Contact: Robin Gross, IP Justice Executive Director
robin (at) ipjustice.org +1-415-553-6261
WIPO General Assembly Decision on Broadcast Treaty:
“Diplomatic Conference will be convened IF agreement is achieved”
(Geneva) The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) General Assembly rejected the decision by the Chairman of the Standing Committee on Copyrights and Related Rights (SCCR) to convene a Diplomatic Conference next summer to finalize a treaty that would create new rights for broadcast companies.
The 42nd WIPO General Assembly instead called for 2 additional meetings in 2007 to work out the many contentious provisions remaining in the proposed Broadcast Treaty. WIPO is the United Nations Specialized Agency charged with making intellectual property law treaties.
After several days of both formal and informal discussions, on 2 October 2006, the General Assembly decided that “the Diplomatic Conference will be convened if such agreement is achieved.”
At an early September SCCR meeting, the Chairman asked for “silent approval” of his decision to convene the Diplomatic Conference – even after a number of Member States including India, Brazil and the U.S objected to the premature decision. The lack of consensus among Member States on the decision to move forward with the Broadcast Treaty was one of the most contentious issues at this year’s General Assembly and clouded WIPO’s legitimacy as a democratic institution.
“While proponents of the Broadcast Treaty hail this as a victory, since a Diplomatic Conference may still be convened next year, the General Assembly’s refusal to rubber-stamp the decision of the SCCR Chairman is the real victory at WIPO,” said IP Justice Executive Director Robin Gross. The inclusion of the two-letter word “if” in the decision to convene a Diplomatic Conference makes an enormous difference in the outcome. “A Diplomatic Conference is now contingent upon Member States reaching consensus where there are currently great differences,” Gross added, “such as the inclusion of anti-circumvention measures in the treaty and outlawing Internet retransmissions of programs.”
Another important achievement is the General Assembly’s decision to narrow the scope of the treaty to a “signal” based approach, something that a majority of Member States and NGOs had called for in the SCCR meetings. The SCCR Chairman’s Draft Proposal instead would create 8 new intellectual property rights for broadcast companies. Although some proponents of the Chairman’s draft argue that his draft also takes a “signal based approach”, Member States will now have to define key terms, including the term “signal” in the next draft.
Negotiations will continue on the Broadcast Treaty at a January 2007 meeting at WIPO. There will also be another opportunity to negotiate differences in June 2007 at a meeting to be held in conjunction with a preparatory meeting for a Diplomatic Conference. If Member States reach sufficient agreement by the June 2007 Broadcast Treaty meeting, the Diplomatic Conference will be held from 19 November – 7 December 2007 in Geneva to finalize treaty drafting.
More Information:
IP Justice Broadcasting Treaty Page
Decision of 42nd WIPO General Assembly on Broadcast Treaty