[A2k] PK's statement on broadcast treaty at SCCR 16

[Sherwin Siy]

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[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
*Public Knowledge Statement at SCCR 16 on Proposed Treaty for Protection of
Broadcasting Organizations*

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Public Knowledge remains deeply concerned about the
prospect of further work on the broadcast treaty.

Our previous concerns with the most recent draft of the treaty still stand.

Giving broadcasters rights in fixations of transmissions creates, at least
in some jurisdictions, a new property right. This new grant of rights has
never been adequately justified in terms of solving a concrete problem that
is not already covered by existing agreements and existing law. The
existence of competitive pressure alone is not a justification for a treaty.

Meanwhile, this right creates new complications with respect to the
underlying content contained within the signal. Authorized uses of the work,
or uses permitted by limitations and exceptions to copyright, would still be
subject to decisions made by a broadcasting entity exerting another layer of
rights over a delayed retransmission of a fixed broadcast. Public domain
works whose originals are inaccessible to the public would be subject to the
control of a broadcaster, even after their copyright terms had expired.

Also, language prohibiting devices that are merely *capable* of decrypting
signals targets an inappropriately wide range of devices, including personal
computers.

Beyond the substance of the proposed treaty language, we remain concerned
about the state of negotiations on this topic. None of the interventions
expressed yesterday or today suggest a significant departure from the
positions that left this Committee with its marked lack of consensus last
year, as noted in the statements of a number of delegations and in the
non-paper introduced in the interim between the special sessions. This is
not an encouraging sign for making progress on the treaty, or of making
progress on the Committee's wider agenda.




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Sherwin Siy
Staff Attorney
Public Knowledge
202.518.0020