Boston was a significant Conference for the Committee on Copyright and other Legal Matters (CLM) because it marked the 4-year anniversary of its establishment. The Chair, Marianne Scott, reported to Council on CLM's activities during that time, which brought home to delegates just how much had been achieved so far. Three position statements (on copyright, licensing, and the World Trade Organisation); the accreditation of IFLA as an NGO with the WTO and attendance at WTO and WIPO meetings; and supporting the work of an IFLA/IPA Steering Group to improve library-publisher relations are some of CLM's significant achievements in that time. The full four-year report from the Chair is available.

The Boston Conference continued CLM's popular Update series of talks, this year on the Licensing Principles, the IFLA Copyright Statement, the EU Copyright Directive and the draft Hague Convention on Jurisdiction and Enforcement of Judgements in Civil and Commercial Cases. CLM also co-sponsored one of the Guest Lectures, by speaker Peter Jaszi, and organized a joint session with the Section on Libraries for the Blind on 'Rights Management in the age of digital content: enhancing access for print handicapped users'. CLM's major open session this year had two topics, privacy and licensing. All the sessions were well attended, indicating that copyright and legal issues remain high in the minds of IFLA members. Most of the papers from the sessions are available on the Boston Conference pages of the IFLA website.

CLM's most recent document is the IFLA Position on the World Trade Organization. Tips for TRIPS, a brief document to help libraries understand the important issues behind the TRIPS Agreement is in the process of being completed. Both of these were revisited during the business meetings of CLM. Discussion continues on how IFLA can best be represented at international meetings such as WTO and WIPO, where representation by the library community is often essential to ensure that the voice of libraries is heard.

The Boston Conference saw many of the original CLM Committee members come to the end of their 4-year term, and new members have taken their place. The Chair and IFLA are very grateful for the hard work and energy given by those outgoing and continuing members of the Committee.

Marianne Scott
Chair, IFLA CLM