Timeline of WIPO negotiations on a Treaty for the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations

Other KEI timelines.
KEI web page on WIPO broadcasting treaty negotiation.

1961

  • Concluded at Rome on 26 October 1961 in Rome, Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations

1997

1998

  • 2-10 November 1998, Report of the first session of the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR), SCCR/1/9. With respect to future work on the protection of broadcasting organizations, the inaugural session of the WIPO SCCR decided,

    • (i) the International Bureau should organize regional consultations, whether in the form of regional meetings, seminars or round tables, during the second quarter of 1999, coordinated with the consultations provided for under item b(i), above;

    (ii) the International Bureau should invite Member States of WIPO and the European Community, as well as intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations invited to the Standing Committee, to submit, by the end of March 1999, proposals and/or views in treaty language or in other form; these proposals and/or views should in advance be made available in suitable form to the Standing Committee;

    (iii) the issue should be carried forward to the agenda of the second session of the Standing Committee.

1999

  • 20-22 April 1999, Regional Roundtable on the Protection of Rights of Broadcasting Organizations and on the Protection of Databases, Vilnius, Lithuania.
  • 4-11 May 1999, Report of SCCR 2, SCCR/2/11. With respect to the protection of broadcasting organizations, SCCR 2 decided that,

    • (i) this issue would also be carried forward to the agenda of the third session of the Standing Committee;

    (ii) the International Bureau should convene regional consultation meetings on this issue to take place in Geneva on November 15, 1999;

    (iii) Members of the Standing Committee should be invited to submit proposals and/or views by August 16, 1999, to be distributed by the International Bureau by September 15, 1999.

  • 16-20 November 1999, Report of SCCR 3, SCCR/3/11. With respect to broadcasting, SCCR 3 decided that,

    • This issue will also be carried forward to the agenda of the next ordinary session of the Standing Committee.

2000

  • 11, 12 and 14 April 2000, Report of SCCR 4, SCCR/4/6. With respect to future work on the protection of broadcasting organizations, the report states:

    • The Standing Committee decided to invite governments to submit, before January 31, 2001, proposals in treaty language concerning the protection of broadcasting organizations. The next session of the Standing Committee would take place in the beginning of 2001, at dates to be determined by the International Bureau.

2001

  • 7-11 May 2001, Report of SCCR 5, SCCR/5/6. With respect to the protection of broadcasting organizations,

    • 100. The Standing Committee made the following decision:

    B. Rights of Broadcasters:

    (i) the issue would be the main point on the Agenda of the next meeting of the Standing Committee;

    (ii) the Secretariat would invite the Governments and the European Community to submit additional proposals on this issue, preferably in treaty language, to be received by the Secretariat on or before October 1, 2001;

    (iii) the next meeting of the SCCR would take place from November 26 to 30, 2001, subject to a technical exploration
    by the Secretariat as to whether the meeting room would be available on alternative dates not coinciding with Ramadan;

    (iv) in the morning of November 26, 2001, regional consultations would be held in Geneva.

  • 26-30 November 2001, Report of SCCR 6, SCCR/6/4. With respect to the protection of broadcasting organizations,

    • 175. The Standing Committee made the following decision:

    B. Rights of Broadcasters:

    (i) the issue would be the main point on the Agenda of the
    next meeting of the Standing Committee;

    (ii) the Governments and the European Community are invited to submit additional proposals on this issue, preferably in treaty language, to be received by the Secretariat on or before March 11, 2002;

    (iii) a technical background paper dealing with the issues raised by broadcasters’ rights protection would be prepared by the Secretariat;

    (iv) the next meeting of the SCCR would take place from May 13 to 17, 2002;

    (v) on the morning of May 13, 2002, regional consultations would be held in Geneva.

2002

  • 13 -17 May 2002, Report of SCCR 7, SCCR/7/10. With respect to the protection of broadcasting organizations,

    • 147. The Standing Committee made the following decisions:

    (b) Rights of Broadcasters:

    (i) the issue would be the main point on the Agenda of the next session of the Standing Committee;

    (ii) the Governments and the European Community are invited to submit additional proposals on this issue, preferably in treaty language, to be received by the Secretariat on or before September 16, 2002;

    (iii) a working paper based on document CRP/SCCR/7/1 Rev.2 and on the discussions of the present session of the SCCR, with a description of the generally accepted terms, would be prepared by the Secretariat, in consultation with the Chairman of the present session; (iv)the next session of the SCCR would take place from November 4 to 8, 2002.

  • 4-8 November 2002, Report of SCCR 3 , SCCR/8/9. With respect to the protection of broadcasting organizations,

    • 126. The Standing Committee made the following decisions:

    (b) Rights of Broadcasters:

    (i) the issue would be the main point on the Agenda of the next session of the Standing Committee;

    (ii) the Governments and the European Community were invited to submit their final, possibly revised, proposals on the issue, preferably in treaty language, to be received by the Secretariat on or before February 28, 2003;

2003

  • 23-27 June 2003, Report of SCCR 9, SCCR/9/11. With respect to the protection of broadcasting organizations,

    • 130. The Standing Committee made the following decisions:

    (a) The protection of broadcasting organizations would be the main point on the Agenda of the tenth session of the Standing Committee:

    (i) delegations are invited to consider all elements of a possible new instrument on the protection of broadcasting organizations in order to provide a basis for the preparation of a basic proposal;

    (ii) delegations are also invited to consider a suitable timetable for the further preparatory steps and the possibility of organizing a diplomatic conference;

    (iii) the Standing Committee, in its tenth session,should be ready to decide on the preparation of a basic proposal.

  • 30 October 2003, Letter from the Trans Atlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD) to the European Commission (Jörg Reinbothe) and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) – 9 Questions on the WIPO Broadcasting Treaty.
  • 3-5 November 2003, Report of SCCR 10, SCCR/10/5. With respect to the protection of broadcasting organizations,

80. The Standing Committee made the following decisions:

(a) (i) the eleventh session of the Standing Committee would take place in the week starting June 7, 2004;

(ii) a consolidated text with explanatory comments should be prepared, based on the proposals submitted to, and discussions, in the Standing Committee, by the Chairman of the present session of the Standing Committee, in cooperation with the Secretariat, and distributed in all the WIPO working languages by April 1, 2004;

(iii) at its eleventh session in June 2004, the discussions of the Standing Committee would be based on the consolidated text, and the Committee would assess the progress of the work. In the light of those discussions and that assessment, the Committee would decide whether to recommend to the WIPO General Assembly in 2004 that a Diplomatic Conference be convened;

2004

  • 7 – 9 June 2004, Report of SCCR 11, SCCR/11/4. With respect to the protection of broadcasting organizations, SCCR 10 passed the following recommendations. These recommendations formed the basis of WIPO General Assembly document WO/GA/31/7 presented to the Assembly in September/October 2004.

    • RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE (FINAL)

    The Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights:

    considering that the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights at its Tenth Session, from November 3 to 5, 2003, recommended that the present session of the Standing Committee should be convened to examine a consolidated text and to assess progress of work with a view to a possible diplomatic conference which would consider an international instrument on the protection of broadcasting organizations,

    considering that the work at the end of the present session of the Standing Committee is well advanced, taking into account the identification and analysis of substantive issues to be addressed in the international instrument, the progress made in these substantive issues during the deliberations in the present and previous sessions of the Standing Committee;

    having had an exchange of views and information regarding the protection of non-original databases,

    agrees on the following recommendations:

    A. BROADCASTING ORGANIZATIONS

    1. The WIPO General Assembly

    the WIPO General Assembly is recommended to consider, beginning at its September/October session in 2004, the possibility of convening, at an appropriate time, a diplomatic conference on the protection of broadcasting organizations;

    2. Twelfth Session of the Standing Committee;

    the Chair of the present session of the Standing Committee will prepare, for the Twelfth Session of the Committee, a revised version of the Consolidated Text in which the possible protection of webcasting organizations and other proposals having received very limited support will be indicated in square brackets. The Twelfth Session of the Committee will take place from November 17 to 19, 2004;

    3. Assessment of the Progress of the Work

    at its Twelfth Session the discussions of the Standing Committee would be based on the revised consolidated text and the Committee would assess the progress of the work. In the light of those discussions and that assessment, the Committee would recommend the dates, and the necessary preparatory steps for a possible diplomatic conference including the possibility that the Chairman prepares a basic proposal for this conference;

    4. Regional Consultations

    depending on the decision of the WIPO General Assembly under Point A.1 above, and the recommendations of the Standing Committee, the International Bureau shall organize regional consultation meetings where appropriate and at the request of the relevant regional groups. The International Bureau shall also organize consultations meetings at the location of the diplomatic conference immediately before its commencement.

  • 17 – 19 November 2004, Report of SCCR 12, SCCR/12/4. With respect to the protection of broadcasting organizations, SCCR12 reached the following conclusions:

    • CONCLUSIONS BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE
    A. BROADCASTING ORGANIZATIONS

    1. Documents to be prepared
    – a second revised version of the Consolidated Text will be prepared by the Chairman of the present session of the Standing Committee;

    – a working paper on alternative non-mandatory solutions to the protection of webcasting organizations, including simulcasting organizations, will be prepared to accompany the second revised version;

2005

  • 5 October 2005, Report of the Thirty-Second (17th Ordinary) Session (26 September 2005 – 5 October 2005) of the WIPO General Assembly, WO/GA/32/13. With respect to the protection of broadcasting organizations, the General Assembly decided that:

    • 85. Two additional meetings of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) will be scheduled to accelerate discussions on the second revised consolidated text (SCCR/12/2 Rev.2) and the Working Paper (SCCR/12/5 Prov.). These meetings shall aim to agree and finalize a Basic Proposal for a treaty on the protection of the rights of broadcasting organizations in order to enable the 2006 WIPO General Assembly to recommend the convening of a Diplomatic Conference in December 2006, or at an appropriate date in 2007.

  • 21 to 23 November 2005, Report of SCCR 13, SCCR/13/6. With respect to the protection of broadcasting organizations, there conclusions were not reached at SCCR 13.

2006

  • 1-5 May 2006, Report adopted by the Committee (the, SCCR/14/7. The conclusions can be found on page 95 in Appendix 1 of the document, SCCR/14/7). SCCR 14 concluded that WIPO’s work on broadcasting be “confined to the protection of broadcasting organizations and cablecasting organizations (in the traditional sense).” SCCR 14 anticipated the need for WIPO’s membership to “agree and finalize a basic proposal for a treaty on the protection of the rights of broadcasting organizations” before the 2006 General assembly could adopt a recommendation on “convening a diplomatic conference in December 2006 or in an appropriate date in 2007.” SCCR 14 placed webcasting and simulcasting on a separate track.

    • APPENDIX 1

    CONCLUSIONS BY THE CHAIR, AS AMENDED BY THE COMMITTEE

    1. One more meeting of the SCCR will be convened before the General Assembly

    2. The agenda of this meeting will be confined to the protection of broadcasting organizations and cablecasting organizations (in the traditional sense).

    3. A revised draft basic proposal will be prepared for the meeting and all efforts will be made in order to make the document available to the Member States by August 1, 2006. The document will be prepared on the basis of documents SCCR/14/2 and SCCR/14/3,and now existing proposals and taking into account the discussion of the Committee.

    4. This process is on the understanding that this additional meeting of the SCCR would be convened with the aim to agree and finalize a basic proposal for a treaty on the protection of the rights of broadcasting organizations in order to enable the 2006 General Assembly to recommend the convening a diplomatic conference in December 2006 or in an appropriate date in 2007.

    On the protection of webcasting and simulcasting:

    1. The deadline for the proposals foreseen at the 14th session of the SCCR concerning webcasting and simulcasting will be August 1, 2006.

    2. A revised document on the protection of webcasting and simulcasting will be prepared on the basis of document SCCR/14/2 and proposals, and taking into account the discussions of the Committee.

    3. The matter will be taken on the agenda of a meeting of the SCCR to be convened after the General Assembly.

  • 11 – 13 September 2006, SCCR/15/6, Report approved by the Committee. The Draft Conclusions, prepared by the Chair (Jukka Liedes) and the Recommendation on the Diplomatic Conference can be found on page 37 of Annex I of the document. The draft conclusions of SCCR 15 state that the focus of the revised basic proposal “was focused on the protection of broadcasting and cable casting organizations’ rights in the traditional sense” with webcasting and simulcasting considered separately.

