WIPO General Assembly votes to reconvene Diplomatic Conference Treaty on Audiovisual Performances

The General Assembly of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) has agreed in its 20th Ordinary session held on 26 September 2011 (pdf file 54kb), to reconvene in 2012 the diplomatic conference to agree an international treaty on the protection of audiovisual performances. Further information is available from the WIPO press release .

In 2000 WIPO summoned a diplomatic conference to discuss proposals for an international treaty on the protection of audiovisual performances. The conference reached provisional agreement on 19 articles of a potential treaty, but no agreement was found on the issue of the transfer of rights (Article 12). The diplomatic conference has been suspended ever since.

In September 2009 WIPO's Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) issued a document , explaining the background and setting out the 19 articles provisionally agreed.

At the meeting of SCCR in June 2011 provisional agreement was reached on the remaining article. On this basis the WIPO General Assembly in September has agreed to reconvene the diplomatic conference, with a view to agreeing the treaty as (a) the 19 Articles previously provisionally agreed, (b) the new Article 12 agreed to by consensus at the June meeting, and (c) three additional Agreed Statements to address specific concerns raised by Member States. The texts are available from the WIPO website (pdf file 54kb). The new Article 12 is drafted to permit member states to preserve their existing arrangements regarding the transfer of rights.

The UK has long supported the nineteen provisionally agreed articles, and has considered the revised text for Article 12 on “transfer of rights”. UK believes it to be a good compromise which protects the current arrangements in the United Kingdom.

The Intellectual Property Office held an informal consultation last August for stakeholders to express their views on the new proposed article 12, and all responses received were positive, supporting the reconvening of the diplomatic conference in 2012.