MOTION OF THE GREEN ONES OF THE OROTAVA AGAINST THE PAYMENT BY THE BOOK LOAN IN THE PUBLIC LIBRARIES

EXHIBITION OF REASONS

Not only on bread the man lives. I, if he were hungry and he were destitute in the street would not request a bread; but he would request average bread and a book. And I attack violently here which only speaks of economic reinvindicaciones without never naming the vindications cultural that are what the towns ask to shouts. He is well that all the men eat, but who all the men know. That they enjoy all the fruits the human spirit because the opposite is to turn them into machines to the service of the state, he is to turn them into slaves of a terrible social organization.

Federico Garci’a Lorca.

In 1992 the directive was created 92/100/CEE, according to consists in its introduction, due to the existing differences in the legal protection that offer the Member States to works protected by the rights of author and to the objects protected by compatible rights in the matter of rent and loan, and that such differences are source of obstacles to the commerce and of distortions of the competition that prevent the good operation and the accomplishment of the inner market. In essence the economic right of the author to the loan is introduced.

The most direct consequences of this directive receive the libraries, because it comes to introduce the obligation of these to pay by the loan of books.

The Spanish legal system adapts to this directive, although it applies article 5,3 of the own communitarian directive: “The Member States will be able to exempt to certain categories of establishments of the payment of the remuneration….”.

The European commission has denounced and condemned the States Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese and Luxemburgish to consider that this article 5,3 of a very ample form is being applied, which in his opinion is lapsing the application of the loan right, when high-priority considering that to l@s autor@s and, by all means, l@s editor@s has right to an economic compensation because the similar loans of the libraries and centers harm the commercial operation of the work.

The libraries, the archives, the museums, the fonotecas and the film libraries act a as of diffusion of the culture and the thought that supposes a support to the fortification of the democratic values. The payment of a canon reduces this public function on watch.

The public libraries (policemen, of districts, students…) and the similar centers act a as social and are a fundamental axis in any cultural policy, which is supported with the taxes of the citizenship.

A numerous group of escritor@s has subscribed a manifesto against the canon by the book loan, since they are conscious of the important social function of the public libraries and their debt with them. They refuse to that a canon by the loan of its books is received. They argue it in which the libraries serve public of first order and that the true beneficiaries of this measurement would be the great publishing houses and the managing organizations of (supposedly) the rights of the authors. Finally they refuse to serve as alibi this new maneuver of mercantilización of the culture.

By all this, the Green ones of the Orotava we elevated to the Plenary session of the Corporation, for its approval if the text comes from the following motion:

TEXT OF THE MOTION

• The City council in the heat of, asks for the government of the Kingdom of Spain that declares the public libraries and free similar centers to pay by the loans that realise, in agreement with article 5,3 of the Directive 92/100/CEE.
• It indicates his similar rejection to the adoption of any rate to the public libraries and centers by the book loan or other documents submissive the author rights.
• It shows his disagreement with the proposal of the European Union of modification of the Law of Intellectual Property for the collection of the rights of author by the loans that are realised in the public libraries and similar centers.
• To give to transfer of this motion for its support to the Canary Parliament and the Insulares Town halls and City councils of the Canary Islands through FECAI and FECAM.
• To give transfer in the present agreement to the European Parliament to inform our similar rejection to the application of a canon to the loan in the public libraries and centers.