WIPO Copyright Committee To Consider Broadcasting Treaty, Exceptions For Libraries

World Intellectual Property Organization delegates next week are expected to pore over a draft treaty text offering protection to broadcasters. Some issues, such as what the protection should cover, remain in the way of consensual language, and a new proposal has been put forward by the United Kingdom. Also on the agenda of the copyright committee is exceptions and limitations for libraries and archives, for which the nature of the instrument(s) that would provide such exceptions is not yet defined.

Another agenda item is a proposal on a copyright consortium for managing books for visually impaired persons.

The 27th session of the World Intellectual Property Organization Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) will take place from 28 April-2 May.

According to the agenda of the session [pdf], delegates are expected to work on the draft treaty text for the protection of broadcasting organisations, further discuss limitations and exceptions to copyright for libraries and archives, and limitations and exceptions to copyright for educational and research institutions and for persons with other disabilities.

Broadcasting

During the last session of the SCCR, from 16-20 December, delegates agreed on a work programme for the 27th session: two and a half days for the protection of broadcasting organisations, two days for limitations and exceptions for library and archives, and time permitting, limitations and exceptions for education and research, and a half day to discuss the conclusion of the meeting (IPW, 22 December 2013).

The draft treaty text [pdf] for the protection of broadcasting organisations currently contains 16 articles, most of which show different alternatives. It also contains an annex gathering textual proposals from India on several articles and from Japan and the US on one article. Most of those textual proposals refer to transmission over the internet.

Delegates attending the SCCR are expected to work on the draft text and reduce the number of alternatives. One of the issues that is actively discussed is whether or not the treaty should apply to transmissions made over the internet. Some countries, such as India, insist that the treaty applies to broadcasting and cablecasting in the traditional sense.

For example, India during the last session referred to the original mandate of the 2007 WIPO General Assembly, which includes a mention that “The scope of the Treaty will be confined to the protection of broadcasting and cablecasting organizations in the traditional sense.” Other countries contend that the mandate could be interpreted to mean that it covers new technologies and transmission over the internet (IPW, WIPO, 18 December 2013).

The objective of the proposed treaty, its specific scope and the object of protection of the treaty are still under discussion.

Origin, Aims, of the Proposed Broadcasting Treaty

According to a WIPO source, at the root of the broadcasting treaty was the effort to extend the Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations, to the digital era.

“When the topic of broadcasting first came up it was as part of the entire update of the Rome Convention, which led to the adoption of the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT) and later the Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances (BTAP),”the source said. “It could have been possible to include the broadcasting topic in the WPPT, as broadcasting rights are part of the Rome Convention, and the WPPT is an update to the Rome Convention, but it was decided to separate most of the updates related to audiovisual performances and broadcasting from the WPPT.”

According to a background brief published by WIPO, “Signal piracy can take physical form, such as unauthorized recordings of broadcasts on video tapes, DVDs or USB sticks, or it can be virtual, such as the unauthorized redistribution of signals over the air or online.”

“Hacking into encrypted pay-TV signals with equipment designed to circumvent the security measures in set-top boxes is another common form of piracy, while live sports broadcasts have been a particular target for unauthorized retransmission on the Internet. Broadcasters, including those in developing countries, claim signal piracy of all kinds is costing them millions of dollars in lost pay-TV subscriptions and/or advertising revenues, affecting investment decisions and competitiveness,” the brief says.

According to the brief, broadcasters would like protection for all means for transmission of their signals, however, “some countries and civil society groups are wary of restrictions affecting Internet transmissions.”

New UK Proposal for Discussion

The United Kingdom introduced a new proposal [pdf] meant to take different technologies into account in the draft broadcasting treaty. In particular, the proposal takes the example of the BBC, a public service broadcaster which is independent of the UK government, according to the document.

The BBC offers a “Connected Red Button” service, which followed an earlier “Red Button” service. This Red Button service was a text-based broadcast service in which the broadcaster chose content, which was available on a loop, only for a few hours, and limited by the size of the data stream.

The Connected Red Button service combines traditional broadcasting and internet protocol television. It enables the viewer to customise their viewing patterns, the document says. The UK proposes that the BBC attend the SCCR session next week to give a presentation to the plenary session on their services, based on advanced technology, and that a short question-and-answer period be allowed after the presentation.