    The proposed recommendation on the diplomatic conference issued from SCCR 15 clearly stressed that “the scope of will be confined on the protection of broadcasting and cablecasting organizations in the traditional sense.”

    • SCCR Fifteenth Session
    Geneva, September 11 to 13, 2006
    DRAFT CONCLUSIONS OF THE SCCR
    prepared by the Chair

    According to the decision of the WIPO General Assembly at its session from September 26 to October 5, 2005, the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR), has convened in one meeting to accelerate discussions on the second revised Consolidated Text (SCCR/12/2 rev. 2) and on the Working Paper (SCCR/12/5 Prov.), and in two meetings in order to agree and finalize a basic proposal for a treaty on the protection of the rights of broadcasting organizations.

    The first draft basic proposal for the treaty (SCCR/14/2) was considered in the fourteenth session of the SCCR. In order to agree and finalize the basic proposal a revised draft basic proposal (SCCR/15/2) was prepared and considered in the fifteenth session of the SCCR, September 11 to 13, 2006.

    The revised draft basic proposal, according to the conclusions by the SCCR in its May meeting, was focused on the protection of broadcasting and cablecasting organizations’ rights in the traditional sense. The issue on the protection of webcasting and simulcasting will be considered separately, on the basis of a document to be prepared later.

    The SCCR observed that the preparatory work on the rights of the traditional broadcasting and cablecasting organizations is well advanced, and there was broad consensus in the SCCR that the work may now be concluded by bringing the matter for final negotiation into a diplomatic conference. The SCCR stated that there was sufficient common ground on substantive questions in order to transmit a proposal to the General Assembly of the WIPO in 2006 to recommend the convening of a diplomatic conference.

    Recommendation on the diplomatic conference

    A diplomatic conference on the protection of broadcasting organizations be convened on May/July xx to xx, 2007, in Geneva. The objective of this diplomatic conference is to negotiate and conclude a WIPO treaty on the protection of broadcasting organizations, including cablecasting organizations. The scope of the treaty will be confined on the protection of broadcasting and cablecasting organizations in the traditional sense.

  • 25 September 2006-3 October 2006, WIPO General Assembly, Thirty-Third (16th Extraordinary) Session, WO/GA/33/10, Report adopted by the Assembly (on 3 October 2006). The entire decision adopted by the General Assembly can be found on page 38 of the report, WO/GA/33/10. The decision reiterated that the scope of the Treaty be “confined to the protection of broadcasting and cablecasting organizations in the traditional sense.” The decision outlined (in romanito iv) the modalities for future negotiations on the broadcast treaty predicated upon reaching agreement on signal-based approach that would reach consensus on the objectives, specific scope and object of protection.

    • (iv) Two special sessions of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights to clarify the outstanding issues will be convened, the first one in January 2007, and the second one in June 2007 in conjunction with the meeting of the preparatory committee. It is understood that the sessions of the SCCR should aim to agree and finalize, on a signal-based approach, the objectives, specific scope and object of protection with a view to submitting to the Diplomatic Conference a revised basic proposal, which will amend the agreed relevant parts of the Revised Draft Basic Proposal referred to in paragraph (ii). The Diplomatic Conference will be convened if such agreement is achieved. If no such agreement is achieved, all further discussions will be based on document SCCR/15/2.

2007

  • 8 March 2007, First Special Session of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR), Draft Non-paper on the WIPO Treaty on the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations. The introductory note to this non-paper (prepared after the first special session held from 17 January 2007 to 19 January 2007), quotes from a decision taken by the General Assembly in 2006 which specifically instructs the SCCR to “aim to agree and finalize, on a signal-based approach, the objectives, specific scope and object of protection.”
  • 18-22 June 2007, Second Special Session of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR), Conclusions, of the Second Special Session of the SCCR on the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations. The full text of this document can be found here: http://www.wipo.int/edocs/mdocs/copyright/en/sccr_s2/sccr_s2_www_79838.pdf

The conclusions noted:

In the informal discussions it became evident that, during the session, it would not be possible to reach an agreement on the objectives,specific scope and object of protection with a view to submitting to a diplomatic conference a revised basic proposal as mandated by the General Assembly.

The Committee proposed the following decision point to the 2007 WIPO General Assembly:

Decides that the subject of broadcasting organizations and cablecasting organizations be retained on the agenda of the SCCR for its regular sessions and considers convening of a Diplomatic Conference only after agreement on objectives, specific scope and object of protection has been achieved.

  • 24 September 2007- 3 October 2007, WIPO General Assembly, Thirty-Fourth (18th Ordinary) Session, WO/GA/34/16, Report adopted by the Assembly. The General Assembly decision, which framed WIPO’s future work on the protection of broadcasting organizations, can be found on page 57 of the document (WO/GA/34/16). In particular, the WIPO General Assembly of 2007,

    (v) decided that the subject of broadcasting organizations and cablecasting organizations be retained on the agenda of the SCCR for its regular sessions and consider convening of a Diplomatic Conference only after agreement on objectives, specific scope and object of protection has been achieved.

    2008

    • 10-12 March 2008, Conclusions of the Sixteenth Session of the SCCR prepared by the Chair. With respect to the protection of broadcasting organizations, the conclusions of SCCR 16 stated:

      • The delegations who took the floor expressed their support in continuing the work on this item in consonance with the mandate of the General Assembly, and many delegations showed their interest towards the conclusion of a treaty.

      The Chair will prepare an informal paper, based on the mandate of the General Assembly, rendering his understanding of the main positions and divergences, to be dealt with in the next session of the SCCR.

      The matter will be maintained on the agenda of the next session of the SCCR.

    • 30 June 2008, Report on the Work of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR), Including the Protection of Audivisual Performances and Protection of the Rights of Broadcasting Organizations, WO/GA/36/5.

      • With respect to the protection of broadcasting organizations, the report said:

      A. PROTECTION OF BROADCASTING ORGANIZATIONS

      2. It is recalled that the issue concerning updating of the rights of broadcasting organizations in response to technological developments and the growing use of information and communications networks has been under discussion in the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) during its eighteen consecutive sessions, from 1998 to 2008.

      3. At its Thirty-Fourth Session, which took place from September 25 to October 3, 2007, the General Assembly of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO):

      “(i) took note of the current status of the work in the SCCR on the protection of broadcasting organizations and cablecasting organizations;

      (ii) acknowledged that progress was made in the process towards better understanding of the positions of the various stakeholders;

      (iii) recognized the good faith efforts of all participants and stakeholder organizations throughout the process;

      (iv) expressed the wish that all the parties continue to strive to achieve an agreement on the objectives, specific scope and object of protection, as mandated by the General Assembly;

      (v) decided that the subject of broadcasting organizations and cablecasting organizations be retained on the agenda of the SCCR for its regular sessions and consider convening of a Diplomatic Conference only after agreement on objectives, specific scope and object of protection has been achieved.”

      4. At the Sixteenth Session of the SCCR, which took place in Geneva from March 10 to 12, 2008, the SCCR decided to continue to address the issue of the protection of broadcasting organizations, as reflected in the Conclusions adopted by the SCCR, which are reproduced below.

    • 22 September – 30 September 2008, Report of the Thirty-Sixth (18th Extraordinary) Session, WO/GA/36/13.

      • 279. The General Assembly is invited to:
      (i) take note of the current status of the work of the SCCR;
      (ii) request the Secretariat to report to the General Assembly at its Session in September 2009 on the deliberations of the SCCR on:

      (a) the protection of audiovisual performances;
      (b) the protection of the rights of broadcasting and cablecasting organizations;
      (c) limitations and exceptions to copyright and related rights protection; and
      (d) any other matter discussed in the SCCR.

    • 3-7 November 2008, Conclusions of the SCCR (17th session) prepared by the Chair. With respect to the protection of broadcasting organizations, the conclusions of SCCR 17 stated:

      • The Committee decided to continue its work on this item in consonance with the mandate of the General Assembly. A number of delegations showed their interest towards the conclusion of a treaty. The Committee reaffirmed that according to the decision of the General Assembly the protection must be established on a signal-based approach, and the convening of a diplomatic conference could be considered only after agreement on objectives, specific scope and object of protection has been achieved.

      The Committee took no decision regarding the options presented in the Chair’s paper.

      The Committee will continue its analysis of the matter and requested the Secretariat to convene an information meeting on the current conditions of the broadcasting environment with special reference to developing countries and least developed countries during the next session of the SCCR.

      The matter will be maintained on the Agenda of the next session of the SCCR.

    2009

    • 25-29 May 2009, Conclusions of the SCCR (18th session) prepared by the Chair. At this SCCR, the Committee requested the WIPO secretariat to “commission a study on the socio-economic dimension of the unauthorized use of signals, including the impact of the lack of access on the one hand and the need for an effective protection for broadcasters.” With respect to the protection of broadcasting organizations, the conclusions of SCCR 18 stated:

      • 14. The Committee expressed its appreciation for the information session on developments in broadcasting.

      14bis. The Committee requested the Secretariat to commission a study on the socio-economic dimension of the unauthorized use of signals, including the impact of the lack of access on the one hand and the need for an effective protection for broadcasters, on the other hand, with the aim to be available for discussion at the twentieth session of the SCCR.

      15. The Committee reaffirmed its willingness to continue its work on the protection of broadcasting organizations on a signal-based approach, according to the mandate of the 2007 General Assembly.

      16. The Committee invited the Secretariat to organize regional and national seminars upon the request of Member States or regional groups on the objectives, specific scope and object of protection of a possible draft treaty. The Committee took note of the proposal to organize regional consultations.

      17. The protection of broadcasting organizations will be maintained on the Agenda of the nineteenth session of the SCCR.

    • 24 July 2009, Thirty-Eighth (19th Ordinary) Session, Report of the Work of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights, WO/GA/38/5. The report stated:

      • B. PROTECTION OF BROADCASTING ORGANIZATIONS

      7. It is recalled that the updating of the rights of broadcasting organizations in response to technological developments and the growing use of information and communications networks has been under discussion in the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) during its nineteen consecutive sessions, from 1998 to 2009, including two special sessions exclusively devoted to that subject.

      8. At its Thirty-Fifth Session which took place from September 22 to 30, 2008, the General
      Assembly of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO):

      “ (i) took note of the current status of the work of the SCCR;

      (ii) requested the Secretariat to report to the General Assembly at its Session in
      September 2009 on the deliberations of the SCCR on: […]

      (b) the protection of the rights of broadcasting and cablecasting
      organizations […]”

      9. At its Seventeenth Session, the SCCR decided to continue to address the issue of the protection of broadcasting organizations. At the Eighteenth Session, the Committee reaffirmed its willingness to continue its work on the protection of broadcasting organizations as reflected in the Conclusions adopted by the SCCR which were as follows:

      “(i) The Committee requested the Secretariat to commission a study on the socio-economic dimension of the unauthorized use of signals, including the impact of the lack of access on the one hand and the need for an effective protection for broadcasters, on the other hand, with the aim to be available for discussion at the twentieth session of the
      SCCR.

      (ii) The Committee reaffirmed its willingness to continue its work on the protection of broadcasting organizations on a signal-based approach, according to the mandate of the 2007 General Assembly.

      (iii) The Committee invited the Secretariat to organize regional and national seminars upon the request of Member States or regional groups on the objectives, specific scope and object of protection of a possible draft treaty. The Committee took note of the proposal to organize regional consultations.

      (iv) The protection of broadcasting organizations will be maintained on the Agenda of the nineteenth session of the SCCR.”

    • 22 September 2009 to 2 October 2009, Report of the Thirty-Eighth (19th Ordinary) Session, adopted by the General Assembly, WO/GA/38/20.

      • 132. The General Assembly unanimously decided to:

      (i) take note of the information contained in document WO/GA/38/5;

      (ii) encourage the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights to continue its work regarding the issues reported on in this document; and

      (iii) request the Secretariat to report to the General Assembly on the continued work on these issues at its session in September 2010.

