[Ecommerce] FYI: Techdaily on Casters treaty

[Jeff Williams]

Manon and all,

  I believe that EFF had taken this approach some time ago.
See for instance: http://www.eff.org/IP//eff_fair_use_faq.html

  We also had called for this approach in 2002.

Manon Anne Ress wrote:

> Techdaily May 26 Pm Edition
>
> Group Offers Alternative To Anti-Piracy Broadcasting Treaty
> by Drew Clark
>
>      A group of non-profit organizations objecting to the current
> version of a treaty designed to protect broadcasters from piracy have
> allied themselves with an artists' group and on Wednesday proposed a
> stripped-down alternative.
>      Spearheaded by the Consumer Project on Technology and joined by the
> International Music Managers Forum (IMMF), the alternative proposal also
> would protect broadcasters against signal piracy. But it would also
> narrow the scope of the intellectual property rights broadcasters could
> assert.
>      Government officials leading the U.S. delegation to the June 7-9
> World Intellectual Property Organization meeting in Geneva that will
> consider the more expansive broadcaster treaty praised the non-profits
> for its alternative version, which was presented Wednesday to officials
> of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the Copyright Office.
>      "It was very helpful because it does give different options to
> address these issues," said Jule Sigall, associate register for
> international affairs at the Copyright Office.
>      Jenny Ness, attorney adviser in the PTO's office of international
> relations, said she could not yet comment on the proposal.
>      The United States never ratified the 1961 "Rome treaty" that first
> granted intellectual property-style rights to broadcasters. But the
> nation supports the move to create a new treaty to expand such
> protection from 20 to 50 years.
>      "The draft is a way to answer the criticism that the [non-profits]
> in the back of the room are not constructive and never come up with
> solutions," said Manon Ress of CPT. "We decided to get down and try
> drafting something that meets the needs of rights-holders, us, and
> broadcasters."
>      By striking an alliance with performers and potentially also with
> copyright holders - as against broadcasters - the non-profits hope to
> redirect momentum away from the more expansive broadcaster treaty.
>      "We are trying to shatter the paradigm that everyone gets their 50
> years," said Jamie Love, director of CPT. "It will be impossible to say
> that there is only one approach" to such protection, he said.
>      The key changes made in the proposal, which also has been joined by
> Public Knowledge and European non-profits including European Digital
> Rights, are the elimination of sections dealing with fixation,
> reproduction, and related activities.
>      The proposal would also eliminate protection for webcasters,
> something the U.S. appears alone in supporting.
>      The non-profit groups have argued that copyright is designed to
> protect creative works, not those who transmit them, and say that the
> piracy of television signals would be an offense not against
> broadcasters but against those who hold the copyrights to the programs.
>      Their proposal could force music and movie copyright owners to
> chose sides between broadcasters seeking additional protection -
> potentially at their expense - and with non-profit groups who frequently
> criticize copyright interests.
>      Those in "the rights-holder community are talking amongst
> themselves about whether now is the time to put their name on language
> or whether it is better to wait" to see whether the treaty gathers
> steam, said Nick Ashton-Hart of IMMF.
>      "The principles [in the CPT proposal] are principles agreed to by
> all the rights holders," said Ashton-Hart.
>
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Regards,

--
Jeffrey A. Williams
Spokesman for INEGroup LLA. - (Over 134k members/stakeholders strong!)
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