Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property

New PIJIP Working Paper by James Love: The Trouble With the WIPO Broadcasting Treaty

March 31, 2023

PIJIP has published a new paper in the PIJIP/TLS Research Paper series, authored by James Love, Director of Knowledge Ecology International (KEI). The Trouble With the WIPO Broadcast Treaty was authored in advance of the World Intellectual Property Organization's 43rd meeting of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights, which is debating a treaty that would create new rights for broadcasters.

Love presented the paper at a technical briefing co-hosted by PIJIP, KEI and the Access to Knowledge Coalition on March 6, a video of his presentation is embedded below.

The full paper is available here.

Abstract

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is a specialized UN body that provides forums to discuss intellectual property policies and practices, provides technical assistance to its member states and engages in norm setting. Since 1997, WIPO has engaged in a series of activities to evaluate proposals advocated by some companies that are engaged in broadcasting. There is yet another effort to bring this proposal to a diplomatic conference. This article (i) provides background on the negotiations  including the evolving rationales for broadcast right; (ii) describes the differences between the thin temporary signal protection model and the far more problematic vision of a layer of durable post-fixation rights; (iii) highlights the failure of WIPO to undertake and evaluate any economic analysis of the impact of a treaty on the distribution of income between countries and between qualifying broadcasting organizations and authors, performers and audiences, and (iv) identifies the most troubling features of the current proposal.