Designing Sustainable Copyright: the Education Imperative

The urge to achieve universal access to education is pressing. Studies have shown that there are still major differences in access to education between men and women, as well as between the poor and the wealthy. Without intervention, it is projected that 300 million students will continue to lack basic literacy and numeracy skills. The relevance of the topic is confirmed by adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by United Nations Member States in 2015, centering around 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Such goals call for global cooperation to achieve a better and fairer world in different respects, covering the ecological, environmental, and social dimensions of sustainability. Among the SDGs, SDG no. 4 is notable for its aim to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.” This goal is an imperative for sustainability on multiple fronts, particularly in upholding human rights. The need to guarantee universally accessible learning opportunities is included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which considers the right to education a human right, as well as the right to freely participate in the cultural life of the community, enjoy the arts, and share scientific advancements and their benefits, while also balancing the rights of authors or creators to receive moral and material protection for their creations. The right of everyone to participate in cultural life and to benefit from scientific progress is also clearly addressed in article 15 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). This right must be balanced with the entitlement to protection of authors’ moral and material interests in their scientific, literary, or artistic creations. In addition, there are significant supranational (for instance, EU) and national experiences (for instance, Italy) supporting such an approach. Building on an international human rights-oriented approach to copyright, this thesis argues that copyright law should strike a fair balance between authors’ interests and the right to education, as well as development of science and culture. Although the term sustainability is not explicitly addressed within copyright law, it is a concept that reveals and should exert a significant influence in this field. Therefore, sustainability must be included among the goals of copyright law. To this end, the targets and indicators structure of SDG no. 4 makes it easy to monitor compliance of copyright law with the sustainable education goals. For a sustainable copyright assessment, access to education, educational awareness, digital access awareness, preservation of cultural identities, scientific progress, and respect for authors’ moral and material interests are among the goals that should be pursued by copyright law while contributing to sustainability. Implementing SDG no. 4 is also crucial because it would facilitate the achievement of other SDGs, including reducing inequalities. Indeed, while all the SDGs are complementary, SDG no. 4 is considered foundational to all other SDGs, demonstrating the relevance of its implementation. Consequently, achieving equality in learning opportunities should be pursued within the context of broader objectives of all the sustainability dimensions. In addition, particular attention should be paid to areas where other factors may compromise the quality of education. The United Nations believes that achieving SDG no. 4 requires the consideration of several factors. More specifically, the financing of education by States, provision of free access to education, implementation of compulsory education, availability of a fair number of teachers, improvement of basic school infrastructure, and adoption of digital transformation have all proved to be essential. Although several initiatives to implement access to education exist, this research analyzes the issue through the lens of intellectual property. From a copyright perspective, certain legal provisions can limit or restrict access to materials, even for educational purposes. Analyzing copyright within the framework of the SDGs highlights its role in ensuring equitable and safe access to quality educational materials for all—including minority groups—regardless of class, gender, language, geographical location, and disabilities. This system must be implemented while respecting human rights and other sustainability dimensions. The author refers to this understanding of copyright as Sustainable Copyright. An assessment of the current legislative copyright framework reveals its present inadequacy. Therefore, this research proposes that the copyright system should be designed to actively promote education, rather than treating it as a disharmonized and inconsistently applied exception, to comply with the sustainability imperative. Within this framework, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is recognized as a relevant tool for enabling access to education. AI enables easy access to and efficient processing of massive data, provides instant content summaries and translations, and enhances learning through interactive and “gamified” learning experiences. These functions broaden access to content and educational materials, reach a wider audience, and offer customized learning experiences, ultimately fostering greater engagement and motivation to learn. From a copyright perspective, a key question in the context of AI is whether it is lawful to use copyrighted content for training purposes, elaborating output and potentially reproducing content for educational purposes. Current text and data mining (TDM) provisions, however, are disharmonized and, in any case, are not considered broad enough to fully support the transformative power of AI within the education sector. To fully leverage the benefits of AI within the education field, it is essential that the access and use of materials for AI applications is deemed lawful under the relevant legal frameworks. To design a roadmap for Sustainable Copyright that aligns with SDG no. 4 and related targets, it is proposed that States should cooperate to establish a multilateral international treaty. This treaty should include a common framework of limitations and exceptions applicable worldwide, to be understood as users’ rights for education purposes, allowing reproduction and elaboration of works and TDM activities to advance educational objectives under SDG no. 4. Such international cooperation among nations reflects the spirit of SDG no. 17, which calls for strengthening implementation mechanisms and “revitalize[ing] the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development.” The second step of the proposal includes education materials as well as AI output in a database of “essential knowledge” through a (safe, environmental-friendly, economically sustainable, and human rights compliant) AI-powered platform monitored by an independent authority, ultimately allowing access to basic essential knowledge to all, thus also mitigating inequality within and among countries. With this proposal, a Sustainable Copyright system could be implemented, which should fulfill, at least in part, the implementation of SDGs. Such a system is not intended to replace the current education scheme adopted in each country but rather as a supplement to support a minimum standardized shared education internationally.