    • 14 – 18 December 2009, Conclusions (19th session of the SCCR). The Committee provided the WIPO secretariat the mandate to organize “regional seminars on the protection of broadcasting organizations to ascertain views on the objectives, specific scope and object of protection of a possible draft treaty following a signal-based approach.” On broadcasting, the conclusions of SCCR 19 stated:

      • The Committee noted the publication of the first part of the Study on the Socio Economic Dimension of the Unauthorized Use of Signals, addressing current market and technology trends in the broadcasting sector. The Committee noted with approval the forthcoming second part of the study to be presented to the Committee at its twentieth session.

      The Committee reaffirmed its willingness to continue its work on the protection of broadcasting organizations according to the mandate of the 2007 General Assembly.

      The Secretariat will organize regional seminars upon requests from Member States to ascertain views on the objectives, specific scope and object of protection of a possible draft treaty following a signal-based approach. A report of the seminars will be presented to the Committee at its twentieth session.

      The protection of broadcasting organizations will be maintained on the Agenda of the twentieth session of the SCCR.


    2010

    • 31 May 2010 – 1 June 2010, Regional Seminar for the Latin American and Caribbean Countries on the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations, Organized by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the Instituto Nacional del Derecho de Autor (INDAUTOR) de México, Mexico City, Provisional Program, WIPO/CR/MEX/10/1 PROV.
    • 21 – 24 June 2010, Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights: Twentieth Session, Report, SCCR/20/13. Paragraph 215 of the report of SCCR 20 noted:

      • The Committee did not reach agreement on all matters considered for the Conclusions. Consequently, the Chair tabled the “Conclusions by the Chair” which can be found in Annex I.

      With respect to the protection of broadcasting organizations, the Committee could not agree to the language contained in paragraphs 3 and 4 of the Conclusions by the Chair. The Chair’s note stated, the “conclusions were agreed on by the Committee, except paragraphs 3, 4, 19 and 20 (in brackets and italics). The Delegation of Brazil, supported by the GRULAC Coordinator, stated that if there was no agreement on several paragraphs, there was no agreement on the whole set of draft conclusions.” Here follows the Chair’s text on broadcasting:

    1. The Committee noted the first two parts of the Study on “the Socioeconomic Dimension of the Unauthorized Use of Signals” (document SCCR/20/2) addressing current market and technology trends in the broadcasting sector and unauthorized access to broadcasting signals. In this session, some Member States also formulated observations and questions on the second part of the Study and expressed the need to revise the approach on the socio-economic dimension and the problem on the lack of access to information. It noted with satisfaction the forthcoming third part of the study to be presented to the Committee at its 21st session and requested that such new studies take into account these observations and considerations made by some Member States on the second study. It requested the Secretariat to present at its subsequent meeting an analytical document outlining the main conclusions of the three studies.

    2. The Committee took note of the informal report presented by the Delegation of Mexico on the regional seminar for Latin American and Caribbean countries which took place on May 31 and June 1, 2010 and requested the report to be made available to the delegations.

    [3. The Committee reaffirmed its commitment to continue work towards developing an international treaty to update the protection of broadcasting organizations, addressing present and emerging technological issues while taking due account of the protection of the public interest and access to information. It looked forward to the outcome of further regional consultations to take place at request of Member States.]

    [4. The Secretariat was invited to organize, in Geneva, informal consultations to address the outstanding technical issues contained in the 2007 mandate of the General Assembly, including the notions of ‘signal-based’, objectives, specific scope and object of protection, as well as any other technical issue not yet sufficiently clarified, in order to suggest an understanding of these concepts to the next session of the SCCR.]

    5. The protection of broadcasting organizations will be maintained on the agenda of the 21st session of the SCCR.

    • 20 July 2010, Report on the Work of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights, WO/GA/39/8 REV.

      • With respect to the protection of broadcasting organizations, the report stated:

      A. PROTECTION OF BROADCASTING ORGANIZATIONS

      4. It is recalled that the updating of the rights of broadcasting organizations in response to technological developments has been under discussion in the SCCR during its twenty consecutive sessions, from 1998 to 2010, including two special sessions exclusively devoted to that subject in 2007.

      5. At its Nineteenth Session, the SCCR noted the publication of the first part of the Study on the Socio Economic Dimension of the Unauthorized Use of Signals, addressing current market and technology trends in the broadcasting sector.

      6. The Committee also reaffirmed its willingness to continue its work on the protection of broadcasting organizations according to the mandate of the 2007 General Assembly.

      7. The Committee invited the Secretariat to organize regional seminars upon requests from Member States to ascertain views on the objectives, specific scope and object of protection of a possible draft treaty following a signal-based approach. A report of the seminars would be presented to the Committee at its Twentieth Session.

      8. During the Twentieth Session of the SCCR, the Committee noted the first two parts of the Study on “the Socioeconomic Dimension of the Unauthorized Use of Signals” addressing current market and technology trends in the broadcasting sector and unauthorized access to broadcasting signals. Some Member States presented observations and questions on the second part of the Study, and expressed the need to revise the approach on the socio-economic dimension and the problem on the lack of access to information. It noted with satisfaction the forthcoming third part of the study to be presented to the Committee at its Twenty-First Session, and requested that such new study take into account these observations and considerations made by some Member States. It requested the Secretariat to present, at the next session of the Committee, an analytical document outlining the main conclusions of the three studies.

      9. The Committee took note of the informal report presented by the Delegation of Mexico on the regional seminar for Latin American and Caribbean countries which took place on May 31 and June 1, 2010, and requested the report to be made available to the delegations.

      10. The Committee will continue work towards updated protection for broadcasting organizations. The protection of broadcasting organizations will be maintained on the Agenda of the Twenty-First Session of the SCCR.

    • 12 – 13 July 2010, Regional Seminar for the Asia Pacific Countries on the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations, Organized by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, New Delhi, Provisional Program, WIPO/CR/DEL/10/1 PROV.
    • 20 – 29 September 2010, Thirty-Ninth (20th Extraordinary) Session, WO/GA/39/14.

      • 143. The General Assembly:

      (i) took note of the information contained in document WO/GA/39/8 Rev., while bearing in mind that there was no agreed conclusion reached at the 20th session of the SCCR; and

      (ii) encouraged the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights to continue its work regarding the issues reported on in document WO/GA/39/8 Rev.

    • 18-19 October 2010, WIPO Regional Seminar on the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations, Abuja, Nigeria, organized by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC), Federal Ministry of Justice, Government of Nigeria,Provisional Program, WIPO/CR/ABU/10/1 PROV.
    • 8-12 November 2010, Conclusions of the 21st Session of the SCCR. With respect to the protection of broadcasting organizations, the conclusions of SCCR 21 stated:

      • Protection of Broadcasting Organizations

      1. The Committee noted with appreciation, and commented on the third part of the Study on “the Socioeconomic Dimension of the Unauthorized Use of Signals” (document SCCR/21/2) addressing the social and economic effects of the proposed treaty on the protection of broadcasting organizations. It noted, as well, the Analytical Document, prepared by the Secretariat, on the Study on the Socioeconomic Dimension of the Unauthorised Use of Signals, Parts I, II and III (document SCCR/21/4).

      2. The Committee took note of the reports presented by the

      – Delegation of India on the Regional Seminar for Asian and Pacific Countries on the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations and Audiovisual Performances, which took place on July 14 to 16 in New Delhi, and

      – Delegation of Nigeria on the Regional Seminar for African Countries on the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations and Audiovisual Performances, which took place on October 18 to 20, 2010 in Abuja.

      The reports of pending regional seminars will be presented to the 22nd Session of the Committee, and an analytical document containing the results and outcomes of the regional seminars will be prepared by the Secretariat for consideration of the Committee.

      3. The Committee reaffirmed its commitment to continue work, on a signal-based approach, towards developing an international treaty to update the protection of broadcasting and cablecasting organizations in the traditional sense.

      4. Members of the Committee are invited to present new proposals on the protection of the broadcasting organizations by March 1, 2011, if possible in treaty language, in addition to the proposals contained in the document SCCR/15/2 rev., to form the basis of the preparation of a new draft treaty.

      5. The Secretariat was requested to organize, in Geneva, before the 22nd Session of the SCCR, an informal consultation meeting of Members, involving technical experts, to clarify outstanding technical and technological issues, relevant for the updated protection of the broadcasting organizations in the traditional sense, by following the signal-based approach. The Secretariat will prepare a list of issues based on the 2007 mandate of the General Assembly, with regard to the objectives, specific scope and object of protection. The consultation meeting will report its suggestions to the Committee.

      6. The protection of broadcasting organizations will be maintained on the agenda of the 22nd session of the SCCR, where the timetable on future work program should be agreed upon, taking into account any possible new proposals.

    2011

    • 14-15 April 2011, Informal Consultations on the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations,
      Chair’s Report for Consideration of SCCR/22, WIPO/CR/CONSULT/GE/11/2/6      . The Chair’s report stated,

      • Further to the conclusions of SCCR/21 (November 8 to 12, 2010), an informal consultation meeting of Members, involving technical experts, on the protection of broadcasting organizations was held in Geneva on April 14 and 15, 2011, with the mandate to clarify outstanding technical and technological issues, relevant for the updated protection of the broadcasting organizations in the traditional sense, by following the signal-based approach and to report its suggestions to the next session of the Committee, which will take place from June 15 to 24, 2011.

      The consultation was opened by the Director General and Ms. Alexandra Grazioli from Switzerland was elected Chair. The technical and technological issues relevant to the updated protection of broadcasting organizations were considered by two panels of experts and Member States, in the form of presentations and an exchange of views with the experts to clarify the objectives, specific scope and object of protection of the draft treaty.

      The new proposals of Canada, Japan and South Africa were presented by the respective delegations. Questions on the new proposals were posed by Member States and non-governmental organizations, and answers and clarifications were provided.

      Based on those presentations and exchanges of views, the Chair will prepare a non-paper for SCCR/22 setting out possible elements for a draft treaty. She will take into account SCCR 15/2, which dates from 2006, and inputs provided by the technical experts participating in the informal consultation meeting, on the basis of the 2007 GA mandate (objectives, specific scope and object of protection) but aiming for a technology-neutral approach. The non-paper will be made available in advance of the next session of the SCCR, which will take place from June 15 to 24, 2011.

    • 9 May 2011, Informal Consultations on the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations, Chair’s Report for Consideration of SCCR/22, WIPO/CR/CONSULT/GE/11/2/6.

      • The report noted that,

      Further to the conclusions of SCCR/21 (November 8 to 12, 2010), an informal consultation meeting of Members, involving technical experts, on the protection of broadcasting organizations was held in Geneva on April 14 and 15, 2011, with the mandate to clarify outstanding technical and technological issues, relevant for the updated protection of the broadcasting organizations in the traditional sense, by following the signal-based approach and to report its suggestions to the next session of the Committee, which will take place from June 15 to 24, 2011.

      The consultation was opened by the Director General and Ms. Alexandra Grazioli from Switzerland was elected Chair. The technical and technological issues relevant to the updated protection of broadcasting organizations were considered by two panels of experts and Member States, in the form of presentations and an exchange of views with the experts to clarify the objectives, specific scope and object of protection of the draft treaty.

      The new proposals of Canada, Japan and South Africa were presented by the respective delegations. Questions on the new proposals were posed by Member States and non-governmental organizations, and answers and clarifications were provided.

      Based on those presentations and exchanges of views, the Chair will prepare a non-paper for SCCR/22 setting out possible elements for a draft treaty. She will take into account SCCR 15/2, which dates from 2006, and inputs provided by the technical experts participating in the informal consultation meeting, on the basis of the 2007 GA mandate (objectives, specific scope and object of protection) but aiming for a technology-neutral approach. The non-paper will be made available in advance of the next session of the SCCR, which will take place from June 15 to 24, 2011.

