[Ecommerce] AFP on WIPO Broadcast/Webcast treaty

[James Love]

Technology - AFP
Broadcasters want new power to fight piracy but advocacy groups cry foul
Mon Nov 10, 1:24 AM ET


GENEVA (AFP) - The news clip of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s
statue falling or the re-run of a movie classic such as "Stagecoach" may
be given extra protection from piracy in a move that advocacy groups say
will hamper people's right to enjoy television and the Internet.

	AFP/File Photo

Authors and musicians are also worried this proposed broadcaster treaty
will create unfair rights for anyone who simply transmits their hard work.

But the broadcasters argue that they need more international muscle to
fight the illicit copying of their output, and deserve greater rewards
for the money and time they invest in airing programmes.

"In this day and age of digitalisation there is inadequate protection
against the unfair and unauthorised exploitation of broadcast signals,"
said Benjamin Ivins, a senior associate and general counsel for the US
National Association of Broadcasters (NAB).

Broadcasters have certain international protection under the Rome
Convention passed in 1961.

"But it lacks protection on cable retransmission which is now one of the
most usual ways to broadcast material," explained Tom Rivers, a legal
advisor to the Association for Commercial Television in Europe, which
has 22 members including News Corp's British Sky Broadcasting.

"Also, there is no protection for the exploitation of broadcast material
in the digital environment," he said.

Over the past six years members of the World Intellectual Property
Organisation (WIPO), including the United States, European Union (news -
web sites) and Japan have offered proposals for a new treaty to update
broadcasters' rights.

And, in what some described as the first sign of real progress, WIPO
states agreed at a meeting earlier this week to regroup in June, by
which time they hope to have a single draft of the treaty.

This should lead to a conference by mid-2005 in which the new rules may
be finalised -- an alarming prospect for many non-governmental
organisations (NGOs) that strongly oppose the idea.

"The treaty restricts the ability to record music and films," declared
James Love, a director at US advocacy group Consumer Project on Technology.

"It is an unwanted layer on top of copyright," he told a news conference
after attending the two-day broadcaster meeting at WIPO headquarters in
Geneva.

The proposals under discussion would give a new 50-year right over
material in the public domain -- such as news clips or the broadcast of
a classic movie, he and fellow activist Cory Doctorow, director of a
second NGO, Electronic Frontier Foundation, explained.

They may also support the technology that encrypts broadcasts to stop
people from recording a TV show at home and watching it at a friend's
house, they told reporters.

And, because the definition of a broadcaster is unclear, the treaty
could grant protection to web-casters, generating a whole new class of
right holders.

"It should never become a treaty, we are totally opposed," Love said.

But NAB's Ivins dismissed their fears as "totally wrong."

True, the rules would give broadcasters a 50-year right over the actual
broadcast of a movie that is no longer protected by copyright, but
anyone could make their own copy from the original version for
commercial reproduction.

As for restricting home entertainment, Ivins said that copyright laws
typically contain an exception for personal use.

And, while the United States had suggested extending the scope of the
treaty to include broadcasts over the Internet, it was just a proposal,
he reasoned.

The WIPO discussions have also unnerved artists and the film and music
industry who want assurances that any new broadcaster-protection would
not conflict with their existing copyright.

"The rights are in no way designed to affect content," said Ivins.

On the contrary, they would boost protection for everyone while also
recognising the broadcaster's "time, effort and financial contribution."