(Geneva) The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) opened its 12th session of the Standing Committee on Copyrights and Related Rights (SCCRR) yesterday in Geneva to push forward on its efforts to pass a treaty to create new rights for broadcasting companies.

The proposed treaty would create sweeping new rights for broadcasting companies that would severely undermine the public interest and subvert the rights of creators to large broadcasters. 

Despite Brazil and India's request at the last committee meeting that the treaty draft allow for the possibility of removing provisions designed to prevent consumers from bypassing technology locks that broadcasting companies place on information and entertainment, no option to delete these provisions was included in the latest draft treaty.  These controversial provisions, similar to the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), have been shown to harm to freedom of expression, consumer rights, technological innovation, and market competition.  Now WIPO proposes to grant an additional layer of rights for broadcasters, on top of the rights of copyright holders, to prevent consumer and scientific circumvention of technology locks on broadcasts.  If the treaty passes, consumers will be unable to access public domain programming that is locked up by broadcasting companies.  Artists will also be required to seek permission from broadcasting companies if they want to use their own performances.

"It is not the role of the WIPO Secretariat to tell Member States what their new laws will be, but rather to facilitate Member States' expressed will," said IP Justice Executive Director Robin Gross in a statement to the WIPO copyright committee.  "Self-determination is an indispensable component of legitimate democratic law-making processes.  Unfortunately, it would appear that the 'tail is wagging the dog' in this case," added Gross in Geneva.

Although the treaty purports to merely "update" existing laws, in reality it would create a broad range of new rights for broadcasters that currently exist nowhere in any national law.  For example, the United States proposed that the treaty's scope be broadened to also control webcasting.  Over a dozen Member States and the European Community urged that webcasting be removed from the scope of the treaty’s regulation at the last meeting, but that provision, supported only the US, also remains in the draft treaty.  Including webcasting in the scope of this treaty would allow traditional broadcasting companies to squeeze out innovative Internet companies.

The proposed Broadcasting Treaty also severely undermines the goals of the "Development Agenda," which was adopted by the WIPO General Assembly in October to refocus WIPO's work away from continuously ratcheting up rightsholders' rights and toward incentivising access to knowledge.  Unfortunately, WIPO's copyright committee has yet to heed the calls from developing countries and remains focused on "special interest" laws such as the proposed Broadcasting Treaty.

WIPO is pushing to conclude the committee's discussion this week and call for the convening of a Diplomatic Conference to begin official drafting of the Broadcasting Treaty.  If WIPO is successful and a Diplomatic Conference is called for, public interest organizations will not be permitted to attend the Diplomatic Conference to monitor the treaty making process under WIPO rules.

For more information, see:
http://www.ipjustice.org/WIPO

IP Justice Statement to 12th Session of WIPO Copyright Committee:
http://www.ipjustice.org/WIPO/november04stmt.shtml

IP Justice Analysis of the WIPO Broadcasting Treaty
"Excessive Rights for Broadcasting Companies Threatens Public Domain and Technological Innovation":
http://www.ipjustice.org/WIPO/broadcastingtreatyreport2004.shtml

Development Agenda:
http://www.wipo.int/documents/en/document/govbody/wo_gb_ga/pdf/wo_ga_31_11.pdf

"Geneva Declaration" on the Future of WIPO:
http://www.ipjustice.org/WIPO/genevadeclaration.shtml

Alternative NGO Proposal for a Broadcasting Treaty:
http://www.ipjustice.org/WIPO/NGO_Treaty_Proposal_v2.8.pdf

Joint Statement by Artists and NGOs Opposing WIPO Broadcasting Treaty:
http://www.ipjustice.org/WIPO/Joint_Statement.pdf

IP Justice Top 10 Reasons to Reject the WIPO Broadcasting Treaty:
http://www.ipjustice.org/WIPO/Top_10_reasons_WIPO.html
http://www.ipjustice.org/WIPO/Top_10_reasons_WIPO.doc

WIPO Draft Broadcasting Treaty:
http://www.ipjustice.org/WIPO/sccr_12_2.doc

 

IP Justice is an international civil liberties organization that promotes balanced intellectual property laws. IP Justice defends consumer rights to use digital media worldwide and is a non-profit organization based in San Francisco. IP Justice was founded in 2002 by Robin Gross, who serves as its Executive Director. To learn more about IP Justice, visit the website at http://www.ipjustice.org.