before I examine By so clearly treating magazines as exclusive rights of copyright hold- how the panel addressed these tradable commodities rather than ers.7 Ss. 110(5) of the Act, as amend- issues, however, I need to set the forms of cultural expression, the ed by the Fairness in Music Licens- stage. WTO also set the stage for further ing Act, created exemptions for trade challenges to other forms of small commercial establishments cultural protection. Moreover, in that were not", so the US claimed, The Legal Framework rejecting the argument that editori- "of sufficient size to justify, as a al content is a distinguishing fea- practical matter, a subscription to a ture of periodical publications, the commercial background music ser- The substantive provisions for the WTO ignored the significance of the vice".8 protection of copyright are set out full play of diverse opinions in in Articles 9-14 of the TRIPs Agree- democratic societies. The implica- However, the exemptions would ment. Article (9)1 of the TRIPs tions are chilling. apply to a reasonably diverse com- Agreement obliges WTO Members munity which ranged from individ- to comply with Articles 1 to 21 of It is not necessary to delve into the uals who merely turned on a radio the Berne Convention. It also reiter- esoterica of trade dispute resolution or television in a public place, to a ates the basic principle of copyright to appreciate what this case was significant number of commercial protection, i.e., protection extends actually about. Or perhaps, more establishments including bars, only to expressions and not to appropriately, what it wasn't about, shops and restaurants, none of ideas, methods of operation or because the periodicals dispute was which would be liable to pay royal- mathematical concepts. not about the world's largest media ty fees as long they fell within cer- corporation adding a few points to tain size restrictions. Article 11bis(1) of the Berne Con- the circulation figures of one of its vention grants the authors of liter- numerous publications. Rather the The European Community dis- ary and artistic works, including US saw in this parochial dispute agreed with the US that the likely musical works, the exclusive right over the regulation of magazine economic impact of such exemp- of authorizing not only the broad- advertising revenues, an opportuni- tions for its right holders would be casting and other wireless commu- ty to win two much bigger prizes. minimal. In fact the extent to which nication of their works, but also the The first was the treatment of intel- this exemption represented a signif- public communication of a broad- lectual property as just another icant economic cost for the com- cast of their works by loudspeaker commodity under international law. plaintants varied dramatically or any other analogous instrument. The second, was the deployment of depending on which whose esti- Article 11(1) of the same Conven- an effective enforcement regime to mates you preferred. The same dis- tion grants the authors of musical guarantee proprietary, and parity existing between EC and US works the exclusive right of autho- inevitably corporate, claims to this estimates about the extent of US rizing the public performance of new commodity. market share that EC rights holders their works, including such public might claim to have. performance by any means or Thus, 75 years after Canada first process, and any communication to adopted measures to protect Cana- For example: according to US esti- the public of the performance of dian magazines, the onslaught of mates the actual losses to EC rights their works.
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Article 12 of the TRIPs Agreement two preliminary issues that are also somewhat circumspect in dealing provides minimum standards for noteworthy, because they consider with third party submissions, but to the term of protection of copyright- the rights of third parties, and the this date have steered clear of actu- ed works: for many works this is burden of proof when allegations ally taking them into account. the life of the author plus 50 years. are made about non-compliance with WTO obligations. I will briefly The Burden of Proof in WTO Cases Article 9(2) of the Berne Convention touch on these before examining bans the imposition of limitations how the panel dealt with the diffi- The other preliminary issue that the on, or exceptions to, the reproduc- cult and complex issues of resolv- Panel addressed concerned where tion right except in special cases ing the competing policy goals that the burden of proof would lie for when such limits or exceptions do underlie all intellectual property establishing whether the US was in not conflict