[Ecommerce] WIPO Press release on SCCR meeting

[James Love]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Press Release PR/2003/367:  WIPO MEMBER STATES MAKE PROGRESS ON
KEY COPYRIGHT ISSUES
Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2003 11:23:12 +0100 (CET)
From: publicinf@wipo.int
Organization: WIPO
To: pressinfo-en@lists.wipo.int

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Press Release PR/2003/367
Geneva, November 7, 2003
WIPO MEMBER STATES MAKE progress ON KEY COPYRIGHT ISSUES

Member states attending the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related
Rights (SCCR) of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
made progress this week in talks to update international standards on
the protection of broadcasting organizations, bringing them in line with
the realities of the information age. They also held informal
discussions on the need to update the rights of performers in their
audiovisual performances. The SCCR met in Geneva from November 3 to 5,
2003 and was attended by delegates from member states, and
intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations representing
various stakeholders such as broadcasting organizations, the content
industries (such as film and music), authors, performers, users and
civil society.

Delegates agreed that a consolidated text of treaty proposals prepared
on the basis of proposals from member states would be discussed at the
June 2004 meeting of the SCCR. That text would be prepared by the
Chairman of the SCCR, Mr. Jukka Liedes, in cooperation with the WIPO
Secretariat. It was also agreed that the Committee would assess any
progress made and on that basis would decide, at that time, whether to
recommend to the WIPO General Assembly that a diplomatic conference be
organized to conclude a multilateral treaty on protection of
broadcasting organizations.

The Committee also took note of a number of studies prepared by the WIPO
Secretariat including one on current developments in the field of
digital rights management and the WIPO Guide on Surveying the Economic
Contribution of the Copyright-Based Industries.

Talks to update the intellectual property rights of broadcasters, which
are currently dealt with by the 1961 Rome Convention on the Protection
of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations,
began in earnest in 1997. A broad consensus exists on the need to
upgrade these rights as the advent of radically new types of
communications for radio and television programs and of content
distribution over the Internet have made it necessary to review and
upgrade existing international standards to ensure an appropriate
balance between the different interests of all stakeholders and those of
the general public. A growing signal piracy problem, including piracy of
digitized pre-broadcast signals, in many parts of the world has also
generated a need to discuss the nature and scope of protection for
broadcasts.

The meeting of the SCCR was followed by an ad hoc informal meeting to
relaunch international discussions on outstanding issues relating to the
protection of audiovisual performances. The meeting included an initial
information session where 4 speakers talked about their personal
creative experience in performing and producing. The speakers were Ms.
Melissa Gilbert (actress - USA), Mr. Richard Holmes (producer - UK), Mr.
Jorge S=E1nchez (producer - Mexico) and Mr. G=E9rard Essomba (actor =96
Cameroon). Also, to facilitate discussions, the Secretariat provided a
number of studies, notably, a survey of national legislative protection
of audiovisual performances, as well as a study on rules on transfer of
rights in audiovisual performances and related aspects of private
international law covering the USA, France, Mexico, UK, Germany and
Egypt. A series of studies on audiovisual performers=92 contracts and
remuneration covering Germany, France, Mexico, USA and UK were also
looked at. All studies are available on-line from www.wipo.int/copyright.

During the extensive debate which involved delegations from WIPO member
states, and representatives of intergovernmental and non-governmental
organizations, many participants expressed their interest in making
headway on these issues. The Chairman of the WIPO General Assembly,
Ambassador Bernard Kessedjian of France, who chaired the discussions,
declared that informal consultations with WIPO member states would be
held in the coming months to decide on how to proceed further.

International discussions on the protection of audiovisual performers
rights date from the early 1990s. In 2001 a diplomatic conference on the
protection of audiovisual performances made significant progress in
shoring up the rights of performers in their audiovisual performances,
but did not reach agreement on the fundamental question whether a treaty
on performers=92 rights should deal with how the rights are acquired by
the producers, by operation of law or by agreement. The diplomatic
conference sought to finalize an international instrument to safeguard
the rights of performers against the unauthorized use of their
performances in audiovisual media, such as television, film and video.
The adoption of a new instrument would have strengthened the position of
performers in the audiovisual industry by providing a clearer legal
basis for the international use of audiovisual works, both in
traditional media and in digital networks.

Performers =96 such as singers, musicians, dancers and actors =96 have
enjoyed some international protection for their performances since the
adoption of the Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers,
Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations (the Rome
Convention) in 1961. In 1996 the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty
(WPPT) modernized and updated these standards to cover the rights in
respect of the use of their audio performances on the Internet. The Rome
Convention and the WPPT however, grant protection mainly in relation to
sound recordings of performances.

For further information please contact the Media Relations and Public
Affairs Section at:

Tel: (+41 22) - 338 81 61 or 338 95 47
Fax: (+41 22) - 338 88 10
Email: publicinf@wipo.int.

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--
James Love, Director, Consumer Project on Technology
http://www.cptech.org, mailto:james.love@cptech.org
tel. +1.202.387.8030, mobile +1.202.361.3040