New Work Proposed for WIPO Copyright Panel
GENEVA -- Europe and developing countries proposed a wide range of new work on copyright and related rights in three days of meetings this week at the World Intellectual Property Organization. Work will focus on protecting audiovisual performances and broadcasting organizations, and copyright exceptions and limitations.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
The Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights is charting a new course after the impasse over the broadcasting treaty. “The intensity of the immediate norm- setting exercise is gone,” a diplomat said. “Suddenly, the [committee] agenda seemed a little thin.” The three-day meeting was the first in more than a year in which any subject could be brought up, a diplomat said.
Protection of audiovisual performances and broadcasting organizations remains on the agenda after the 16th committee meeting, this week. Some countries wanted broadcast treaty issues revived. Others were less enthusiastic, a diplomat said. Talks, seminars and studies are planned.
Industrialized countries objected to a proposed analysis of the exceptions and limitations to copyright perhaps needed to promote creation and innovation. The proposal, made by Chile in 2005, was revived this week by Brazil, Chile, Nicaragua and Uruguay. The industrialized group including the U.S. and Europe, known as Group B, also opposed work toward a treaty for legal minimums on copyright exceptions and limitations in the public interest.
The industrialized group agreed to talk about exceptions and limitations and to share experiences, a diplomat said. Discussion could lead somewhere, but the industrialized group didn’t agree to more than seeing where the talks might go, a diplomat said. Options include soft law, guidelines or national grassroots regulatory movements, a diplomat said.
The European Community proposed work on several matters, including collective management, in which an organization such as BMI or the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers represents a collective of copyright owners like composers. Collective management is important regarding difficult to monitor settings such as bars, restaurants and the Internet, a diplomat said.
Europe also proposed work on resale, a very arcane area, a diplomat said. Resale royalty exists in the EU, but not in the U.S. An artist would earn a small percentage if a work of fine art is resold for a large amount. Europe is translating an EC directive into legislation. The Europeans also want to focus on orphan works -- those whose copyright owners can’t be located.
The European proposal covered jurisdictional applicable law, which deals with copyright infringement over the Internet, a diplomat said. Once, infringement usually took place within one country. No one knows which law applies when a person in one country posts something on the Internet transmitted to someone in another. Hardly any other countries have as liberal fair-use law as the U.S.
Some kinds of protections could be handled more effectively in WIPO committee than in Free Trade Agreements or regional agreements, a participant said. “Multilateralism hasn’t shown any signs of life since 1996,” he added.
Rumors circulated that the U.S. might propose something on third-party liability, sometimes called contributory infringement or secondary liability, but nothing emerged, a diplomat said. The best example is Grokster, in which a company was held liable for users’ infringement. Tentative dates for the next meeting are Nov. 3 to 7.