Interim WIPO Copyright Head Steps In As Members Resume Talks On Broadcasting Treaty, Exceptions

The World Intellectual Property Organization committee on copyright opened today with an agenda of a potential treaty to protect broadcasting organisations against piracy, and copyright limitations and exceptions for libraries, archives, educational and research institutions, as well as for persons with disabilities other than visual impairment.

The 31^st session of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) is taking place from 7 to 11 December.

After the news of the resignation of Anne Leer, WIPO Deputy Director General for the Culture and Creative Industries Sector (first reported by Intellectual Property Watch, here: IPW, WIPO, 23 November 2015), WIPO Director General Francis Gurry today announced how her replacement is being organised.

Gurry said Leer resigned for family reasons and chose to go back to the United Kingdom. He has appointed Michele Woods, director of the Copyright Law Division, to cover Leer’s responsibilities until a new candidate is recruited to fill the vacant post.

Woods has been in her position at WIPO since June 2012. She was former associate register for policy and international affairs at the United States Copyright Office, and earlier represented US sports industries in the WIPO negotiations on broadcasting.

A post advertisement will be released before year’s end, said Gurry, who expressed the wish “to fill the post as quickly as possible,” while underlining that it is “a time-consuming process.”

Opening the session, Gurry said he hoped that delegates would “be able to end the year on a positive note.” Member states have not been able to reach consensus in recent years on recommendations and conclusions, but “extraordinarily good progress” was achieved in the understanding on the substantive issues of the committee, he said.

The broadcasting treaty is the longest standing item in WIPO’s normative agenda, Gurry said, and the last treaty not to have been reviewed and updated in the context of the digital environment.

Gurry also announced an International Conference on the Global Digital Content Market, to take place in Geneva from 20-22 April.

Work Programme for the Week

SCCR Chair Martin Moscoso, of Peru, announced the work programme for the week. The proposed future work of the SCCR was not approved at the last session of the committee in June (IPW, WIPO, 6 July 2015), however subsequent discussions with regional coordinators brought consensus on the week’s programme, he said.

The work time this week is expected to be divided equally between discussions on the broadcasting treaty and limitations/exceptions, he said. The presentation of a study [pdf] on exceptions and limitations for museums is expected to take place on Wednesday afternoon.

Delegates this afternoon started to discuss a new a text [pdf] prepared by Moscoso, tabled in November with consolidated text on definitions, object of protection, and rights to be granted, which are at the heart of the discussions for the potential treaty (IPW, WIPO, 27 November 2015).

On exceptions and limitations, the SCCR is expected to refer to a “Working Document [pdf] Containing Comments on and Textual Suggestions Towards an Appropriate International Legal Instrument (in whatever form) on Exceptions and Limitations for Libraries and Archives.” It also will refer to a “Provisional Working Document [pdf] Towards an Appropriate International Legal Instrument (in Whatever Form) on Limitations and Exceptions for Educational, Teaching and Research Institutions and Persons with other Disabilities Containing Comments and Textual Suggestions.”

New Proposals: Resale Right, Copyright in Digital Environment

On 4 December, Senegal and Congo submitted a proposal [pdf] to include the resale right in the agenda of the future work of the SCCR.

On 2 December, the Group of Latin American and Caribbean countries (GRULAC) submitted a proposal [pdf] suggesting an analysis of copyright related to the digital environment (IPW, WIPO, 2 December 2015).

Separately, Brazil announced that it completed its preparations to ratify the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled.

 

Image Credits: WIPO