His Excellency Mr Yan Xiaohong
Vice Minister
National Copyright Administration of China
Mr Pushpendra Rai
Director
World Intellectual Property Organization
Singapore Office
Distinguished speakers, WIPO colleagues
Fellow participants, ladies and gentlemen
Good morning
1. I would like to welcome one and all to the WIPO Asia-Pacific Regional Forum on Copyright and Related Rights – an event organized by the World Intellectual Property Organization; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore; the International Confederation of Authors and Composers Societies; and the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore.
2. Please join me in welcoming His Excellency Mr Yan Xiaohong to this forum. I understand that this is Vice Minister Yan’s first visit to Singapore and I am pleased that he is able to take time off his busy schedule to be with us today. In fact, I had the opportunity to meet Vice Minister Yan at the highly successful 2nd China International Copyright Forum and Expo in Beijing last weekend. I was particularly struck by the scale and quality of thematic exhibitions showcasing China’s creative industries as well as the enriching debates that took place at the Forum. Allow me to congratulate Vice Minister Yan and the National Copyright Administration of China on their excellence in hosting such a prestigious and enlightening Forum. We are indeed privileged and I certainly look forward to hearing from Vice Minister Yan on China’s insights and perspectives on furthering the regional copyright agenda.
Ladies and gentlemen
3. The area of copyright has witnessed and been impacted by swift technological change in the last decade. Today, creative assets are gaining importance in almost every aspect of our daily lives. The increasing use of digital technology, the rise of multimedia productions and the widespread use of digital networks such as the Internet have meant that works can now be reproduced and circulated in high quality and with much ease than ever before, irrevocably changing the way we live and work.
4. This has in turn created novel challenges in the administration and management of copyright. How can rights protection and management remain effective in a world where technology is constantly evolving both digitally and beyond? Technological advances and the corresponding new business models that have propelled changes to the IP regime are so rapid that policy makers and copyright offices are constantly confronted with the challenge of ensuring that copyright regimes remain credible and effective. Given this, it is therefore no surprise that copyright has emerged as the subject of a robust and lively ongoing international debate.
5. Already, copyright intensive sectors such as the publishing, audiovisual and music industries are developing new business and licensing models to respond to changes brought about by digitalization. These and other trenchant issues such as the role of copyright offices, businesses, rights holders and users in coping with current and future technological shifts will be explored over the next two days by our line-up of eminent speakers representing a cross-section of the international copyright community. On this note, I would like to thank our speakers for making themselves available to share with us their knowledge, experience and views on a range of issues salient to the discourse on copyright.
6. My gratitude also goes to the World Intellectual Property Organization for co-organising the event with us. Over the years, WIPO has been an important partner in every step of Singapore’s IP journey. Today, WIPO and Singapore collaborate on a range of training activities to help other developing countries reap the benefits of IP for their own economic and social development. That said however, I believe this is the first occasion where we have worked with WIPO in convening a dedicated dialogue forum on copyright. We hope this will be the start of more new and exciting projects as we intensify our cooperation.
7. We are particularly grateful to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore for the support rendered in organizing this event with us. It is also my deep pleasure to welcome onboard the International Confederation of Authors and Composers Societies as our co-organiser. IPOS has partnered CISAC on many occasions previously and we are pleased to work with them again for this important event.
8. Finally, I would like to thank our supporting organizations – the Association of Small & Medium Sized Enterprises, the Singapore IP Academy, the National University of Singapore, Nanyang Polytechnic and Republic Polytechnic - for their support towards today’s Forum.
9. Let me conclude by wishing everyone a fruitful and productive Forum.