with a normal exploita- protection. breach of its obligations. tion of the work and do not unrea- sonably prejudice the legitimate Third Party Interventions and WTO The EC contended that it merely interests of the right holder. Article Panel Practice had to establish that US copyright 13 of the TRIPs Agreement, makes reforms were inconsistent with any this provision applicable to all other As had occurred once before in provision of the TRIPs Agreement exclusive rights in copyright and United States - Import Prohibition (including those of the Berne Con- related rights. of Certain Shrimp and Shrimp vention (1971) incorporated into it). Products,11 (the Shrimp Turtle dis- Once such inconsistency was estab- The US asserted that Article 13 clar- pute), the panel was confronted lished (or admitted), the burden ified and articulated the "minor with unsolicited submissions from a would rest with the US to invoke exceptions" doctrine applicable third party. In this case the suppli- and prove the applicability of an under certain provisions of the cant was the American Society of exception.13 Berne Convention, and that the Composers, Authors and Publish- Fairness in Music Licensing Act fell ers, whose clientele obviously had a Following earlier precedent, the within these parameters. The Euro- rather considerable interest in the Panel readily agreed, and placed the 12 pean Communities argued they did outcome of the trade dispute. burden of proof on the EC for estab- not. ASCAP didn't concur with the posi- lishing a prima facie violation of tion being taken by its government the basic rights that have been pro- The WTO panel decision - which and wanted to make its position vided under the copyright provi- ran to more than 250 pages - offers known to the panel. sions of the TRIPs Agreement. Once a detailed review of these and other having succeeded, the burden then elements of US copyright law The EC objected, arguing that the rested with the United States to against the benchmark of WTO and authority of panels is limited to the establish that any exception or lim- Berne obligations. When the smoke consideration of factual information itation was applicable and that the of this lengthy and esoteric analysis and technical advice by individuals conditions, if any, for invoking such finally clears, we learn that the or bodies alien to the dispute and exception were fulfilled. panel has created a saw-off, finding thus did not include the possibility some, but not all, of the exceptions for a panel to accept any legal argu- However, quite apart from allocat- set out in US copyright law to be in ment or legal interpretation from ing the burden of proof in this way, breach of US obligations under the such individuals or bodies. While a review of panel jurisprudence WTO. While the panel found the the United States supported the suggests less than even-handedness most important and commercial right of private parties to make when it comes to judging whether exemptions of this US law to be in their views known to WTO dispute these respective burdens have been breach of WTO rules it also con- panels in principle - it was not keen discharged. As for purported viola- cluded that: "the playing of dramat- to have ASCAP's views considered tions of WTO requirements, panels ic works through homestyle appa- in this particular instance. have been quick to judgment, often ratus the panel failed to see how demonstrating a liberal and expan- these would acquire such economic As it had in the Shrimp Turtle dis- sive interpretation of WTO rules. or practical importance that it could pute, the Panel decided to skirt the But the same can't be said of the cause an unreasonable prejudice to issue by indicating that it would approach panels have taken to the the legitimate interests of rights "not reject outright the information exclusionary provisions of this holders."10 contained in the letter from the law trade regime that might otherwise firm representing ASCAP," but dis- have allowed nations some latitude However, the most significant counting its probative value, goes in fashioning their national policies aspects of the case are not its con- on to conclude that "while not hav- and laws. This explains why it has clusions, but rather how the panel ing refused the copy of the letter, been virtually impossible for coun- arrives at them. Of particular con- we have not relied on it for our rea- tries to claim the benefit of any cern are the panel's views about the soning or our findings". Conscious exception to WTO requirements.14 issue of non-commercial use within of concerns about the secrecy of The US copyright case would be no the TRIPs Agreement. There are WTO processes, panels have been exception.
