[DMCA-Activists] WIPO Takes Up Broadcast "Protection"

[Seth Johnson]

Our unelected representatives at WIPO have decided to try to tell us what we
can do with our computers and our Internet . . .

Seth


-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Update 200/2003:  WIPO Member States Make Headway in Shoring up
Protection for Broadcasting Organizations
Date: Wed, 2 Jul 2003 15:22:41 +0200 (CEST)
From: address@hidden
Organization: WIPO
To: address@hidden

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Update 200/2003
(Geneva, June 30, 2003)
WIPO Member States Make Headway in Shoring up Protection for Broadcasting
Organizations

Member states of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) had
useful discussions and made progress in identifying the scope of the rights
to be granted to broadcasting organizations in a multilateral treaty which
would, if adopted, update international regulations in this area bringing
them in line with the realities of the information age. The WIPO Standing
Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR), which met in Geneva from
June 23 to 27,2003 was attended by delegates from 77 member states, the
European Community, 7 intergovernmental organizations and 45
non-governmental organizations and various other stakeholders representing
broadcasting organizations, content industries, namely film and music and
civil society. A seminar on webcasting, which took place on the sidelines of
the SCCR meeting, contributed to a better understanding of the issues at
stake in relation to this new and evolving activity.

Talks to update the intellectual property rights of broadcasters, which are
currently dealt with by the 1961 Rome Convention on the Protection of
Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations, began in
the 1990s. The advent of radically new types of communications for radio and
television programs and of content distribution over the Internet has made
it necessary to review and upgrade existing international standards to
ensure an appropriate balance between the different interests of all
stakeholders and those of the general public. A growing signal piracy
problem, particularly of digitized pre-broadcast signals, in many parts of
the world has also generated a need to discuss the nature and scope of
protection for broadcasts. 

A broad consensus exists on the need to upgrade these rights and the
committee made progress on a number of key issues.

First, in relation to identifying the beneficiaries, namely whether only
organizations which broadcast over the air are to be given better
protection, or whether such protection should also be extended to
cablecasters and certain categories of webcasters. Many delegations thought
that traditional broadcasting and cable-originated programs would benefit
from protection in a new treaty and that as webcasting was a new and
evolving activity, it deserved further analysis. The possibility of
protecting real-time streaming where broadcasting occurs simultaneously over
the air and on the Internet by broadcasting organizations was also
discussed.

Second, the committee made progress in discussing the rights to be granted
to those beneficiaries. The economic rights proposed center on those already
outlined in the Rome Convention, and the additional protection granted under
the WIPO Internet treaties (WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) and the WIPO
Phonograms and Performances Treaty (WPPT)), as well as some new rights. A
majority of delegations considered that a number of issues required further
discussion, namely the right of fixation, the right of reproduction of
fixations, the right of distribution of fixations, the right of
re-broadcasting, the right of simultaneous retransmission, the right of
making available of fixed broadcasts, the right of deferred broadcasting the
right of communication to the public. It was agreed that these issues would
be re-visited at the next meeting of the SCCR in November 2003.

Member states continued to examine the proposals submitted by the various
member states to achieve clarification and consensus on the outstanding
points. Among several proposals considered, a paper submitted by Japan urged
caution on webcasters' rights and pointed out that updating the scope and
level of protection of broadcasting organizations’ rights was an urgent
matter. It noted, however, that the protection of webcasting activities was
a newly emerging issue which merited more thorough consideration. Many
developing countries endorsed this position, recognizing that the Internet
has evolved into an important channel for distributing content that is
protected by copyright or related rights through various free or
subscription-based services. Internet streaming is one of two principal
methods for users to access sound and/or images over the Internet. The first
method is downloads, whereby a file on a server is accessed by a remote
user, transmitted over the Internet in the form of "packets" to the user’s
machine and saved there locally, in most cases on the hard drive. The second
is "streaming," which is an Internet data transfer technique that allows
users to see and hear audio and video files without lengthy download times.
The host or source "streams" small packets of information over the Internet
to the user, who can access the content as it is received. The stream may be
a real time (live) transmission or an archived file. 

The common underlying feature of all types of Internet streaming is that
files are not saved locally on the user’s machine. Delegates stressed,
however, the difficulty in distinguishing between certain protected
streaming emanating from broadcasting organizations and individual-based
streaming that could be conducted without investment, on an amateur basis.
It was also pointed out, however, that Internet streaming, or "webcasting,"
is a new way of transmitting content to consumers which requires significant
investment and deserves protection in its own right. Support was also
expressed for protection of the simultaneous Internet distribution of
over-the-air broadcasts. Some developing country delegations stressed that
webcasting was generally unknown in their countries as Internet access
itself was very limited. While there was potential in this new area of
activity, more information and discussion were essential.

With respect to discussions on the protection of non-original databases, the
Committee decided, in view of the limited developments that had taken place
on the subject, to next take the matter up only at its meeting in the first
half of 2004.

The next session of the SCCR will take place in Geneva from November 3 to 5,
2003.

For further information, please contact the Media Relations and Public
Affairs Section at WIPO:

Tel: (+41 22) 338 81 61 or (+41 22) 338 95 47; 
E-mail: address@hidden 
Fax: (+41 22) 338 88 10

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