    • 16 May 2011, Results and Outcomes of the 2010 Regional Seminars on the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations prepared by the Secretariat, SCCR/22/9. This document noted that,

      • [t]he main outcomes of these Seminars are as follows:

      All three seminars addressed the pace of the negotiations. There is an urgent need for a treaty on the protection of broadcasting organizations based on a signal based approach for traditional broadcasting, as mandated by the General Assembly; it has become expedient to accelerate the pace of work on the treaty and the SCCR was urged to set a time frame on its agenda for the conclusion of the work on the treaty, to enable, as stressed by one Seminar, the 2011 General Assembly to decide on the convening of a Diplomatic Conference; the fast pace of global technological development and their implications for the rights of broadcasting organizations was also recognized;

      The Seminars addressed the objectives of the treaty by stressing the importance of economic investment by the broadcasting organizations in the creation of their broadcasts and the concern of signal theft in relation to the objectives of the protection. The main focus of the treaty is to prevent third parties from using or exploiting their broadcasts signals without their consent, a situation which affects investment and the competitiveness of the broadcasting industry;

      Discussions addressed the object of protection. Most seminars stressed that beneficiaries of the protection under the new treaty should be broadcasting organizations and cable organizations. Some countries indicated the importance of identifying broadcasting organizations as subject for protection and, where applicable, the possible difference with cable organizations and other operators; Some seminars considered the importance of further defining a broadcast, a signal, including a cablecast, and for each of these, to determine a neutral definition while taking into account technological advances;

      It was considered that Internet was a subject that was being dealt with in different ways across regions and it was necessary to have an on-going debate on its impact. It was stressed that each legislation should establish its own form of protection in each case;

      Some seminars discussed the specific scope of the protection under the treaty by addressing the need to define the coverage of the Treaty, and the rights to be granted to broadcasting organizations, while noting that the Rome Convention of 1961 needed to be reviewed and adapted to technological developments; It was noted that rights to be granted under the treaty should be without prejudice to rights in any underlying works incorporated in a broadcast;

      There was some agreement that that the treaty should contain specific limitations to the exclusive rights that accommodate public interests concerns; and

      Specific issues in the area of compliance and enforcement were raised including the need to set up flexible international standards and an enforcement and compliance mechanism to be considered as a component of the treaty.

    • 30 May 2011, Elements for a Draft Treaty on the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations, Prepared by the Chair (Alexandra Grazioli, Switzerland) of the Informal Consultations on the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations held in Geneva on April 14 and 15, 2011, SCCR/22/11.

      • The introduction to the Chair’s non-paper notes:

      The informal consultations held in April 2011 highlighted the evolution of broadcasting in the past years and the usage of sophisticated technologies in constant evolution, while new rapid technological developments are further expected. They made clear that signal piracy was common across all the platforms including mobile, Web/Internet and was no more limited to traditional platforms such as satellite, cable and terrestrial frequencies. Having in mind the WIPO GeneralAssembly’s mandate of 2006, these elements raised the questions of the opportunity to continue to develop a draft treaty on the protection of broadcasting organizations that would ignore the technological development and the relevance of such a treaty. The impact of technological development especially on the digital platforms has to be taken fully into account as evidenced by the issues relating to the broadcasting of sporting events where significant signal piracy takes place.

      According to the results of the informal consultation, the present non-paper constitutes the Chair’s proposals for the minimal possible functional elements to be considered for a new draft treaty on the protection of broadcasting organizations which would update their protection at the international level and respond to the broadcasters’ needs in the new technological environment, while fulfilling the mandate given by the WIPO General Assembly in 2007 (objectives, specific scope and object of protection). These elements take into account the proposals made by Member States of WIPO, in particular the more recent proposals made by the Governments of Canada, Japan and South Africa, the document SCCR/15/2 dating from 2006, presentations and exchanges of views that took place during the informal consultation meeting referred to above, as well as inputs and advices provided by the technical experts participating in it.

      With respect to the objectives, the Chair’s non-paper stated,

      In an era of convergence where the activity of broadcasting is no longer confined to traditional platforms, the draft treaty should be based on:

      – a signal-based approach, which does not preclude granting of exclusive rights to the broadcasting organizations;
      – a technologically neutral approach, in order to ensure adequate protection for broadcasting organizations on all platforms where the activity of broadcasting is carried out; and
      – a distinction between platform of origin and the platform of exploitation.

      With respect to simulcasting, the Chair’s non-paper stated,

      The simultaneous and unchanged transmission of its programs over computer networks by a broadcasting organization should be regarded as if it were broadcasting, and shall be afforded the same protection under the draft treaty.

    • 15-24 June 2011, Report of SCCR22, SCCR/22/18. With respect to the protection of broadcasting organizations, the conclusions stated,

      • 14. The Committee thanked the Secretariat for organizing the informal consultations on the protection of broadcasting organizations in Geneva on April 14 and 15, 2011, and thanked its Chair Ms. Alexandra Grazioli from Switzerland, for presenting the report of this meeting. The Committee considered and commented on the “Elements for a Draft Treaty on the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations” presented by the Chair of the Informal consultations (document SCCR/22/11), which sets out possible elements for a draft treaty and to advance discussions.

      15. The Committee took note of the new draft treaty proposals presented by the Delegations of South Africa, Canada and Japan (document SCCR/22/5, document SCCR/22/6 and document SCCR/22/7, respectively).

      16. The Committee also took note of the Conclusions of the Regional Broadcasting Signal Piracy Seminar for African countries, organized by the Government of South Africa and held in Johannesburg, South Africa, on June 6 and 7, 2011 (document SCCR/22/14).

      17. The Committee reaffirmed its commitment to continue work, on a signal based approach, consistent with the 2007 General Assembly mandate, towards developing an international treaty to update the protection of broadcasting and cablecasting organizations in the traditional sense.

      18. The Committee approved the Chair’s work plan as set out in the annex of these conclusions.

      19. The protection of broadcasting organizations will be maintained on the agenda of the 23rd session of the SCCR.

    • 26 September – 5 October 2011, Report on the Work of the the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights, WO/GA/40/6. With respect to the protection of broadcasting organizations, the report noted:

      • A. PROTECTION OF BROADCASTING ORGANIZATIONS

      4. It is recalled that the updating of the rights of broadcasting organizations in response to technological developments has been under discussion in all SCCR sessions since 1998, including two special sessions exclusively devoted to that subject in 2007.

      5. During the 21st session of the SCCR, the Committee noted and commented on the third part of the Study on the Socioeconomic Dimension of the Unauthorized Use of Signals, addressing the social and economic effects of the proposed treaty on the protection of broadcasting organizations. The Committee also took note of an Analytical Document, prepared by the Secretariat, on the Study on the Socioeconomic Dimension of the Unauthorized Use of Signals, Parts I, II and III.

      6. Reports on various regional meetings, namely the Regional Seminar for Asian and Pacific Countries on the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations and Audiovisual Performances, which took place on July 14 to 16 in New Delhi; the Regional Seminar for African Countries on the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations and Audiovisual Performances, which took place on October 18 to 20, 2010 in Abuja; and the Regional Broadcasting Signal Piracy Seminar for African countries, organized in Johannesburg, on June 6 and 7, 2011; were presented for the consideration of the Committee.

      7. In 2010, Members of the Committee were invited to present new proposals on the protection of the broadcasting organizations, if possible in treaty language, in addition to the proposals contained in the document SCCR/15/2 Rev., to form the basis of the preparation of a new draft treaty. In this connection, the Committee took note of the new draft proposals presented by the Delegations of Canada, Japan and South Africa presented in 2011.

      8. Informal consultations on the protection of broadcasting organizations were organized in Geneva on April 14 and 15, 2011 by the WIPO Secretariat. The Committee considered and commented the document prepared by the Chair of those consultations on the “Elements for a Draft Treaty on the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations” which sets out possible elements for a draft treaty and to advance discussions.

      9. During the 22nd session of the SCCR, Members reaffirmed its commitment to continue work, on a signal based approach, consistent with the 2007 General Assembly mandate, towards developing an international treaty to update the protection of broadcasting and cablecasting organizations in the traditional sense; and approved a work plan prepared by the Chair of the 22nd session of the SCCR. The work plan includes the organization of a two-day informal consultation on the protection of broadcasting organizations and cablecasting organizations in connection with the SCCR/23 session with the aim to progress the work on a draft treaty and to make a recommendation to the 2012 WIPO General Assembly on the possible scheduling of a diplomatic conference.

      10. The protection of broadcasting organizations will be maintained on the agenda of the 23rd session of the SCCR, where the timetable on future work program should be agreed upon, taking into account any possible new proposals.

    • 21 November – 2 December 2011, Conclusions of SCCR23. With respect to the protection of broadcasting organizations, the conclusions said,

      • Protection of Broadcasting Organizations

      9. The Committee thanked the Secretariat for organizing the Informal Consultations on the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations in Geneva on November 26, 2011 which were attended by Members and observers of the SCCR, and thanked its Chair Ms. Alexandra Grazioli from Switzerland. The discussions contributed to progress the work on a draft treaty to update the protection of broadcasting and cablecasting organizations in the traditional sense. The outcome of the consultations was presented to the SCCR/23 session and the report of the meeting is contained in document SCCR/23/9.

      10. The Committee took note of the draft treaty proposal presented by the Delegations of South Africa and Mexico (document SCCR/23/6). Members made comments and asked preliminary questions.

      11. The Committee reaffirmed its commitment to continue work, on a signal based approach, consistent with the 2007 General Assembly mandate, towards developing an international treaty to update the protection of broadcasting and cablecasting organizations in the traditional sense.

      12. The Committee approved the work plan as set out in the annex of these conclusions.

      13. The protection of broadcasting organizations will be maintained on the agenda of the 24th session of the SCCR.

      The work plan set forth by SCCR23 stated,

      Annex

      Protection of Broadcasting Organizations: work plan

      1. To maintain the momentum regarding a draft treaty on the protection of broadcasting organizations and cablecasting organizations in the traditional sense, the Committee agreed to continue discussions on a signal based approach consistent with the 2007 General assembly mandate and agreed on the following work plan:

      2. Members are invited to send textual, legal and other comments to the proposal of the delegations of South Africa and Mexico (document SCCR/23/6) to the WIPO Secretariat by February 29, 2012. These comments will be made available to the Delegations of South Africa and Mexico for their due consideration. The Delegations of South Africa and Mexico will, based on the comments received, revise the proposal. The Secretariat will make all the comments available on a SCCR Forum (www.wipo.int/copyright), as they are received, for discussion at the next SCCR.

      3. In order to expedite discussions and with a view to making a recommendation to the 2012 WIPO General Assembly on the possible scheduling of a Diplomatic Conference, two working days of the SCCR/24 session will be dedicated to the protection of broadcasting organizations with the objective of reaching agreement on a single text to pursue text-based discussions at the SCCR/24 session.

      4. The following WIPO documents will also be used as a basis for discussions:

      – Draft Treaty on the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations proposed by the Delegations from South Africa and Mexico on the protection of broadcasting organizations (document SCCR/23/6), taking into account the comments received by the WIPO Secretariat by February 29, 2012;
      – Report of the Chair of the Informal Consultations on the protection of broadcasting Organizations held in Geneva On November 26, 2011, (document SCCR/23/9)
      – Elements of the Draft Treaty on the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations prepared by the Chair of the Informal Consultations on the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations held In Geneva on April 14 and 15 April 2011 (document SCCR/22/11);
      – Comments on the Draft Treaty for the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations: Proposal by the Delegation of Japan (document SCCR/22/7);
      – Proposal on the Draft Treaty for the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations: Proposal by the Delegation of Canada (document SCCR/22/6)
      – Revised Draft Basic Proposal for the WIPO Treaty on the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations (document SCCR/15/2);
      – Protection of the Rights of Broadcasting organizations, submitted by the European Community and its Member States (document SCCR/6/2);
      – Article 1bis, submitted by the European Community and its Member States (document SCCR/9/12); and
      – Any other textual contributions.

    2012

    • 16 – 25 July 2012, Conclusions of SCCR24. With respect to the protection of broadcasting organizations, the conclusions stated:

      • Protection of Broadcasting Organizations

      16. The Committee reaffirmed its commitment to continue work, on a signal based approach, consistent with the 2007 General Assembly mandate, towards developing an international treaty to update the protection of broadcasting and cablecasting organizations in the traditional sense.

