WIPO Protection of Broadcasting Organizations

The Treaty on the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations (or the WIPO Broadcasting Treaty) was first developed by members of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in order to provide media organizations copyright protection for all their broadcasts.

Current status

Between May 1 and May 5, 2006, the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (or SCRR) established a "Basic Proposal" in order to develop protection rights for all broadcast organizations. However, members at the meeting decided at the time to exclude "webcasting" from the treaty, as well as establish a "Revised Draft Basic Proposal" in a September 2006 congregation. The revised proposal would in fact consider creating protection rights for webcasting, netcasting, and simulcasting. Between September 25 and October 3, 2006, members of the SCRR met in Geneva and agreed to finalize the draft text at a later time. They would have another conference meeting between July 11 and August 1, 2007 in order to update the rights of broadcasting organizations.

Broadcaster rights

Under the treaty, media broadcasters would have the right to protect the content of their media transmissions. Moreover, they would have the right to protect their broadcasts from reproduction, retransmission, and even from public communication. All copyright protections would endure for 50 years.

Opposition

Many organizations oppose the passing of the WIPO Broadcasting Treaty. Opponents to the treaty feel that the US Library of Congress Copyright Office and the US Patent and Trademark Office have not engaged in any public discussions of the treaty. Moreover, they feel that the treaty would have a negative effect on consumers, telecommunications/electronics industries, copyright holders, and the development of user-generated content on the Internet.

The following opponent groups are as follows:

*AT&T Inc.
*BellSouth Corp.
*Broadband Service Providers Association
*Cingular Wireless
*Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association
*Center for Democracy and Technology
*Computer and Communications Industry Association
*Consumer Electronics Association
*Consumer Federation of America
*Consumers Union
*Consumer Project on Technology
*Dell Inc.
*EDUCAUSE
*Electronic Frontier Foundation
*Free Press
*Information Technology Association of America
*Intel Corporation
*IP Justice
*Panasonic Corporation of North America
*Public Knowledge
*RadioShack Corporation
*Sony Electronics Incorporate
*Sprint Nextel
*The Internet Society (ISOC)
*TiVo Inc.
*Union for the Public Domain
*United States Telecom Association
*US Internet Industry Association
*US Public Interest Research Group
*Verizon Communications Inc.
*Verizon Wireless

UNESCO

Members of the 33rd General Conference of UNESCO decided to take an active role in stimulating discourse pertaining to the WIPO Broadcasting Treaty. Studies from UNESCO show that the treaty could limit the flow of information by weakening the balance between broadcasting/cablecasting interests and the values of freedom of expression. [Akester, Patrícia. "Thus, the Draft Treaty may undermine the balance between the economic interests of broadcasting and cablecasting organizations and freedom of expression of values" ( [http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001464/146498e.pdf] , p. 48).]

References

ources

* [http://www.ala.org/ala/washoff/WOissues/copyrightb/intlcopyright/wipo-nonprofit-letter-20060607.pdf Letters to Congress from Non-Profit Organizations]
* [http://www.ala.org/ala/washoff/WOissues/copyrightb/intlcopyright/wipo-industry-letter-20060607.pdf Letter to Congress from Computer and Telecommunications Industries]
* [http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001464/146498e.pdf The Draft WIPO Broadcasting Treaty and its Impact on Freedom of Expression]
* [http://www.wipo.int/documents/en/meetings/2004/sccr/pdf/sccr_11_3.pdf Consolidated Text for a Treaty on the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations (11th Session)]
* [http://www.wipo.int/edocs/mdocs/sccr/en/sccr_14/sccr_14_2.pdf Draft Basic Proposal for the WIPO Treaty on the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations (14th Session)]
* [http://www.wipo.int/edocs/prdocs/en/2006/wipo_pr_2006_454.html World Intellectual Property Organization]

External links

* [http://www.ala.org/ala/washoff/WOissues/copyrightb/intlcopyright/WIPOBroadcastTreaty.htm American Library Association]
* [http://www.eff.org/IP/WIPO/broadcasting_treaty/ Electronic Frontier Foundation - WIPO Broadcasting Treaty]
* [http://www.ft.com/cms/s/441306be-2eb6-11da-9aed-00000e2511c8.html James Boyle: More rights are wrong for webcasters]