Treaty Talks See Growing Accord on Excluding Pure Webcasting
Talks on updating broadcasting protections stalled Saturday when the World Intellectual Property Organization Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights meeting ended without any recommendations. Despite the failure to agree on conclusions -- they'll now be drafted by SCCR Chairman Martin Moscoso -- there seems to be a pretty strong inclination by delegates toward a general agreement that pure webcasting is out of the treaty, WIPO sources said.
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Draft conclusions circulating as of 10 p.m. Friday (http://bit.ly/1mqSrhN) reflected that the committee discussed issues relating to the categories of platforms, activities to be included under the object and scope of protections for broadcasting organizations in the traditional sense, and began talks on definitions. “The discussions contributed to progress on the substance concerning the draft treaty to update the protection of broadcasting organizations in the traditional sense,” the draft conclusions said. The secretariat was asked to update a 2010 study on current market and technology trends in the broadcasting sector, focusing on the use of digital technology by commercial and public traditional cablecasters and broadcasters, for discussion at the next SCCR meeting.
Draft recommendations included that the WIPO General Assembly, which meets in September, approve the convening of a diplomatic conference at a date to be determined. The committee did not reach conclusions or make recommendations to the September General Assembly, said WIPO Copyright Law Division Director Michele Woods. Draft conclusions drawn up by Moscoso will be issued in the next few days, she told us. These may be close to the text of Friday’s draft but their wording is up to Moscoso, she said.
The U.K. continues to support the ongoing negotiations on a treaty to protect broadcasting organizations, said an Intellectual Property Office spokeswoman. “The general view remains unchanged -- it is important to take into account advances in the technology being used in broadcasting” to ensure that the treaty is appropriate for today’s world and also future-proof, she said. The latest SCCR “included some constructive discussions; however, until the draft treaty reaches Diplomatic Conference stage the negotiations remain ongoing,” she said in an email.
It appeared that a fair number of countries were interested in putting a date for a diplomatic conference into a recommendation, but committee members couldn’t agree, WIPO sources said. Some delegations had very strong positions on either the broadcasting treaty or another one under discussion, copyright limitations and exceptions for libraries and archives, and preferred that nothing be decided until everything is decided, the sources said.
It was “unfortunate” the SCCR couldn’t adopt agreed conclusions and recommendations to the GA, said a European Commission spokeswoman. “We hope that constructive discussions on both main items on the agenda will resume soon.” Broadcasters had hoped for some progress, as delegates inched toward consensus on keeping pure webcasting services out of the treaty and on creating one broad right covering simultaneous and near-simultaneous transmissions (CD July 3 p6). The SCCR meets again Dec. 8-12.