      17. The Committee pursued discussions that led to the adoption of a single text titled“Working document for a treaty on the protection of broadcasting organizations” contained in document SCCR/24/10, which includes India’s legal textual proposals as one of the alternatives in the relevant articles of the working document. This working document will constitute the basis of further text-based discussions to be undertaken by the Committee in its 25th session, subject to any modification or further textual comments to be submitted by the Members.

      18. The Committee agreed to recommend to the WIPO General Assembly that the Committee continue its work toward a text that will enable a decision on whether to convene a diplomatic conference in 2014.

    • 1 – 9 October 2012, Report of the Forty-First (21st Extraordinary) Session, WO/GA/41/18. With respect to the protection of broadcasting organizations,

      • The WIPO General Assembly:

      (i) took note of the information contained in document WO/GA/41/14;
      (ii) encouraged the SCCR to continue its work regarding the issues reported on in this document; and (iii) approved the recommendations of the SCCR as set out in paragraphs, 9, 14, 19 and 23 of document WO/GA/41/14 regarding broadcasting organizations and limitations and exceptions.
      (iii) approved the recommendations of the SCCR as set out in paragraphs, 9, 14, 19 and 23 of document WO/GA/41/14 regarding broadcasting organizations and limitations and exceptions.

    • 19-23 December 2012, Conclusions of SCCR25. With respect to the protection of broadcasting organizations, the conclusions stated:

      • Protection of broadcasting organizations

      6. The Committee considered the “Working document for a treaty on the protection of broadcasting organizations” (document SCCR/24/10). It was agreed that a corrigendum, based on textual corrections suggested by the Delegation of Japan and the discussion held by the Committee, would be produced by the Secretariat.

      7. The Committee further decided, subject to further textual comments to be submitted by the Members, that in order to advance its work on the basis of document SCCR/24/10 towards a text that will enable a decision on whether to convene a diplomatic conference in 2014, a three day inter-sessional meeting will be organized during the first half of 2013.

    • Dec 21, 2012. WIPO SCCR publishes a new “Working Document for a Treaty on the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations,” as SCCR/24/10.

    2013

    • 23 September – 2 October 2013, Report on the Work of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights, prepared by the Secretariat, WO/GA/43/13.

      • A. PROTECTION OF BROADCASTING ORGANIZATIONS

      4. It is recalled that the updating of the rights of broadcasting organizations in response to technological developments has been under discussion in all SCCR sessions since 1998, including two special sessions exclusively devoted to that subject in 2007.

      5. An Intersessional Meeting on the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations was organized in Geneva from April 10 to 12, 2013. The discussions contributed to progress on a draft treaty to update the protection of broadcasting and cablecasting organizations in the traditional sense. The outcome of the consultations will be presented to the 26th session of the SCCR.

      6. During the 25th session of the SCCR and the Intersessional Meeting on the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations, the Committee pursued discussions on the single text titled “Working document for a treaty on the protection of broadcasting organizations” (documents SCCR/24/10 and SCCR/24/10/CORR), which will constitute the basis for further text-based discussions to be undertaken by the Committee in its 26th session. The Committee also took into account various proposals and comments on this issue from previous SCCR sessions.

      7. At its Forty-First Session held in 2012, the WIPO General Assembly took note that the Committee reaffirmed its commitment to continue work on a signal based approach, consistent with the 2007 General Assembly mandate, towards developing an international treaty to update the protection of broadcasting and cablecasting organizations in the traditional sense, and encouraged the Committee to continue its work. The WIPO General Assembly also approved the Committee recommendation that the SCCR continue its work toward a text that will enable a decision on whether to convene a diplomatic conference in 2014.

      8. The protection of broadcasting organizations will be maintained on the agenda of the 26th session of the SCCR.

    • 23 September – 2 October 2013, Report of the Forty-third (21st Ordinary) Session, adopted by the Assembly, WO/GA/43/22. With respect to the protection of broadcasting organizations, the Report said,

      • 157. The Chair stated that having heard the delegations’ comments, proposals and statements, the General Assembly was not in a position to adopt a decision on the agenda item. The Chair pointed out that a discussion with the regional coordinators was necessary in order to reflect on the formulation of the decision of the General Assembly. The Chair therefore suggested returning to the agenda item at a later stage.

    • 10 to 12 December 2013, Report of the Forty-Fourth (23rd Extraordinary) Session, WO/GA/44/6 .

      • 96. The Chair indicated that all the interventions would be reflected in the report and stated that since no objections to the adoption of the decision were raised it was adopted as proposed.

      97. The WIPO General Assembly:

      (i) took note of the information contained in document WO/GA/43/13;

      (ii) took note of the statements made by delegations at the 43rd and 44th sessions of the WIPO General Assembly in 2013; and

      (iii) requested the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights to continue its work regarding the issues reported on in that document.

    • 16-20 December 2013, meeting of SCCR 26. This is the first substantive negotiation on the broadcast treaty since 2007. KEI blogs from this negotiation are available here. /node/1906

      • With respect to the protection of broadcasting organizations, the conclusions (SCCR/26/REF/CONCLUSIONS) stated:

      Protection of Broadcasting Organizations

      1. The Committee considered Articles 5, 6, 7 and 9 of the working document SCCR/24/10 Corr., as well as the proposal submitted by the government of Japan on the protection of signals transmitted over computer networks, document SCCR/26/6. In addition, the Committee took note of the working document from the government of India rephrasing some textual proposals of document SCCR/24/10 Corr., as well as the proposal for discussion from the government of the United States of America.

      2. During the discussions held on Article 7, it was understood that broadcasting organizations and cablecasting organizations in the traditional sense will be the beneficiaries (to be defined) of the proposed Treaty, subject to clarification of the
      inclusion of cablecasting organizations in the definition of broadcasting organizations in national laws.

      3. It was understood that broadcasting and cablecasting are included in the scope of application of the proposed Treaty on a signal based approach, subject to clarification of the inclusion of cablecasting organizations in the definition of broadcasting organizations in national laws and of the effect of that inclusion on the scope of application.

      4. On Article 6, discussions took place on the inclusion, in the scope of application, of transmissions over the Internet, with the understanding that such transmissions, if they are to be included, would be limited to those transmissions originating from broadcasting organizations and cablecasting organizations in the traditional sense. If such protection is to be included, further discussions will be held on whether the protection would be mandatory or optional.

      5. Discussions took place on transmission over the Internet of simultaneous and unchanged transmissions of broadcasts, and it was understood that if transmissions over the Internet originating from beneficiaries of the proposed Treaty are included in the scope of application of the proposed Treaty, then at least such simultaneous and unchanged transmissions should be included.

      6. Further discussions will take place in relation to the possible inclusion in the scope of application of transmissions over the Internet, when originating from the beneficiaries of the proposed Treaty, of Internet originated transmissions, on-demand
      transmissions (to be defined), or deferred and unchanged transmissions of broadcasts.

      7. Further discussions will take place in relation to the protection of pre-broadcast signals under the proposed Treaty.

      8. Discussions took place on the protection to be granted to the beneficiaries and delegations exchanged views on various approaches, which will be further examined at the next session of the Committee.

      9. In relation to Article 9, a proposal was made in relation to the prohibition of unauthorized rebroadcasting of signals over the Internet to the extent of rights acquired by beneficiaries.

      10. Discussions took place on the definitions contained in Article 5. Delegations exchanged views and the definitions will be further examined at the next session of the Committee.

      11. The proposals on Articles 5, 6, 7, 9 and 12 discussed during the Session will be included in an Annex to document SCCR/24/10 Corr. and will be discussed further at the next session of the SCCR with the view to integrating them into document SCCR/24/10 Corr. based on a decision by the Committee.

    2014

    • 28 April 2014 – 2 May 2014. SCCR 27. The Committee was not able to reach consensus on the Chair’s conclusions.
    • 30 June 2014 – 4 July 2014. SCCR 28. The Committee was not able to reach consensus on the Chair’s conclusions.
    • September 22 to September 30, 2014, WIPO GA46. The General Assembly could not reach consensus on the future work of the SCCR.

      • Member States were asked to agree to the following,

      The WIPO General Assembly
      (i) took note of the information contained in document WO/GA/46/5; and
      (ii) took note of the statements made by delegations at the 46th session of the WIPO General Assembly in 2014.

      Despite the report’s (WO/GA/46/5) acknowledgement that no agreement was reached on recommendations to the WIPO General Assembly on the protection of broadcasting organizations, the secretariat’s report provides a pathway (in the form of a draft decision) for the 2015 WIPO General Assembly to take a decision on convening a Diplomatic Conference in 2016.

      On the protection of broadcasting organizations, document WO/GA/46/5 stated,

      11. The General Assembly could also provide the SCCR with a decision on a roadmap to work towards a broadcasting treaty. If it were so inclined, for instance, the General Assembly could consider a decision along the following lines:“The WIPO General Assembly requests that the SCCR expedite its work on the ‘Working Document for a Treaty on the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations’ (SCCR/27/2 Rev.),
      while taking into account all documents and submissions made to the SCCR, so that the 2015 General Assembly may take stock of the progress made, and decide on the convening of a diplomatic conference in 2016.”

    • 8 – 12 December 2014. SCCR 29.

      • With respect to the protection of broadcasting organizations, the Summary by the Chair stated,

      AGENDA ITEM 5: PROTECTION OF BROADCASTING ORGANIZATIONS

      5. The documents related to this agenda item are documents SCCR/27/2 REV., SCCR/27/6 and technical non-papers prepared by the Chair on “concepts”, “object of protection” and “rights to be granted ”, which addressed these issues and were submitted at the 27th, 28th and 29th sessions of the SCCR. Discussions were held on the technical non-papers.

      6. The Committee requested the Secretariat to update the information contained in the technical background paper (document SCCR 7/8) and the 2010 study on “Current Market and Technology Trends in the Broadcasting Sector” (document SCCR 19/12), on current technological developments in broadcasting with special reference to the ways new digital technologies are used by traditional broadcasting and cablecasting organizations including in developing and least developed countries with the aim of presenting the results of the study and providing opportunities for technical discussion at the 30th session of the SCCR.

      7. Technical experts, with emphasis on experts from developing and least-developed countries, will be invited for a half-day information session at SCCR/30 to address some of the technical issues considered in the discussions. The Committee agreed that Member States will be encouraged to submit specific questions to be addressed by the technical experts through Regional Coordinators to the Secretariat.

      8. This item will be maintained on the agenda of the thirtieth session of the SCCR.


    2015

    • 29 June 2015 – 3 July 2015, SCCR30

      • On Monday, 29 June 2015, WIPO convened an information session on broadcasting.

      As reported by Manon Ress, the information session was

      “chaired by John Simpson of the BBC, and featured lobbyists or business executives from broadcasters from India, Brazil, the Caribbean and the England based Africa News Networks. The choice of the India and Brazil broadcasters were widely seen as an effort to pressure those two countries to accept the broadcasters demands for broader and wider rights, that are opposed by copyright holders and consumers.” (Source: On day 2 at SCCR 30, Anne Leer tells delegates to make broadcasters happy, extend treaty to Internet, /node/2261).

      For more KEI reportage of the proceedings of SCCR30, please see: https://www.keionline.org/wipo/sccr/sccr30

      With respect to the protection of broadcasting organizations, the Summary by the Chair stated,

      AGENDA ITEM 6: PROTECTION OF BROADCASTING ORGANIZATIONS

      6. The documents related to this agenda item were SCCR/27/6, SCCR/27/2 REV. andSCCR/30/5.

      7. The Committee welcomed the presentation of the Report on Current Market and Technological Trends in the Broadcasting Sector prepared by IHS. It also heard the information session on broadcasting as well as the presentations from and discussions with broadcasting experts invited to address some of the technical issues considered in previous discussions of the Committee.

      8. The Committee pursued discussions on the protection of broadcasting and cablecasting organizations in the traditional sense following a signal-based approach and taking into account documents, informal charts and non-papers discussed at the three previous sessions of the SCCR.