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Non-commercial Purposes and the free and non-voluntary licenses dealing with it almost summarily Public Interest within the limits of the Berne Con- and concluding that it was: vention.15 According to this model ... not in a position to determine However what may be the most free uses could include: that the minor exceptions doc- important aspect of this WTO deci- – use of a work for one's own per- trine justifies only exclusively sion barely consumed a moment of sonal and private requirement; non-commercial use of works the panel's attention, because in the – quotations compatible with fair and that it may under no circum- 250+ pages of this judgment, very practice and to the extent not stances justify exceptions to uses little is said about the scope for exceeding that justified by the with a more than negligible eco- making non-commercial use of purpose; nomic impact on copyright hold- intellectual property. And yet it is – the use of a work for illustration ers. On the other hand, non-com- the need to balance private propri- in publications, broadcast or mercial uses of works, e.g., in etary claims and the broader public sound or visual recordings for adult and child education, may interest - or, in other words, to rec- teaching, provided that such use reach a level that has a major oncile commercial and non-com- is again compatible with fair economic impact on the right mercial values, that lies at the heart practice and that the source and holder. At any rate, in our view, a of public policy concerning the pro- the name of the author are men- non-commercial character of the tection of intellectual property. tioned by the user; use in question is not determina- – the reproduction in the press or tive provided that the exception Having quickly found the US to be communication to the public of contained in national law is in breach of its obligations under articles on current economic, indeed minor.16 Article 9 of the TRIPs Agreement, political or religious topics pub- the panel turned its attention to US lished in newspapers or periodi- While it may have had a point with claims that its copyright reforms cals and broadcast works of the respect to the significance of eco- should be considered a minor and same character, provided that the nomic impacts associated with cer- permissible exception under both source is indicated by the user tain non-commercial uses - there the rules of the Berne Convention and such uses were not expressly are some obvious questions, and and WTO disciplines. The EC prohibited when the work was answers, which should have fol- objected, arguing that any excep- originally made accessible; lowed: tions to the copyright claims of – the use of a work that can be authors and composers would have seen or heard in the course of a – At what point would economic to be of a non-commercial nature. current event for reporting on impacts for a copyright owner be As it submitted, minor reservations that event; so great as to negate the societal should be: – the reproduction of works of art benefits associated with making and architecture in a film or tele- information freely available for limited to public performances of vision broadcast, if their use is such non-commercial purposes works for religious ceremonies, incidental or if the said work is as adult and childhood educa- military bands and the needs of located in a public place; tion? the child and adult education. All – the reprographic reproduction of – Should the balance of these com- these uses are characterized by protected work, when it is made peting interests shift with the their non-commercial character... by public libraries, non-commer- character of either the rights But even if one were to argue cial documentation centres, scien- holder, or the beneficiaries of that these three instances were tific institutions and educational making certain IP freely avail- only illustrative, their common establishments, provided that the able. For example should the line features consist in being for non- number of copies made is limited be drawn in the same place when commercial activities and for a to the needs of their activities the rights holder is a large media well-defined social purpose. and the reproduction does not corporation and the users, stu- Given that Section 110(5) Copy- unreasonably prejudice the legiti- dents in a developing country, or right Act is directly intended to mate interest of the author; conversely where the rights hold- serve commercial interests by the – the reproduction in the press or er is an individual author and use of the copyright works in communication to the public of user a wealthy US university? commercial establishments for political speeches, speeches deliv- – Do the types of users suggested the enjoyment of customers with ered during legal proceedings, or by the Tunis Model Law reflect the objective to enhance turnover any lecture or sermon delivered those, that at least for developing and profit neither of these com- in public, etc., provided that the countries - the WTO would be mon characteristics can be found use is exclusively for the purpose willing to accept? in Section 110(5) Copyright Act. of current information and does not mean publishing a collection At the heart of these questions is In support of its argument, refer- of such works. the balance that must be preserved ence was made to WIPO materials between private right and public that offered guidance to developing Unfortunately the panel expressed interest - a balance so fundamental countries about how to provide for little interest in this crucial point, to the basic character of a civil soci-
