Access to Knowledge Movement

The Access to Knowledge (A2K) movement is a loose collection of civil society groups, governments, and individuals converging on the idea that access to knowledge should be linked to fundamental principles of justice, freedom, and economic development.

The Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities from 2003 is a major declaration reflecting the goals of the movement in relation to academic publishing.

In October 2004, the Geneva declaration on the future of the World Intellectual Property Organization emerged from a call from Brazil and Argentina for a development agenda for the World Intellectual Property Organization, and was supported by hundreds organizations. Supporters included the Free Software Foundation, with a statement Towards a "World Intellectual Wealth Organisation": Supporting the Geneva Declaration.

One of the proposals of the declaration was to a «call for a Treaty on Access to Knowledge and Technology. The Standing Committee on Patents and the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights should solicit views from member countries and the public on elements of such a treaty».

A shared discussion platform on A2K issues is the mailing list of that name, which was initiated around discussion of the Geneva declaration. A draft "A2K treaty" was later produced. The proposed treaty is intended to ease the transfer of knowledge to developing nations, and to secure the viability of open innovation systems all over the world.

Access to knowledge and science is protected by Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The article balances the right of access with a right to protection of moral and material interests:

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