WIPO Negotiators Agree On Way Forward For Broadcasting Treaty

The member governments of the World Intellectual Property Organisation today agreed on a plan to negotiate a treaty on the rights of broadcasters by 2007 after two more committee meetings.

The proposal before the WIPO General Assembly, meeting from 26 September to 5 October, was whether and when to schedule a diplomatic conference (a high-level treaty negotiation) for a broadcasting treaty. The final agreement of the assembly, to be formally adopted in an afternoon plenary session, states in part:

“Two additional meetings of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) will be scheduled to accelerate discussions on the second revised consolidated text (SCCR/12/2 Rev. 2) and the working paper (SCCR/12/5 Prov.). These meetings shall aim to agree and finalize a basic proposal for a treaty on the protection of the rights of broadcasting organisations in order to enable the 2006 WIPO General Assembly to recommend the convening of a Diplomatic Conference in December 2006 or at an appropriate date in 2007.”

Late changes to that chair’s text were to remove the words “consider and” immediately prior to “accelerate,” and to add the word “agree and” immediately prior to “finalize.” Also added was that the treaty would be “on the protection” of the rights of broadcasting organisations.

The proposal for a diplomatic conference had significant support from developed and developing countries alike, but some countries had resisted pre-approving the negotiation until they could ensure what the text to be negotiated look like. There are a number of concerns about the substance of the treaty, including whether it will ultimately cover webcasting despite objection by most member states.

The SCCR has been working on the issue for some eight years, but the draft text remains in a non-negotiating form. To bring it to that form, there would typically be consensus on a document that has sections that are already agreed and sections with brackets reflecting a lack of agreement. Some officials said the final two SCCR meetings would have the task of placing brackets around any language on which there is not agreement.

The addition of “agree” appears to have been sufficient to get sceptical countries on board, as they interpret the word to mean they will have to have an agreement on a text for negotiations before the diplomatic conference can take place.

New Proposal On Development Agenda

Also expected to be adopted in the afternoon plenary is the call for action on the report of the U.N. Joint Inspection Unit.

Still to come before the day’s end is to reach agreement on how to handle a proposal for a development agenda, and the future work programme of the Standing Committee on Patents.

On the reform of WIPO toward a development agenda, a new chair’s proposal has been circulated that combines a Group B plan for a new development committee with an Indian proposal for a task force on development. In the new plan, proposals related to a development agenda would be considered in two meetings of “ad hoc” (in brackets, it is referred to “transitory”) committee on development, which would report by 31 August.

The existing Permanent Committee on Cooperation for Development Related to Intellectual Property (PCIPD) would not meet while the new Development Committee is meeting. The General Assembly will consider the issue again in 2006.

The United States had pressed for development issues to be placed in the PCIPD, but some developing countries were concerned that it might lead to inaction on the issues they argue cut across many core functions of WIPO.

On the patent committee work plan, the chair’s proposal calls for an informal open forum in Geneva in the first quarter of 2006 covering all issues of the committee, followed by a two-day forum to agree on a work program for the issues. Then a five-day meeting of the committee will be held, and the issue will be considered at the 2006 General Assembly.