Be at the Centre of the Conversation on Copyright, the Right to Research
and Just AI in 2026!
30 September – 2 October 2026
Three days on the lake in Geneva — three streams shaping 2026.
From the right to research to Just AI — the three big questions running through every session.
This year’s User Rights Network meeting is taking place in the context of growing movement in WIPO’s Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights toward an instrument on limitations and exceptions, including provisions on education and research uses. At the same time, many countries around the world are considering proposals to amend or interpret their copyright laws to promote public interests in the regulation of Artificial Intelligence. In this context, the User Rights Network annual meeting will examine three big questions at the intersection of copyright user rights and the promotion of Just AI:
The Right to Research
How should rights of researchers be promoted and protected within the growing move to address creator and public interests in the regulation of artificial intelligence? What minimum copyright limitations and exceptions should apply to which kinds of AI uses? How are AI tools being used in education and in the sciences and humanities which are affected by differences in copyright law around the globe?
Exceptions and Limitations to Copyright
With new progress on the topic of copyright limitations and exceptions at the World Intellectual Property Organisation, what should be the means and ends of an instrument on the topic in the age of AI?
Just AI?
With increasing focus on how AI tools should both be regulated to protect creator and public interests, and enabled to serve public interests, including the public interest in competition and diversity of languages and perspectives built into AI models, how should a concept of “Just AI” be conceived and what should be the role of copyright in promoting it?
Join one or more of our six themes across all the conference sessions.
To examine these questions, the meeting is planning a series of in depth discussions on the following themes on the main public day (October 1):
THEME 1Public AI & Just AI
THEME 2The Right to Research
THEME 3Remuneration & Licensing
THEME 4Creator Rights
THEME 5Traditional Knowledge & AI
THEME 6WIPO Negotiations on L&Es
Other topics and workshops
On day two of the meeting (October 2) we invite proposals to host workshops and present research or works in progress on other themes related to the general topic of copyright and Just AI. We also invite research centers and projects to co-sponsor the event and be listed as a partner by supporting the full cost of at least one attendee. We will prioritize the planning of workshops or panels by partners that can sponsor its attendees.
Villa Barton, on the Lake in Geneva
The meeting takes place at Villa Barton, part of the Domaine Barton — the Geneva Graduate Institute’s lakeside campus in Parc Mon Repos, five minutes from the Maison de la Paix. The Jacques-Freymond Auditorium and its glass-walled pavilions open directly onto Lake Léman and the surrounding park.
Domaine Barton, 132 rue de Lausanne, 1202 Genève, Switzerland. Images courtesy of the Geneva Graduate Institute.
About the Meeting
Each year, the Global Network on Copyright User Rights — a community of over 100 scholars and practitioners across 30 countries — gathers to advance a shared agenda for copyright limitations, exceptions, and user rights worldwide. In 2026, the meeting turns to one of the most urgent questions in knowledge governance: how copyright, the right to research, and the growing use of artificial intelligence intersect — and how we build a “Just AI” that serves the public interest.
The meeting is hosted by the Geneva Centre on Knowledge Governance, a joint initiative of American University’s Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property (PIJIP) and the Geneva Graduate Institute.
Three Days on the Lake
- Wed 30 Sept, evening — Public Keynote Panel & Reception, Jacques-Freymond Auditorium
- Thu 1 Oct — Public Conference Day: “Copyright, the Right to Research and Just AI,” six panel sessions, Reception on the Lake
Evening: Networking reception with delegates and policy makers - Fri 2 Oct — User Rights Committee Meetings & Works in Progress (members and invited participants)
- Sat 3 Oct (optional) — Social excursion to the Salève
Three Ways to Take Part
Conference Accommodation
The conference hotel is Drake Longchamp Hotel in Geneva — close to the conference venue at Villa Barton and to the shores of Lake Geneva. Participants can book a special rate for the duration of the conference.
Drake Longchamp Hotel, Geneva
Address
Rue Butini 7
1202 Geneva, Switzerland
Phone
+41 22 716 48 48
Website
hdlge.ch
If you need us to include you in our group hotel booking, please indicate on your form.
Our Partners
User Rights 2026 is convened with the support of leading institutions in knowledge governance and information justice.