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ety that they have been given economic impact such unlicensed universal and enforceable regime expression in the UN Universal use may have. Once that use reach- for the protection of intellectual Declaration of Human Rights: es a certain economic threshold, no property rights in accordance with 27(i) Everyone has the right exemption will be permitted to the US legal norms; and 2) the elimina- freely to participate in the cultur- exclusive rights of a copyright hold- tion of competing (read "public") al life of the Community, to enjoy er. It will not matter whether that information service delivery sys- the arts and to share in scientific use is being offered as a public ser- tems. advancement and its benefits. vice by a not for profit provider, or 27(ii) Everyone has the right to for entirely commercial reasons. Of these two objectives, the first has protection of the moral and mate- Neither would the relative needs or to a significant degree already been rial interests resulting from sci- wealth of the parties enter the equa- accomplished. This is clear from the entific, literary and artistic pro- tion. cases I have described. In the "Split- duction of which he is an author. Run Magazine Case" we have seen As we know, judicial institutions how WTO rules have been invoked EC submissions clearly invited the play a fundamental role in shaping to transform information and forms panel to address the challenge of the policies and laws of most soci- of cultural expression into com- balancing the competing claims of eties. What we are observing in the modities to be regulated like any proprietary rights and the public US copyrights case is a dramatic other product or good. In the case of interest. Regrettably the panel shift in decision-making authority US copyright law we see the WTO showed scant awareness of the pol- from WIPO to the WTO with dispute process reveal the same icy framework which should have respect to matters of intellectual indifference to non-commercial val- at least informed, if not guided, its property protection. As can be seen ues or policy perspectives other deliberations. Rather it ignored the from the panel's response to this than those of trade liberalization. public interest dimension of argu- challenge, a great deal of the public ments made by the EC and sup- policy complexity that should As the goal of privatizing the deliv- ported by other intervening nations, inform decisions about intellectual ery of information services, which choosing instead to simply reduce property protection is likely to be will obviously be of great interest to the issues before it - to those involv- lost in the transition. In their stead public libraries, work is still in ing the competing claims among will be the dollars and cents of progress and now being pursued as private commercial users. Thus less competing commercial interests as one aspect of efforts to complete the than two paragraphs of its very increasingly large corporations con- rudimentary framework of the Gen- lengthy decision are devoted to solidate their dominion over global eral Agreement on Trade in Ser- addressing the issue of non-com- information resources. vices (the GATS) which has already mercial use. been incorporated within the WTO framework. In choosing a topic for Thus the WTO's first opportunity to Conclusion my lecture, I was torn: should I talk consider trade disciplines incorpo- about the damage already done by rating one of the most important I have taken the time to relate the WTO rules, or talk about the chal- WIPO conventions devolved quick- details of these two WTO disputes lenges which are now only unfold- ly to a technocratic exercise of mea- because they provide the most per- ing. I chose the former, on the suring the physical characteristics suasive evidence of the enormous assumption that many of you might of the environment and the loud- influence this regime will have in still be unfamiliar with the WTO, or speaker technology used in the shaping national and international know little of the trade disputes I unlicensed broadcasts that were at policies and law as these relate to described. issue. As has now become the pat- intellectual property protection. tern with trade dispute resolution WTO rulings will not be ignored, For some time I have considered under the WTO - panels have because the costs of doing this, these disputes a blessing, because shown a remarkable and myopic even for the wealthiest nations, will without this tangible evidence a cri- preoccupation with the trade liber- be too high.17 tique of WTO policies and disci- alization goals of the regime to the plines often seems far-fetched. How exclusion of all other competing Unfortunately the rules of the could nation states willingly cede policy perspectives. TRIPs and other WTO Agreements sovereignty to the extent WTO rules were the product of highly secretive require? Why would they empower Beyond missing a critical opportu- negotiations processes informed unaccountable international tri- nity to demonstrate some sensitivi- almost exclusively by the views of bunals staffed by experts in inter- ty to the broader policy context large corporations with a significant national trade (but with few if any within which WIPO conventions stake in global markets. Not sur- other qualifications), to sit in judg- reside, the specific implication of prisingly trade rules often reflect an ment of a diverse array of domestic the panel's approach is that any unleavened corporate agenda, policies that may only tangentially exemptions to the rights of copy- which in the area of intellectual effect international trade? Why right holders will be resolved by property protection are these: 1) the would WTO rules take precedent the WTO entirely on the basis of the establishment of a comprehensive, when conflicts arise with other