      9. In relation to the scope and object of protection, with the exception of one delegation that needed further time to consider the possibility of providing protection under any platform, the Committee was of the view that effective legal international protection be granted to broadcasting organizations to prohibit the unauthorized use of broadcast signals in the course of a transmission over any technological platform. Issues related to national regulations applying to the broadcasting sector were also raised.

      10. The Committee also further considered definitions related to broadcasting and broadcasting organizations. These definitions should be drafted taking into account similar definitions in existing treaties. Discussion was also opened on the definition of signal.

      11. The Committee requested the Chair to prepare for its next session a consolidated text with respect to definitions, object of protection, and rights to be granted. At that session the Committee will also exchange views on and further clarify other issues in order to reach a common understanding.
      12. There was no agreement on recommendations to the WIPO General Assembly (WIPO/GA/47).

      13. This item will be maintained on the agenda of the thirty-first session of the SCCR.

    • 5 October – 14 October 2015, WIPO GA47.

      • The WIPO report (WO/GA/47/5) to the General Assembly described the state of play of the broadcast treaty negotiations:

      4. It is recalled that the updating of the rights of broadcasting organizations in response to technological developments has been under discussion in all SCCR sessions since 1998, including two special sessions exclusively devoted to that subject in 2007.

      5. At its Forty-First Session held in 2012, the WIPO General Assembly approved the recommendation made by the SCCR that “the Committee continue its work toward a text that will enable a decision on whether to convene a diplomatic conference in 2014”. As earlier agreed, the work should remain consistent with the 2007 General Assembly mandate to develop an international treaty to update the protection of broadcasting and cablecasting organizations in the traditional sense.

      6. At its Forty-Fourth Session, held in 2013, the WIPO General Assembly requested the SCCR to continue its work on the issues covered in its report, which included work toward a text that will enable a decision on whether to convene a diplomatic conference in 2014.

      7. As noted above, in its Forty-Sixth Session, held in 2014, the WIPO General Assembly did not take a decision on the agenda item regarding the SCCR Report.

      8. At its 29th and 30th sessions, the Committee pursued discussions on the basis of technical working non-papers prepared by the Chair addressing issues relating to the categories of platforms and activities to be included under the object and scope of protection to be granted to broadcasting and cablecasting organizations in the traditional sense, and initiated discussions on definitions. Discussions were also based on the “Working Document for a Treaty on the
      Protection of Broadcasting Organizations” (document SCCR/24/10/Corr.), which, as agreed in the Committee’s 24th Session, “constitute[d] the basis of further text-based discussions to be undertaken by the Committee”. It also considered documents SCCR/27/6, SCCR/27/2 Rev. and SCCR/30/5.

      9. At its 30th session, the Committee heard a presentation on the Report on Current Market and Technological Trends in the Broadcasting Sector prepared by IHS Technology (document SCCR 30/5). An Information Session on broadcasting was held, which included presentations and discussions with broadcasting experts invited to address some of the technical issues considered.

      10. As set forth by the Chair in his Summary, “in relation to the scope and object of protection, with the exception of one delegation that needed further time to consider the possibility of providing protection under any platform, the Committee was of the view that effective legal international protection be granted to broadcasting organizations to prohibit the unauthorized use of broadcast signals in the course of a transmission over any technological platform. Issues related to national regulations applying to the broadcasting sector were also raised. The Committee also further considered definitions related to broadcasting and broadcasting organizations.”

      11. The Committee requested the Chair to prepare for its next session a consolidated text with respect to definitions, object of protection, and rights to be granted.

      12. The topic of protection of broadcasting organizations will be maintained on the agenda of the 31st session of the SCCR.

      13. At the conclusion of the 30th session of the SCCR, there was no agreement on recommendations to the WIPO General Assembly.

      With respect to the work of the SCCR,

      The WIPO General Assembly decided to:

      (i) take note of the information contained in document WIPO/GA/47/5; and
      (ii) direct the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) to continue its work regarding the issues reported on in document WIPO/GA/47/5.

    • 7 December – 11 December 2015, SCCR31

      • For KEI’s coverage of SCCR31, please see: https://www.keionline.org/wipo/sccr

      In relation to providing separate definitions for broadcasting and cablecasting, KEI provided the following thoughts:

      From our point of view, it is important and useful to have separate definitions. At some point, you may want to consider whether or not in implementing the treaty a country would have the flexibility of only applying the treaty to over the air broadcasting, partly because for some, including the United States, but other countries as well, there are very different regulatory regimes that exist for over-the-air television and radio than apply to cable systems.

      If you look at the rights of the treaty that are proposed, which are the broadcasting rights, they go to people that schedule the content. In the area of cable systems, that is often not the local company that provides services to consumers. Rather, the beneficiary of the right is often one of the gigantic global companies that owns lots of channels.

      In the GRULAC paper that was presented for this meeting on copyright in a digital environment, the one that will be discussed on Friday, the issue of the concentration of ownership of large international firms that control much of the distribution of digital content has been raised a issue that WIPO should address.

      The Rome convention, supposedly what is being updated here, was designed for free over-the-air services. And just in terms of this treaty, the over-the-air broadcasters have the strongest case, that they are providing a public service that no one pays for. Things like cable services are just businesses, where everyone has to pay to get the service and they are subject to all kinds of special laws to make it so that you don’t get the service if you don’t pay.

      Fee based cable services are quite a bit different than like a radio or television thing that is available to the public free for everyone. I think that the best case for this treaty has been made by the over the air television and radio operators, and I think the people that run the cables to people’s home haven’t even showed up and they haven’t even really asked for this. The only people from the cable industry trying to get this are big Hollywood type industries that own multiple cable channels, and see themselves as the beneficiary in that respect. (Source: KEI intervention on definition of broadcasting, /node/2378)

      India provided the following position on the scope of the proposed broadcasting treaty:

      The above position also makes it clear that India does not support the inclusion of webcasting and simulcasting under the framework of the treaty as it is not part of the WIPO General Assembly mandate of broadcasting in the traditional sense.

      Mr. Chair,

      The proposed treaty should not accord any additional layer of rights to broadcasters at the cost of the content owners, and it should not be a ‘blanket right’ but rather as a ‘right to prohibit’ based on the acquisition of the ‘content rights.’

      India reiterates that there cannot be any post-fixation rights to be allowed under this proposed treaty as the scope of protection covers only signal protection. However, it is flexible to consider about fixation for rebroadcasting and time-shifting purposes.

      This treaty should provide for exceptions to the protection in case of private use; use of short excerpts in connection with the reporting of current events; use solely for education and scientific research; and ephemeral fixation by a broadcasting organization using its facilities and for its own broadcasts. (Source: SCCR 31 Day 1. Statement of India regarding the broadcasting treaty, /node/2377)

      The European Union provided its rationale for supporting the making available right and the protection of on demand transmissions.

      Thank you, Chair. Just to comment on what you have been now referring to on protection for cablecasters we completely agree with you. The way we view the protection here is, of course, not for cable retransmissions not for cable operators that merely retransmit, but those that are cablecasters that would make new — new transmissions. But mostly we would like to go back to the question raised by — to the discussion on on demand transmissions in the object of protection and making available rights, because, again, we just would like no point out that there are two issues. What is — the way we understand the Chair’s note under object of protection, is whoever transmissions of broadcasting or cablecasting organizations, but are made in such ways that members of the public may access them from a place and time individually chosen by them, we treat these transmissions as transmissions that should be protected under this treaty. That’s why it’s here. We understand it’s under the object of protection. We presented our point on this issue yesterday.

      The making available right is, of course, a separate issue from this. It is a question whether when we — when we create the catalogue of rights where we look at what acts we want to protect broadcastings — broadcasting — broadcasting organizations from, we have to see whether we only want to protect broadcasting organizations where those would intercept the signal, retransmitted, show it simultaneously or — or very soon after the interception, so in a near simultaneous manner. Do we also want to protect broadcasting organizations from such situations where — where a pirate entity intercepts the signal, makes a fixation of the signal and then makes a transmission, and we think that there are these two ways of using — of using the signals of broadcasting organizations, and wherever such transmission by a pirate entity is done in a simultaneous manner, or where it is being used to then make on demand transmissions, but in both cases broadcasting organizations should have a possibility to stop such activity. And that is why we have always requested the making available right be included in this — in this treaty. (Source: SCCR 31 Day 3 on Broadcasting. How far does the EU want to go with rights to broadcasting &cablecasting?, /node/2387)

      In relation to the the protection of broadcasting organizations, the Summary by the Chair stated,

      AGENDA ITEM 5: PROTECTION OF BROADCASTING ORGANIZATIONS

      5. The documents related to this agenda item were SCCR/27/2 REV., SCCR/27/6, SCCR/30/5 and SCCR/31/3.

      6. The Committee welcomed and considered document SCCR/31/3 prepared by the Chair, entitled Consolidated Text on Definitions, Object ;/of Protection, and Rights to be Granted.

      7. Some delegations requested further clarification on the document and others suggested textual proposals for the text.

      8. The discussions contributed to progress with a view to reaching a common understanding on the protection of broadcasting organizations.

      9. The Committee decided to continue discussions on this document and on a revised document that will be prepared by the Chair for the next session of the Committee taking into account the proposals and clarifications discussed.

      10. Members of the Committee may submit to the Secretariat, by January 20, 2016, those specific textual proposals that were made during this session for document SCCR/31/3, for consideration by the Chair.

      11. This item will be maintained on the agenda of the thirty-second session of the SCCR.

    2016

    • 9 May 2016 – 13 May 2016, SCCR32.

      • For KEI coverage of SCCR32, please see: https://www.keionline.org/wipo/sccr/sccr32

      In preparation for SCCR32, and as mandated by the Committee. the Chair prepared a document (SCCR/32/3) entitled “Revised Consolidated Text on Definitions, Object of Protection, and Rights to be Granted.”

      With respect to the Committee’s work on the protection of broadcasting organizations, the Summary By the Chair stated,

      5. The documents related to this agenda item were SCCR/27/2 REV., SCCR/27/6, SCCR/30/5, SCCR/31/3 and SCCR/32/3, as well as informal charts and non-papers prepared by the Chair.

      6. The Committee welcomed and considered document SCCR/32/3 prepared by the Chair, entitled Revised Consolidated Text on Definitions, Object of Protection, and Rights to be Granted.

      7. Some delegations requested further clarification on the document and others suggested amendments to the text.

      8. The Committee requested that the Chair consider the textual proposals and clarifications made during the session with respect to definitions and object of protection with a view to integrating them in document SCCR 32/3.

      9. The Committee decided to continue discussions on a revised version of document SCCR32/3 that will be prepared by the Chair for the next meeting of the Committee.

      10. This item will be maintained on the agenda of the thirty-third session of the SCCR.

    • 3 October 2016 – 11 October 2016, WIPO GA48.

      • With respect to the Committee’s work on the protection of broadcasting organizations, the Report (WO/GA/48/17) highlighted the efforts of the Argentine delegation to deliver a concrete outcome on broadcasting.

      73. The Chair invited the new Deputy Director General of the Copyright and Creative Industries Sector, Ms. Sylvie Forbin, to take the floor for brief remarks.

      74. Ms. Forbin thanked the Director General, Mr. Francis Gurry, for his kind words and the confidence he had shown in her. She wished also to thank Member States for the trust they put in her in approving her nomination. She thanked them all for the encouraging words they had given her, including the non governmental organizations (NGOs). She committed to mobilize her experience in both diplomacy and industry for the promotion and implementation of WIPO development and cooperation objectives in the interests of all stakeholders in the cultural sector throughout the world. Copyright has an essential role in bringing a tremendous value to the creation and promotion of culture in the digital environment. She agreed with the Member States who had stated that the Committee had a lot of work to do. She concluded that she would devote a great deal of energy, to the shared objectives and that she has tremendous hope that the Committee would be able to achieve the objectives that Member States had set out.

      75. The Chair stated at this point to make a decision that was outlined in document WO/GA/48/3. Despite the fact that there were a number of proposals expressed during the debate, which the Secretariat took careful note of, no specific formulations had been proposed for the decision and therefore, he proposed taking the decision as follows. The WIPO General Assembly, first, took note on the report of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights, and second, directed the SCCR to continue its work regarding the issues reported on in document WO/GA/48/3. He asked the plenary if they could adopt that decision.

