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Statement by Consumers International to the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights

May 3, 2006

Consumers International (CI) is a federation of consumer organizations dedicated to the protection and promotion of consumer's rights worldwide through empowering national consumer groups and campaigning at the international level. It currently represents over 230 organizations in 113 countries.

The CI Statement relates to the Draft Basic Proposal for the WIPO Treaty on the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations and the Working Paper for the Preparation of the Basic Proposal for a Treaty on the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations.

The Statement is based on a recent CI study on 'Copyright and Access to Knowledge', supported by the Open Society Institute Development Foundation (OSI) and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC).

The CI study reveals that:

1. The international instruments - the Berne Convention, the TRIPS Agreement and the WIPO Copyright Treaty - have progressively ratcheted upwards the scope of the works protected by copyright, the rights accorded to copyright owners and the duration of protection for copyright owners;
2. The developing countries in the survey have not taken advantage of all the limitations and exceptions available to them in the international treaties they signed. In fact, they provide copyright owners far more rights than they need to under the treaties they signed;
3. The WIPO draft laws on copyright do not provide for all the limitations and exceptions available in the international treaties and are more restrictive of public access to knowledge. 

With respect to broadcasting specifically, CI's study found that none of the copyright laws of the countries studied in Asia have incorporated the exception for the broadcasting of copyrighted works for educational purposes.

In this context, CI objects to the wording of Article 12 (1) of the Draft Basic Proposal, which reads as follows:

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

CI calls on the Standing Committee to ensure that the wording of Article 12 (1) of the Draft Basic Proposal deletes any reference to national legislation and instead makes reference to limitations and exceptions permitted under the Berne Convention, TRIPS Agreement and the WIPO Copyright Treaty.

In addition, CI objects to Article 13 of the Draft Basic Proposal, which reads as follows:

"The term of protection to be granted to broadcasting organizations under this Treaty shall last, at least, until the end of a period of 50 years computed from the end of the year in which the broadcast took place."   (emphasis added)

CI prefers the alternative period of 20 years as proposed in the Working Paper for the Preparation of the Basic Proposal for a Treaty on the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations. This shorter duration is more appropriate considering that a longer term is likely to impede access to knowledge in developing countries especially where national legislation may not even take advantage of the permitted limitations and exceptions.

CI calls on the Standing Committee to ensure that all discussions to the Draft Basic Proposal are premised on the common understanding that there should be maximum access to knowledge and at the very least, the permitted limitations and exceptions under the Berne Convention, TRIPS Agreement and the WIPO Copyright Treaty should be incorporated. 

CI opposes proposals to create a new intellectual property right for webcasting.  WIPO has not provided any analysis of the impact of such a right on consumers, webcasters or copyright owners. The creation of a new layer of intellectual property rights for organizations that merely transmit information on the internet will create many new obstacles for access to knowledge, including the increased costs of obtaining works.