World Intellectual Property Organization Director General Francis Gurry has issued a call for new efforts to ensure copyright remains viable and to win the hearts and minds of the public toward intellectual property rights. The comments came in a broader context of maintaining the relevance of the organisation on the eve of the annual WIPO General Assembly.

In the September edition of WIPO Magazine, Gurry is asked “Why is activism important within the copyright debate?” He replied: “Copyright has served society and the economy very well, but the digital environment poses a serious challenge which is not going to disappear. We have to actively find ways to maintain the central mission of copyright – that of ensuring a viable economic existence for creators and creative industries while making creative content broadly available – in the digital environment.”

Gurry also said the growing anti-IP sentiment is “quite normal” and described the challenge of winning the “hearts and minds” of people toward the notion of paying for copyrighted material on the internet.

On the future IP agenda, he pointed to the shift toward Asia, and the change from a simple world of developed and developing countries.