[Random-bits] WIPO and the global consolidation of rights in audiovisual works

[James Love]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-love/wipo-and-the-global-=20
conso_b_39057.html

WIPO and the global consolidation of rights in audiovisual works
James Love
January 19, 2007

Geneva: This is the third and last day of a World Intellectual =20
Property Organization (WIPO) Standing Committee on Copyright and =20
Related Rights (SCCR) meeting, where negotiations are taking place of =20=

a new global treaty for broadcasting and cable-casting organizations.

As described yesterday and in some previous Huffpo articles (Nov05, =20
May06 Aug06),
this UN agency is proposing a new global legal regime that would give =20=

companies that distribute information exclusive rights to prevent =20
people from re-using it, even when the information is in the public =20
domain, or owned by someone else. This would be a "related" right, =20
and co-exist with other rights that might exist, such as copyright. =20
It would be an additional permission that one would have to obtain =20
before information could be copied, republished, remixed or re-used =20
in other ways. In some versions of the treaty, the distributor would =20
also obtain some rights to republish the works in competition with =20
the original copyright owner (post fixation re-distribution rights), =20
plus many other rights in the uses and re-uses of the content.

The debate over the treaty has been going on for years, but there is =20
a big push to have a diplomatic conference later this year, maybe in =20
November or December, and produce a final treaty.

The critics of the treaty, including our group are appalled at the =20
treaty proposals and the way the negotiations are being conducted.

What's wrong with the treaty?

The most obvious issue is that the treaty calls for a new thicket of =20
rights that make it hard to use or reuse information, or even to =20
freely distribute your own works. You not only have to deal with the =20
"owner" of the copyright in works, but also the "owner" of the =20
broadcaster or cablecaster right, if you obtained your copy from =20
them. This makes it more difficult, risky and expensive to copy, =20
republish, remix or reuse works, for any purpose. This is a bad idea =20
in general, but an insane idea at the very moment when we are =20
witnessing such an explosion of new ways of creating, using, sharing =20
and re-purposing information. No one even understands what the next =20
technologies can do, or how social communities or new business models =20=

will change things.

The next most important aspect concerns the way the treaty will =20
consolidate intellectual property rights in content, globally. =20
Everything in this treaty is in theory based upon sections of the =20
1961 Rome Convention concerning the protection of broadcasting =20
organizations. That treaty created some of these types of rights, for =20=

television and radio stations. About 80 countries have joined the =20
Rome. The United States and about 80 other countries have not. Until =20
recently, no one much paid attention to the treaty, in part because =20
people were not copying much content from over the air analogue radio =20=

and television, and the US never even signed the treaty. For =20
countries that did sign the treaty, it was something that gave some =20
more money to local broadcasters, which under most national laws, =20
could not be foreign owned.

The new treaty seeks to expand the treaty to at least all cable, =20
satellite and multichannel digital television and radio broadcasts, =20
and there are proposals to include Internet broadcasting platforms =20
also. The treaty also would give the new rights not to the company =20
that simply transmits information to a home, such as local cable =20
providers, but to the firm that assembles and schedules the content. =20
What this means in practice is that the treaty gives the new property =20=

rights to the companies that own "channels." It turns out that this =20
is a highly concentrated market -- a handful of giant corporations =20
own and control most of the channels that you find on today's new =20
cable and satellite television networks, and will likely also =20
dominate the new over the air digital television offerings.

Under the treaty, the big winners in the treaty will be companies =20
like Paramount-CBS, Viacom, Comcast, Vivendi Universal, Bertelsmann =20
AG, General Electric, Time-Warner, the Walt Disney Company, News =20
Corp., Liberty Media, Viacom, who own dozens and dozens of leading =20
"channels" of video programming.

Most of the negotiations on the treaty have been held in secret. Now =20
we are drawing to an end, and there are big differences in the views =20
of delegates, and lots of reasons to be worried about the process =20
issues. The WIPO Secretariat clearly wants the Finnish Chair Jukka =20
Liedes to control as much of the drafting between now the next =20
meeting. Most of what was "decided" here this week, is not on record =20
anywhere, but will emerge later, probably too late for many country =20
negotiators or the public to have much time to study and evaluate.

Some other blogs on this here , here, here, and here.
Some channels that will benefit from the treaty's cablecasting right

Bertelsmann AG

     RTL Television, Super RTL, VOX or N-TV in Germany, M6 in France, =20=

Five in Great Britain, Antena 3 in Spain, RTL 4 in the Netherlands, =20
RTL TVI in Belgium, and RTL Klub in Hungary

CBS Corporation

     Showtime, The Movie Channel, Flix, Showtime Too, Showcase, =20
Showtime Extreme, Showtime Beyond, Showtime Next, Showtime Women, =20
Showtime Family Zone, TMC Xtra, Showtime HD, The Movie Channel HD, =20
Showtime on Demand, The Movie Channel on Demand, Sundance Channel

Comcast

     TV One, E!, The Golf Channel, Outdoor Life Network, G4techTV and =20=

regional sports networks

Disney

     The Disney Channel, A&E, ABC Family, SOAPnet, Jetix, ESPN, Lifetime

General Electric

     13eme Rue (France), 13th Street (Germany), A&E, Bravo, Calle 13 =20
(Spain), CNBC (coowned with Dow Jones), CNBC Asia, CNBC Europe, CNBC =20
World (co-owned with Dow Jones), History Channel International, =20
Military History Channel, MSNBC (co-owned with Microsoft), mun2, NBC =20
WeatherPlus, Sci Fi Channel, ShopNBC, Sleuth, Studio Universal =20
(Germany and Italy), Telemundo, The Biography Channel, The History =20
Channel en Espa=F1ol, The History Channel, The Sundance Channel, Trio, =20=

Universal HD, Universal Channel (Latin America), USA Network

Liberty Media is the largest single shareholder of News Corp, and =20
owns channels like

     Discovery, Animal Planet, QVC, Starz, and Encore

News Corp

     Fox News Channel, Fox Movie Channel, Fox College Sports, Fox =20
Sport Enterprises, Fox Sports En Espanol, Fox Sports Net, Fox Soccer =20
Channel, Fox Reality, FUEL TV, FX, National Geographic Channel (US =20
and Worldwide), SPEED

Time Warner

     Boomerang, Cartoon Network, Cartoon Network Asia Pacific, =20
Cartoon Network Europe, Cartoon Network Latin America, Cinemax, Court =20=

TV, CNN/US, CNN Airport Network, CNN en Espanol, CNN Headline News, =20
CNN Headline News in Latin America, CNN Headline News in Asia =20
Pacific, CNN International, CNN Pipelinem, HBO, TBS, TCM Asia =20
Pacific, TCM Canada, TCM Europe, TCM Classic Hollywood in Latin =20
America, TNT HD, Turner Classic Movies

Viacom

     BET, CMT, Comedy Central, LOGO, MTV Networks International, MTV, =20=

MTV2, mtvU, Nick at Nite, Nickelodeon, Noggin, Spike TV, TV Land, VH1

Vivendi Universal

     Canal +, i>TELE, CINECINEMA (6 channels), Plan=E8te, Jimmy, =20
Seasons, Com=E9die !, Cuisine.TV, SPORT+, NBA+, Canal + Cinema, Canal + =20=

Sport, Canal + Decale, Canal + Hi-Tech, Canalsat, NC NUM=C9RIC=C2BLE, =20=

Media Overseas

---------------------------------
James Love, CPTech / www.cptech.org / mailto:james.love@cptech.org / =20
tel. +1.202.332.2670 / mobile +1.202.361.3040

"If everyone thinks the same: No one thinks."  Bill Walton"