      76. The Delegation of Argentina thought that several delegations had expressed the wish to accelerate the work of the Committee in order to very speedily bring a conclusion to the work on the protection of broadcasters, and although there had not been a concrete draft decision proposal, the Delegation wished to take a little bit more time to look into that matter.

      77. The Chair stated that, as there were many issues going on in parallel, he needed a facilitator to do so. He asked the Delegation of Argentina to seek opinions of the different interested delegations and formulate potential additional elements to the draft decision, and to come back on Friday afternoon for a possible decision.

      78. The Chair stated that he had asked the Delegation of Argentina to conduct informal consultations on Agenda Item 11 on the Report on the SCCR, and he asked the Delegation to brief the meeting on the results.

      79. The Delegation of Argentina reported that one of its Delegates had sent regional coordinators a draft decision text which was based on what the Secretariat had prepared, with the addition of point (iii), which was added in order to make headway with the work of the Committee. The Delegation wanted a very clear roadmap with very clear timelines, and bilateral consultations were carried out with coordinators of regional groups as well as some interested delegations. Some groups gave some positive feedback, while others expressed concerns. In view of that situation, the Delegation was prepared to come back to the decision that the Chair had suggested to them the previous week.

      80. The Chair took note of the wish of the Delegation of Argentina to withdraw the proposal to work further. He stated that it meant that they had a draft decision which was contained in document WO/GA/48/3 and could be adopted at the appropriate time. The Chair thanked the Delegate from Argentina who had undertaken the consultations.

      81. The Chair stated that the meeting could move to decision making for Agenda Item 11, the Report on the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights. The decision in front of them was contained in document WO/GA/48/3. He explained that, after consultations, the Delegation of Argentina withdrew its initial proposed amendment. He thanked delegations for the effort they deployed in search of an improved decision. The Chair asked the General Assembly whether they could adopt the decision as contained in document WO/GA/48/3. He saw no opposition, and declared that it was so decided and that Agenda Item 11 was closed.

      82. The WIPO General Assembly:

      (i) took note of the “Report on the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights” (document WO/GA/48/3); and

      (ii) directed the SCCR to continue its work regarding the issues reported on in document WO/GA/48/3.

    • 14 November 2016 – 18 November 2016, SCCR33.

      • For KEI’s coverage of SCCR33, please see: www.keionline.org/wipo/sccr/sccr33

      KEI’s statement including the following points

      Right to prohibit

      On the topic of whether or not to create a right to prohibit, or a right to authorize works, we prefer the right to prohibit, or the negative right, over the positive right to authorize. A positive right to authorize may be significant when compulsory licenses or exemptions are used, and change remuneration rights, having a negative impact on copyright holders.

      Avoid strong or expanded rights

      In our opinion, every effort to give broadcasters “strong” or “expanded” rights in material they transmit, but do not own, beyond that absolutely related to addressing legitimate anti-piracy concerns, results in weaker and restricted rights for copyright holders, and makes users worse off.

      Boundaries

      If the SCCR is going to extend protections to material originated on the Internet, and downloaded on demand, as has been proposed by several countries this week, it opens the door to a much broader and consequential treaty, have impacts far beyond the putative purpose of protecting traditional broadcasts from signal piracy.

      We have not heard any workable way to expand the treaty to material originated on the Internet and downloaded on demand, that stops this treaty from creating a massive expansion of related rights, that are contrary to the notion that we use copyright to determine the ownership of works.

      Exceptions

      To the extent that delegates go far in creating expansive rights in works for those who transmit works, you will need robust exceptions. This will make it more challenging to conclude the negotiations. (Source: Notes from KEI NGO statement on WIPO broadcast treaty negotiations, November 16, 2016, /node/2682)

      In preparation for SCCR33, the outgoing Chair, Martin Moscoso, prepared the following document (SCCR/33/3) entitled, Revised Consolidated Text on Definitions, Object of Protection, and Rights to be Granted.

      With respect to the protection of broadcasting organizations, the Summary of the Chair stated,

      5. The documents related to this agenda item were SCCR/27/2 REV., SCCR/27/6, SCCR/30/5, SCCR/31/3, SCCR/32/3, SCCR/33/3 and SCCR/33/5 as well as informal charts and non-papers prepared by the Chair.

      6. The Committee welcomed and considered document SCCR/33/3 prepared by the Chair, entitled Revised Consolidated Text on Definitions, Object of Protection, and Rights to be Granted, and took note of document SCCR/33/5 entitled Note on the Draft Treaty to Protect Broadcasting Organizations, presented by the delegations of Argentina, Colombia and Mexico.

      7. The chair introduced to the Committee the topics contained in the informal chart on “Other Issues”, notably beneficiaries, term of protection, limitations and exceptions, technological protection measures and rights management information.

      8. Some delegations requested further clarification and exchanged views regarding document SCCR/33/5.

      9. Discussions based on document SCCR/33/3 were held in informal sessions of the Committee. Textual proposals were made during those sessions with a view to achieve a common understanding on definitions, object of protection and rights to be granted.

      10. The Committee decided to continue discussions on a revised version of document SCCR 33/3 that will be prepared by the Chair for the next meeting of the Committee considering the textual proposals and clarifications made during the session with respect to definitions, object of protection and rights to be granted, as well as the other issues mentioned in the Chair’s chart, with a view to achieving the consensus required for convening a diplomatic conference on the protection of broadcasting organizations.

      11. This item will be maintained on the agenda of the thirty-fourth session of the SCCR.

      2017

    • 1 May 2017 to 5 May 2017, SCCR34

      • For KEI’s coverage of SCCR34, please see: https://www.keionline.org/wipo/sccr/sccr34

      On 1 May 2017, Daren Tang of Singapore was elected Chair of the SCCR.

      On 1 May 2017, KEI provided the following analysis regarding the atmospherics of the broadcast treaty negotiations: https://www.keionline.org/23330

      With respect to the protection of broadcasting organizations, the Summary of the Chair stated,

        6. The documents related to this agenda item were SCCR/27/2 REV., SCCR/27/6, SCCR/30/5, SCCR/31/3, SCCR/32/3, SCCR/33/3, SCCR/33/5 and SCCR/34/3 as well as informal charts and non-papers prepared during previous meetings.

        7. Regarding the protection of broadcasting organizations, the Committee welcomed the new version of the Revised Consolidated Text on Definitions, Object of Protection, Rights to be Granted and Other Issues (Document SCCR/34/3). The Committee discussed Document SCCR/34/3 and made comments and proposals. These were further consolidated as a document of the Chair in Document SCCR/34/4, with the understanding that Document SCCR/34/4 is organized in three separate parts in order to facilitate deliberations, without implying any significance to this arrangement.

        8. This item will be maintained on the agenda of the thirty-fifth session of the SCCR.

    As noted by the Summary By The Chair, document SCCR34/3, the Revised Consolidated Text on Definitions, Object of Protection, Rights to be Granted and other Issues prepared by the Chair (Daren Tang) was “organized in three separate parts in order to facilitate deliberations, without implying any significance to this arrangement.”

    The chair’s consolidated broadcasting text contained three sections: A) REVISED CONSOLIDATED TEXT ON DEFINITIONS, OBJECT OF PROTECTION, RIGHTS TO BE GRANTED AND OTHER ISSUES AS CONTAINED IN DOCUMENT SCCR/34/3, B) PART B – PROPOSALS SUBMITTED DURING INFORMAL SESSIONS AT SCCR/34, and C) PROPOSALS SUBMITTED AFTER INFORMAL SESSIONS AT SCCR/34.

    Part C (“proposals submitted after informal sessions at SCCR/34”) of the the Chair’s text contained the following language originally submitted by Brazil and Chile to the SCCR in November 2005:

      PROPOSAL ON “RELATION TO OTHER CONVENTIONS AND TREATIES”

      (1)Nothing in this Treaty shall derogate from existing obligations that Contracting Parties have to each other under any copyright or related rights international, regional or bilateral treaties.(2)Protection granted under this Treaty shall leave intact and shall in no way affect the protection of copyright or related rights in subject matter carried by broadcast signals. Consequently, no provision of this Treaty shall be interpreted as prejudicing such protection.
      (3)This Treaty shall not have any connection with, nor shall it prejudice any rights and obligations under, any other treaties.

      PROPOSAL ON “GENERAL PRINCIPLES”

      Nothing in this Treaty shall limit the freedom of a Contracting Party to promote access to knowledge and information and national educational and scientific objectives, to curb anti-competitive practices or to take any action it deems necessary to promote the public interest in sectors of vital importance to its socio-economic, scientific and technological development.

      PROPOSAL ON “THE PROTECTION AND PROMOTION OF CULTURAL DIVERSITY”

      Nothing in this Treaty shall limit or constrain the freedom of a Contracting Party to protect and promote cultural diversity. To this effect:(a)In modifying their domestic laws and regulations, Contracting Parties will ensure that any measures adopted pursuant to this Treaty are fully consistent with the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. (b)Contracting Parties also undertake to cooperate so as to ensure that any new exclusive rights conferred by this Treaty are applied in a manner supportive of and that does not run counter to the promotion and protection of cultural diversity.

  • 2 October 2017 to 11 October 2017, WIPO GA49

    • With respect to the Committee’s work on the protection of broadcasting organizations, pages 13 -24 of the General Assembly Report provide a detailed account of the Assembly’s discussions of the WIPO treaty for the protection of broadcasting organizations.

    80. The WIPO General Assembly: (i) took note of the “Report on the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights” (document WO/GA/49/5); and (ii) directed the SCCR to continue its work regarding the issues reported on in document WO/GA/49/5.

  • 13 November 2017 to 17 November 2017, SCCR 35

    • For KEI’s coverage of SCCR35, please see: https://www.keionline.org/wipo/sccr/sccr35

    With respect to the protection of broadcasting organizations, the Summary of the Chair stated,

    AGENDA ITEM 5: PROTECTION OF BROADCASTING ORGANIZATIONS

      5. The documents related to this agenda item were SCCR/27/2 REV., SCCR/27/6, SCCR/30/5, SCCR/31/3, SCCR/32/3, SCCR/33/3, SCCR/33/5, SCCR/34/3 and SCCR/34/4, as well as informal charts and non-papers prepared during previous meetings.

      6. Regarding the protection of broadcasting organizations, the Committee considered the new version of the Revised Consolidated Text on Definitions, Object of Protection, Rights to be Granted and Other Issues (document SCCR/34/4). The Committee discussed document SCCR/34/4 and made comments and proposals on various issues contained in this document.

      7. Following these discussions, the Chair prepared Document SCCR/35/11 to reflect his understanding of the state of discussions. Document SCCR/35/11 is organized in two separate parts in order to facilitate deliberations. Argentina, Brazil and Chile also tabled a joint proposal entitled Limitations and Exceptions: Proposal to Advance Discussions(document SCCR/35/10).

      8. This item will be maintained on the agenda of the thirty-sixth session of the SCCR

    Although the Summary of the Chair describes SCCR/35/11 as the Chair’s Revised Consolidated Text on Definitions, Object of Protection, Rights to be Granted and other Issues, this is a mistake; the correct reference is SCCR/35/12: http://www.wipo.int/edocs/mdocs/copyright/en/sccr_35/sccr_35_12.pdf

    This version of the consolidated text is comprised of two parts and purged the language proposed by Chile and Brazil in 2005 on defense of competition, the protection of cultural diversity and limitations and exceptions.

    At SCCR35, Argentina, Brazil and Chile submitted a paper on Broadcasting Limitations and Exceptions: Proposal to Advance Discussions (SCCR/35/10): http://www.wipo.int/edocs/mdocs/copyright/en/sccr_35/sccr_35_10.pdf

      Limitations and Exceptions – Proposal to advance discussions
      (Argentina, Brazil, Chile)

      (1) Contracting Parties may, in their national legislation, provide for the same kinds of limitations or exceptions with regard to the protection of broadcasting [or cablecasting] organizations as they provide, in their national legislation, in connection with the protection of copyright in literary and artistic works, and the protection of related rights.

