WIPO Edges Toward High-Level Meeting To Finish Treaty On IP Rights For Broadcasters

The World Intellectual Property Organization copyright committee last week stepped back from a lunge toward a long-debated treaty to protect intellectual property rights of broadcasters, but still concluded with a recommendation for the full WIPO membership to consider taking the negotiation to the final political level later this year.

The 36th Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) met from 28 May to 1 June. The annual WIPO General Assemblies are scheduled for 24 September to 2 October.

The summary by the meeting chair, a document considered the chair’s own explanation of events from the week but nevertheless with input from member states at the close of the meeting, states that agreement on the broadcasting treaty.

The chair’s summary is available here.

Item 8, under Protection of Broadcasting Organizations, states:

“An agreement was reached on the following Recommendation to the WIPO General Assembly (WIPO/GA/58): In view of the progress made in recent SCCR sessions, the General Assembly is invited to consider appropriate action towards convening a Diplomatic Conference for the adoption of a treaty on the protection of broadcasting organizations, subject to reaching consensus on fundamental issues, that is, objectives, specific scope and object of protection.”

This language represents a watering down from an earlier version that aimed to set the high-level political negotiating meeting, or diplomatic conference by the end of 2019.

Intellectual Property Watch reported on the details of the SCCR negotiations during the week here (IPW, WIPO, 31 May 2018).

The broadcasting treaty negotiation reaches back decades and is considered to be an update to the 1961 Rome Treaty. A key issue in general has been over how to encompass the move to the internet, as the negotiation has centred on older offline broadcasts. In addition, some critics have argued that the treaty would create an IP right where none is needed.

At last week’s meeting, a range of nongovernmental groups sounded an alarm over new language they felt would lead to further dominance by a small group of technology giants.

Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) published a comparison of the watered-down, agreed recommendation on the way forward, and the earlier stronger version. It included a list of reactions by civil society.

Separately, an opinion piece analysing the draft treaty text was published by Intellectual Property Watch during the week (IPW, Inside Views, 31 May 2018).

Other Recommendations

On limitations and exceptions for libraries and archives, amendments were made to a draft action plan from the chair, and the new version will be used as the basis for work going forward. The item will be on the next SCCR agenda. The SCCR is scheduled to meet again from 26-30 November.

On limitations and exceptions for educational and research institutions and for persons with disabilities other than reading impairment, the same is true, an amended version of the chair’s draft action plan will be the focus of work at the next SCCR meeting.

On the limitations and exceptions issues, civil society was very vocal during the week (IPW, WIPO, 31 May 2018).

There were also actions taken on a few other items discussed during the week.

This included a proposed artists’ resale right royalty, on which the committee agreed to set up a task force of members and stakeholders to report back to the next SCCR meeting. The report will look at “practical elements” of a resale right.

On an analysis of copyright related to the digital environment, the committee agreed with a Brazilian proposal to undertake a further study focused on digital music services, which could be followed later by studies on audiovisual and literary works.

 

Image Credits: WIPO Flickr