[A2k] WIPO General Assembly discussions on Broadcasting Treaty

[Thiru Balasubramaniam]

Initially the WIPO General Assembly language on the SCCR agenda item
stated:

"The General Assembly is invited to:

(i) take note of the current status of the work in the SCCR;

(ii) request the Secretariat to report to the General Assembly on the
deliberations of the SCCR on the protection of audiovisual
performances at its Session in September 2009."

The final text agreed to by the General Assembly is given below. I
will endeavor to give a short summary of how we ended up with the text
below.

Algeria on behalf of the African Group said a broadcasting instrument
should NOT extend to webcasting.

Iran noted that broadcasting was a challenging, complex and
controversial topic replete with a diversity of concerns.

Pakistan on behalf of the Asian Group stated that it looked forward to
Jukka Liedes report shedding light on convergences and divergences
among Member States on the protection of broadcasting organizations.

South Africa (thanks to Nick for his notes on this intervention) noted
the work on broadcasting done by the SCCR while underlying that access
remains a fundamental principle and a public interest issue such as
access to to knowledge in this context is a human right.

The USA (thanks to Nick for his notes on this intervention) noted that
"major issues on crucial areas remain and those must be resolved
before proceeding to a diplomatic conference.  Any agreement on this
subject must be related to signals only and should include provisions
to prevent unauthorized simultaneous retransmission over the Internet".

The Group of Latin American and Caribbean (GRULAC) countries noted
that limitations and exceptions were not listed in the proposed
recommendation and tabled language on reporting back on deliberations
of the SCCR on limitations and exceptions to copyright and related
rights.

In the original Spanish text this was rendered as, " pedir a la
Secretar=EDa que informe a la Asamblea General, reunida en su per=EDodo de
sesiones de septiembre de 2009, acerca de las deliberaciones
mantenidas en el SCCR en torno a las excepciones y limitaciones al
derecho de autor.=94

At the instigation of Switzerland, the United States indicated its
preference to broaden the scope of reporting back to the General
Assembly to include broadcasting and any matters discussed by the SCCR.

France intervened by stating they would prefer just a general
reference to "reporting back" without the specific reference to
limitations and exceptions, broadcasting and audivisual performances.
The US stated it was agnostic between the two choices.

After deliberations during lunch on Wednesday (24 September 2008), the
WIPO Secretariat came out the the following text below with one
critical exception.  In the original form, the word "traditional" was
placed before "broadcasting".  When the text came out, the United
States (Marybeth Peters) insisted on having the word "traditional"
removed as the United States remained concerned on "unauthorized
transmissions over the internet".

India agreed with the US and noted that the formulation should be
flexible and technology neutral.

Iran countered by noting that negotiations in the SCCR on broadcasting
had a long history, and stressed sleeping dogs should be laid to rest;
Iran opposed the elimination of the word of "traditional".  Algeria
also opposed elimination of the word "traditional".

In the end, Algeria and Iran were isolated as Brazil and Chile joined
consensus thus resulting in the final text below.


--------FINAL TEXT---------


The General Assembly is invited to:

(i) take note of the current status of the work in the SCCR;

(ii) request the Secretariat to report to the General Assembly at its
Session in September 2009 on the deliberations of the SCCR on:

=09(a) the protection of audiovisual performances;

=09(b) the protection of the rights of broadcasting and cablecasting
organizations;

=09(c) limitations and exceptions to copyright and related rights
protection; and

=09(d) any other matter discussed in the SCCR.

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Thiru Balasubramaniam
Geneva Representative
Knowledge Ecology International (KEI)
thiru@keionline.org


Tel: +41 22 791 6727
Mobile: +41 76 508 0997