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| | Message of the Director-General of UNESCO on the occasion of World Book and Copyright Day - 23 April 2004
13-04-2004 - For almost ten years now, every 23 April, World Book and Copyright Day has involved a hundred or so countries and several million people in the promotion of books and copyright and in joint reflection on their irreplaceable roles in education, culture and the sciences throughout the world. |
As a window on the diversity of cultures and a bridge between civilizations, as carriers of values, knowledge, the aesthetic sense and the world of the imagination, books are above all works of the mind, creativity and culture of human beings, which thereby enrich the intangible heritage of humanity. Copyright – moral and patrimonial protection for intellectual works and their creators – provides the legal framework conducive to the full development of these valuable resources.
In today’s knowledge markets books are also instruments for learning, sharing and updating the knowledge essential to the exercise of all occupations, irrespective of their intellectual or technical nature. In this sense, they play a central role in building knowledge societies, often relayed by the new information and communication technologies. But while the latter are accessible, especially in the South, to only a limited segment of the population, books have managed to permeate the entire social fabric and remain the most widespread medium for the transmission of knowledge between people. Books are therefore at the very heart of the economy of every country and every community.
In addition books are, both as cultural products and as traded goods, the raison d’être of an entire sector of the economy: that of publishing. They are therefore at the centre of a great web of activities and professions directly or indirectly generating income, representing a major industry that should contribute to the economic, social and cultural development of all countries and their populations. Copyright, which protects the legal use of works of the mind, also plays a crucial role in the creation, production and dissemination of the knowledge which is the fruit of human creativity.
With their complex nature, books are therefore playing an increasingly important part in people’s lives, and in the blossoming of their societies. For this reason, the protection and the promotion of books and of copyright, which is their necessary adjunct, constitute a unique challenge for the progress of democracy.
In this context, I call upon policy-makers, economic operators and other actors in civil society: I invite them to promote public awareness of the unique role of the book and of the need to uphold respect for copyright. Thanks to the decision of the international community, World Book and Copyright Day exists for that purpose. It is, still in 2004, an occasion not to be missed.
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