WIPO Committee Approves Forbin As New Top Copyright Official

The nomination of Sylvie Forbin of France to be the next head of copyright issues at the World Intellectual Property Organization was finalised yesterday as the WIPO Coordination Committee approved her appointment. Forbin is set to start work at WIPO on Monday.

 

Forbin would be the deputy director general for copyright and the creative sector at WIPO.

She is a corporate lobbyist for media giant Viacom in Paris, and worked with French foreign service in the past.

More information about her background and the selection process for her appointment is available here (IPW, WIPO, 14 July 2016).

Library groups and digital civil liberties groups have signalled their hope that she will represent a balanced agenda at the intergovernmental UN agency (IPW, WIPO, 28 July 2016).

The Coordination Committee (CoCo) is the member-state “executive body” that deals with personnel issues, among others. The appointment is not subject to approval by the full WIPO membership at the upcoming annual WIPO General Assembly.

The approval came in a closed-door one day extraordinary session of the Coordination Committee.