2nd Edition of the African Publishers Conference

The 2nd edition of the African Publishers Conference, hosted by ARIPO and the Zimbabwean Book Publishers Association (ZBPA), was held at the ARIPO Office in Harare, Zimbabwe from 3 to 4 June 2024. The theme was “Enhancing the Capacity of African Publishing Industry for the Promotion of Literacy”.

The conference was organised by the African Publishers Network (APNET) with the support of WIPO, the International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organisations (IFRRO), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), ARIPO, ZBPA and the International Publishers Association (IPA).

The conference consisted of presentations, workshops, panel discussions and general APNET business meetings, all intended to build and expand the capacity of the publishing industry in Africa. There were over 70 participants from about 30 countries that took part in the event.

There was a session dedicated to collective management of text- and image-based (TI) works. The conference also included presentations of the WIPO Publishers Circle initiative by WIPO’s Ms. Sherine Greiss, updates on the Exception and Limitations discussions at WIPO forums, and an introduction to Artificial Intelligence (AI) and copyright by the Director of the WIPO Copyright Law Division, Ms Michele Woods.

UNESCO provided information on its book data collection initiative and there were discussions on the opportunities for the dissemination of UNESCO’s General History of Africa series.

ARIPO’s Head of Copyright, Ms Maureen Fondo, and ARIPO’s Copyright and Related Rights Officer, Mr Amadu Bah, highlighted the importance of intellectual property rights to the publishing sector, and the role of ARIPO in shaping IP in Africa.

A presentation of particular interest to many participants was on the international policy landscape for publishing, which had a special focus on copyright and freedom to publish, presented by IPA’s Secretary General, Mr José Borghino.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/ARIPOSecretariat/posts/pfbid0tjhcTRHrJ7phDUqxaibJ9XVCyX9yhmo2ks5qyV3FWcrTe6uepZFtiDeoYn8H9MVCl

https://ifrro.org/page/article-detail/2nd-editon-of-the-african-publishers-conference-takes-place-3-4-june-in-harare/#:~:text=The%20second%20edition%20of%20the,ARIPO%20Headquarters%2C%20Harare%2C%20Zimbabwe