In its proposal, the UK explains that such interactive session can provide clarity on the technology and “how this relates to the scope of the Treaty.”

Broadcasters: “Urgent” Need for Treaty

A joint declaration by the world’s broadcasting unions, such as the European Broadcasting Union, the International Association of Broadcasting, the National Association of Broadcasters (United States), the Organización de Telecomunicaciones Iberoamericanas, and the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union, stated that “live television today is the fastest-growing segment of copyright infringement.”

The joint declaration issued last September called for the convening of a diplomatic conference in 2015. “Signal misappropriation,” they said, “jeopardises all broadcasting organisations’ (private and public, in all parts of the world) ability to protect and invest in the acquisition and creation of content, and in organising, scheduling, promoting, and distributing it.”

“Updating international protection of broadcast signals is urgent, unfinished business,” they contended, adding that “Currently the applicable instrument dates from 1961 – and reflects the technology of the last century. A Broadcasters Treaty reflecting the technological realities of the 21st Century has been on WIPO’s agenda for 15 years – as the last piece of the rights protection framework – and is an urgent priority, long overdue.”

“Currently, whole channels are being re-broadcast over new types of networks and devices without broadcasters’ consent,” they said, qualifying this as “massive misappropriation of broadcasters’ signals, without reward.”

They also said that the treaty would help and not harm other copyright owners, as protection of the signal will reduce piracy of the content contained in the signal.

Meanwhile, during the last SCCR meeting in December, a representative of the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), which counts Google as a member, said that all infringement could be solved by relying on existing legal protections for content.

According to a WIPO source, the convening of a diplomatic conference for the broadcasting treaty might be envisaged for 2015. The SCCR work plan, which called for it to report to the Assemblies on the outcome of the broadcasting discussions in 2013 in order to allow consideration of convening a diplomatic conference in 2014 was disturbed by the rearrangement of the schedule of SCCR meetings.

The SCCR meeting in July 2014 was cancelled at the request of member states because it would have been held too soon after the diplomatic conference leading to the Marrakesh Treaty, the source said.

In 2014, there will be three SCCR meetings and the committee could choose to recommend to the September Assemblies that a diplomatic conference on broadcasting be held in 2015, according to the source.

Exceptions for Libraries and Archives

Also on next week’s agenda is the issue of exceptions and limitations to copyright for libraries and archives. The document from which delegates are expected to work is 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.”

During the last session, in December, the first four topics out of the eleven contained in the working document were addressed by the SCCR (IPW, WIPO, 22 December 2013). The document displays proposals and comments from delegations under each topics.

According to Michele Woods, director of the WIPO Copyright Division, the committee is expected to discuss the rest of the eleven thematic topics that have not been dealt with during the last SCCR meeting.

Time permitting, according to the planned work plan, delegates should also address 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 Suggestion.”

According to a WIPO source, there has been no agreement yet on exception and limitations for libraries, archives and education, or on the nature of the instrument. There are discussions about whether it should be a treaty, a soft law instrument that would not require convening a diplomatic conference, or some kind of reflection of best practices.

The SCCR workplan included a target date in 2014 for a recommendation to the Assemblies based on the results of the discussions on exceptions and limitations for libraries and archives, and a target date in 2015 for a recommendation to the Assemblies on exceptions and limitations for education, according to a WIPO source.

Report of Stakeholders’ Platform

The agenda also includes under “Other Matters” the eight interim report [pdf] of the Stakeholders’ Platform, which is a multi-stakeholder initiative managed by WIPO. It was originally created alongside the SCCR discussions on exceptions and limitations to copyright for the benefit of visually impaired persons. The Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled was adopted in June 2013.

The stakeholders’ platform aims at “facilitating, at a practical level, the availability of copyright protected works in accessible formats such as braille, audio and large print,” according to the interim report.

During the latest meeting of the stakeholders’ platform in mid-February, a new operational structure was agreed upon, to be called the “Accessible Books Consortium” (ABC) (IPW, WIPO, 4 March 2014). Like the former entity, the ABC would be composed of “WIPO, organisations that serve or represent the print disabled and rightholders, including authors and publishers, says the interim report.”

The proposal for the ABC is expected to be submitted to the SCCR next week. If agreed, the ABC would send an annual report to the WIPO General Assembly to the Assembly of the Marrakesh Treaty, when it is in force.