      (2) Any Contracting Party may, in its domestic laws and regulations, provide for exceptions to the protection guaranteed by this Treaty as regards:

      (a) private use (subject to clarification on scope);

      (b) use of short excerpts in connection with the reporting of current events;

      (c) ephemeral fixation by a broadcasting organization by means of its own facilities and for its own broadcasts;(d) use solely for the purposes of teaching or scientific research;

      (e) the use to specifically allow access by persons with impaired sight or hearing, learning disabilities, or other special needs;

      (f) the use by libraries, archives or educational institutions, to make publicly accessible broadcast protected by any exclusive rights of the broadcasting organization, for purposes of preservation, education and/or research;
      (3) Contracting Parties shall confine any limitations of or exceptions to rights provided for in this Treaty to certain special cases which do not conflict with a normal exploitation of the programme-carrying signal and do not unreasonably prejudice the legitimate interests of the broadcasting [or cablecasting] organization.

    2018

  • 28 May 2018 to 1 June 2018, SCCR 36

    • For KEI’s coverage of SCCR36, please see: https://www.keionline.org/wipo/sccr/sccr-36

    On 28 May 2018, a group of 16 groups including KEI sent a letter to negotiators expressing deep concerns over the proposed treaty on broadcasting: https://www.keionline.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Joint-NGO-Broadcast-28May2018.pdf

    On 31 May 2018, KEI obtained an advanced, track-changed copy of Chair Daren Tang’s Revised Consolidated Text on Definitions, Object of Protection, Rights to Be Granted and Other Issues; the date of this document is 1 June 2018. As of 10 June 2018, this document (SCCR/36/6) has not been published on the WIPO website. This document can be found on the KEI website: https://www.keionline.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/SCCR36_6revised29.05.18-1825h.pdf

    By 14 June 2018, the Chair’s Revised Consolidated Text on Definitions, Object of Protection, Rights to Be Granted and Other Issues (SCCR/36/6) could be found here: http://www.wipo.int/edocs/mdocs/copyright/en/sccr_36/sccr_36_6.pdf

    KEI’s analysis of the text can be found here: https://www.keionline.org/27998
    Our analysis noted that the “revised Chair’s text (SCCR/36/6) is very responsive to the broadcasters, and mostly hostile to the civil society groups’ positions, on issues such as term and exceptions, and extending the right to materials delivered over the Internet.”

    An earlier version of the Chair’s Summary (posted on KEI’s website at 17h19 on 1 June 2018) provided a strong mandate to push through the convening of a Diplomatic Conference for the adoption of a WIPO Broadcasting Treaty:

    In view of the progress made in recent SCCR sessions, the General Assembly is invited to consider appropriate action towards convening a Diplomatic Conference for the adoption of a treaty on the protection of broadcasting organizations by the end of the 2018/2019 biennium, if feasible, with the exact dates and venues to be decided by a Preparatory Committee. It is understood that the convening of the Diplomatic Conference will be done in accordance with the long standing practice of consensus.

    After pushback from certain delegations including Iran, Indonesia, and the United States of America, the final recommendation from SCCR 36 was adopted:

    An agreement was reached on the following Recommendation to the WIPO General Assembly (WIPO/GA58). In view of the progress made in recent SCCR Sessions, the General Assembly is invited to consider appropriate action towards convening a Diplomatic Conference for the adoption of a Treaty on the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations, subject to reaching consensus on fundamental issues, that is, objectives, specific scope and object of protection.

    In relation to the broadcasting treaty, the Summary by the Chair stated,

    AGENDA ITEM 5: PROTECTION OF BROADCASTING ORGANIZATIONS

      5. The documents related to this agenda item were SCCR/27/2 REV., SCCR/27/6, SCCR/30/5, SCCR/31/3, SCCR/32/3, SCCR/33/3, SCCR/33/5, SCCR/34/3, SCCR/34/4, SCCR/35/10, SCCR/35/12, SCCR/36/5, and SCCR/36/6, as well as informal charts and non-papers prepared during previous meetings.

      6. The Committee considered document SCCR/35/12 prepared by the Chair, entitled Revised Consolidated Text on Definitions, Object of Protection, and Rights to be Granted and Other Issues. In addition, the Committee took note of document SCCR 36/5, entitled Note on the Draft Treaty to Protect Broadcasting Organizations, from the Delegation of Argentina.

      7. Discussions based on document SCCR/35/12 and document SCCR/36/5 were held in informal sessions of the Committee. These discussions were instrumental in helping to clarify various technical issues and delegations’ positions with a view to achieving a common understanding on definitions, object of protection, rights to be granted and other issues. Following these discussions, the Chair prepared document SCCR/36/6 to reflect his understanding of the state of discussions.

      8. An agreement was reached on the following Recommendation to the WIPO General Assembly (WIPO/GA/58): In view of the progress made in recent SCCR sessions, the General Assembly is invited to consider appropriate action towards convening a Diplomatic Conference for the adoption of a treaty on the protection of broadcasting organizations, subject to reaching consensus on fundamental issues, that is, objectives, specific scope and object of protection.

      9. This item will be maintained on the agenda of the thirty-seventh session of the SCCR.

    • 28 September 2018, WIPO General Assembly.

      On Friday, 28 September 2018, the WIPO General Assembly adopted a decision paragraph in relation to a roadmap for the proposed WIPO Broadcasting Treaty. The consensus language was reached during informal consultations on Wednesday, 26 September 2018 facilitated by Daren Tang, the outgoing Chair of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR).

      The General Assembly adopted the decision paragraph by consensus. The text reads:

      Proposed Agenda Item 14 Decision Paragraph

      The WIPO General Assembly:

      1. took note of the “Report on the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights” (document WO/GA/50/3);

      2. directed the SCCR to:

      a. make best efforts to achieve consensus on the remaining outstanding issues related to the proposed treaty on the protection of broadcasting organizations during SCCR/37 and SCCR/38 and

      b. take stock of the progress made at SCCR/38 and if consensus has been reached on outstanding issues, propose a recommendation to the General Assembly to approve a date and venue for a diplomatic conference to adopt the treaty; and

      3. directed the SCCR to continue its work regarding the other issues reported on in document WO/GA/50/3.

  • 26 November 2018 to 30 November 2018, SCCR 37

    • For KEI’s coverage of SCCR37, please see: https://www.keionline.org/wipo/sccr/sccr-37

    On 27 November 2018, KEI convened a side event which presented Civil Society Views on the proposed WIPO Treaty for the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations. Centre for Internet & Society, Electronic Information for Libraries, (eiFL.net) Innovarte, and Knowledge Ecology International appraised the current text for the proposed WIPO Treaty for the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations (Revised Consolidated Text on Definitions, Object of Protection, Rights to be Granted and Other Issues, SCCR/36/6).

    In relation to the broadcasting treaty, the Summary by the Chair stated,

    AGENDA ITEM 4: PROTECTION OF BROADCASTING ORGANIZATIONS

      4.The documents related to this agenda item were SCCR/27/2 REV., SCCR/27/6, SCCR/30/5, SCCR/31/3, SCCR/32/3, SCCR/33/3, SCCR/33/5, SCCR/34/3, SCCR/34/4, SCCR/35/10, SCCR/35/12, SCCR/36/5,SCCR/36/6, SCCR/37/2, SCCR/37/7, and SCCR/37/8 as well as informal charts and non-papers prepared during previous meetings.

      5.The Committee considered document SCCR/36/6 prepared by the Chair, entitled Revised Consolidated Text on Definitions, Object of Protection, and Rightsto be Granted and Other Issues. In addition, the Committee took note of documents SCCR 37/2, entitled Proposal from Argentina, from the Delegation of Argentina and SCCR 37/7, entitled Proposal of the United States of America on the Scope and Implementation of Rights, WIPO Draft Treaty on the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations, from the Delegation of the United States of America.

      6.Discussions based on documents SCCR/36/6, SCCR/37/2and SCCR/37/7 were held in informal sessions of the Committee. These discussions were instrumental in helping to clarify various technical issues and delegations’ positions with a view to achieving a common understanding on definitions, object of protection, rights to be granted and other issues.Following these discussions, the Chair prepared document SCCR/37/8 to reflect his understanding of the state of discussions.Document SCCR/37/8 consolidates all proposals into a single part, removing the separate parts A and B from Document SCCR/36/6.7.This item will be maintained on the agenda of the thirty-eighth session of the SCCR.

    The most current version of the text of the proposed WIPO broadcasting treaty (SCCR/37/8), prepared by SCCR Chair, Daren Tang, can be found here.

    2019

  • 1 April 2019 to 5 April 2019 SCCR 38

    • For KEI’s coverage of SCCR38, please see: https://www.keionline.org/wipo/sccr/sccr-38-2

  • 30 September 2019 to 9 October 2019, WIPO General Assembly

    • In relation to broadcasting, the 2019 WIPO General Assembly adopted the following decision:

    in accordance with the recommendation of the SCCR, invite the SCCR to continue its work towards convening a Diplomatic Conference for the adoption of a treaty on the protection of broadcasting organizations, aiming for the 2020/2021 biennium, subject to Member States reaching consensus in the SCCR on the fundamental issues, including specific scope, object of protection and rights to be granted;

  • 21 October 2019 to 25 October 2019
    SCCR 39

    For KEI’s coverage of SCCR 39, please see: https://www.keionline.org/sccr-39


    • 2022

  • 9 May 2022 to 13 May 2022 SCCR42

      • On 4 March 2022, WIPO published a Revised Draft Text for the WIPO Broadcasting Organizations Treaty (SCCR/42/3). This document was prepared by the SCCR Acting Chair in cooperation with the SCCR Vice-Chair and facilitators.

      The chair’s text notes:

        The text now presented is just a draft text, a next step from the previous document (SCCR/39/7) forward. There is no agreement between the Member States on any elements in its content, and they are open for changes based on the discussions in the Committee. The ambition in the new Chair’s text is that the number of alternative provisions in the text would be kept as limited as possible. Similarly, the ambition is to keep the number of suggested agreed statements in a minimum. This means that there is a maximum effort to draft the text of the articles in a most clear and succinct manner. The instrument of agreed statements would in this way saved for the negotiations in a Diplomatic Conference.

      2023

    • 13 March 2023 to 17 March 2023 SCCR43

        • On 11 January 2023, WIPO published a Second Revised Draft Text for the WIPO Broadcasting Organizations Treaty (SCCR/43/3). This document was prepared by the SCCR Chair in cooperation with the SCCR Vice-Chairs and facilitators.

        The chair’s text states:

          There is no agreement between the Member States on any elements in the content of this draft text, and they are open for changes based on the discussions in the Committee.

          The ambition in the new Chair’s text is that the number of alternative provisions in the text would be kept as limited as possible.

        • 6 November 2023 to 8 November 2023 SCCR44
            • On 24 October 2023, KEI published initial comments on SCCR/44/3 Third Revised Draft Text For The WIPO Broadcasting Organizations Treaty: Articles 2, 3, 5, 8, and 14.

          2024

        • 15 April 2024 to 19 April 2024 SCCR43

          • The Chair’s text states:

          There is no agreement between the Member States on any elements in the content of this draft text, and they are open for changes based on the discussions in the Committee.
          The ambition in the new Chair’s text is that the number of alternative provisions in the text would be kept as limited as possible.

            On 16 April 2024, Kluwer Copyright Blog published the following analysis by Sean Flynn (Washington College of Law), James Love (Knowledge Ecology International), and Jonathan Band (Policybandwidth) entitled, “Whither a Signal-Based Broadcast Treaty?.
            On 19 April 2024, WIPO published the Summary by the Chair.

            In relation to the future of WIPO’s work program on the WIPO Broadcasting Organization’s Treaty, the Summary of the Chair stated:

              11. The Chair noted that some Member States were of the view that the text was ready for a final negotiation at a Diplomatic Conference in 2025, while at the same time other Member States considered that more discussions were needed.

              12. Based on the above, the Chair will draft a new version of the text in order to allow the Committee to discuss the text and further consider during the SCCR/46 whether to recommend, or not, that the General Assembly convene a diplomatic conference.

              13. This item will be maintained on the agenda of the forty-sixth session of the SCCR

            .