360 IFLA JOURNAL 26 (2000) 5/6 Information, Commodification and the World Trade Organization international conventions and pro- to the complex, obscure and often 2nd Session (1976) as reproduced in tocols, such as those dealing with secretive reports, submissions, stud- Exhibit US-2. In their first written sub- basic human rights? ies, and negotiating texts which missions, the European Communities comprise the record of contempo- and the United States expressed their There is no better proof of these rary trade negotiations and dispute views on the background and subse- quent application of the original admittedly astonishing propositions resolutions. There is great need to homestyle exemption. than to recount the decisions of find ways to expose information 9 Note 2, p. 65. WTO trade dispute bodies. While that too often has been shrouded 10 the cases I relate here have attract- from public view. Ricketson. Berne Convention 11 ed less notoriety than challenges to Appellate Body Report on United States - Import Prohibition on Certain US marine mammal protection We need international agreements Shrimp Products adopted on 6 laws or European food safety stan- about intellectual property, culture, November 1998, WT/DS58/AB/R, trade, biodiversity, human rights, dards, their implications are obvi- paragraphs 99-110. climate change and several other ously just as profound. 12 In the case the letter from a law firm global and pressing priorities. But representing ASCAP was actually The TRIPs and GATS Agreements these agreements must reflect the written to the United States Trade represent the embodiment of a cor- views and interests of all in society, Representative and only copied to the porate vision of globalization that and not simply the priorities of the Panel, a point it notes. offers no space for communal or world's largest corporations. It is up 13 First written submission by the Euro- public ownership, that regards to all of us to impress upon our pean Communities, paragraph 74; the diversity as unwanted competition governments that the dynamics of second written submission by the that must either be acquired, or international trade negotiation and European Communities, paragraph eliminated, and that dismisses the dispute resolution must now be 34. notion of public service delivery as fundamentally overhauled. 14 The cases that illustrate this apparent a quaint anachronism that must bias involve attempts by nations to give way to the corporate impera- rely upon the exceptions set out in tives of growth and the consolida- References Article XX of the GATT concerning tion global empires. the protection of animal, plant and 1 Section 301 of the US Trade and Com- human life, and the conservation of natural resources. There is as yet no The GATS Agreement represents a merce Act. 2 Canada - Certain Measures Concern- reporting decision sustaining such a critical dimension of this corporate defense. enterprise and is only now in the ing Periodicals, Report of the Appel- late Body, 30 June 1997 - 15 "Tunis Model Law on Copyright" works. Because the GATS defines WT/DS31/AB/R. which has been adopted in 1976 (i.e., services in such an expansive way 3 Magder, Ted. "Franchising the Candy after the last reference to "minor to include almost anything you Store: Split-Run Magazine and a new reservations" at the diplomatic confer- can't drop on your foot, and International Regime for Trade in Cul- ence in 1967). because its essential objectives are ture in Canadian-American Public 16 In the literature it has been argued to de-regulate and privatize all ser- Policy". Canadian American Center that such exceptions to the rights pro- vices - current GATS negotiations 34: 49 (1998). tected under the relevant provisions of must become a priority for every- 4 Ibid. the Berne Convention must be con- one with doubts about the wisdom 5 The General Agreement on Tariffs and cerned with minimal use, or use with- of this corporate agenda. Trade (1994) (the GATT) reproduces out significance to the author. See the essential elements of the GATT Ricketson. Berne Convention, op. cit., It seems to me that there is particu- 1947, and comprises the framework p. 532-535. lar role for librarians to play as upon which other WTO agreements 17 It is not unusual for the WTO to assess well, and not just as the defenders are built. trade sanctions in the hundreds of 6 of public libraries, although without "Raising the Stakes over Magazines: millions of dollars. In the split-run Washington Threatens Trade War". magazine case, when Canada was too your determined intervention I fear Maclean's, 25 January 1999. slow to implement the WTO ruling, the era of such public institutions, 7 United States - Section 110(5) of the the US threatened to impose retaliato- which as you know began only a lit- US Copyright Act - WT/DS160/5 of 16 ry sanctions in the order of USD 300 tle over a century ago, will not sur- April 1999. million, applied strategically to vive very much longer. But there is 8 Conference Report of the House Com- exports from key Canadian political another and equally important ser- mittee of the Judiciary Subcommittee constituencies such as steel from the vice you can provide, which would on Courts and Intellectual Property, riding of its Minister of Culture and be to provide effective public access H.R. Rep. No. 94-1733, 94th Congress, Heritage.
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