Transcript SEMINAR ON INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND CREATIVE SMEs IN THE DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT Copyright in the Digital Age Richard Owens Director, Copyright E-Commerce, Technology and Management Divison Geneva May 20,

SEMINAR ON INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
AND CREATIVE SMEs
IN THE DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT
Copyright in the Digital Age
Richard Owens
Director, Copyright E-Commerce, Technology
and Management Divison
Geneva
May 20, 2008
Overview
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Copyright at WIPO
International copyright policy framework
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WIPO Copyright Treaties
Exceptions & limitations to copyright
Broadcast treaty negotiations
WIPO Development Agenda
World Summit on the Information Society
Technology and copyright
Future directions
Introducing WIPO
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United Nations specialized agency
members - 184 Member States
observers - 222 non-governmental organizations, 66
international organizations
over 900 staff members
based in Geneva (offices in Singapore, New York,
Brussels, Tokyo)
WIPO’s main activities
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Normsetting
– treaty-making processes
Providing international IP services to private sector
– registration services for patents, trademarks & designs
– dispute resolution (WIPO Arbitration & Mediation
Center)
Enhancing access to the IP system
– assist developing country members, as well as SMEs to
use IP as a tool for economic, cultural & social
development
– distance learning programs (WIPO Worldwide Academy)
– seminars, conferences, studies and documents
Updating international copyright law
Ongoing Process
- updating copyright law to the digital
environment
- through treaties, and soft-law approaches
- Regular meetings of Standing Committee on
Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR; most
recent meeting, March 10-12, 2008)
International copyright framework
Multilateral treaties:
 Berne Convention (1971)
 Rome Convention (1961)
 TRIPS Agreement (1994)
 WIPO Internet Treaties (1996)
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plus free-trade agreements
WIPO Internet Treaties
• WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT)
• in force March 6, 2002 (65 States party)
• WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT)
• in force May 20, 2002 (63 States party)
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membership mainly developing countries, plus Singapore,
USA, Belgium, Japan
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accessions: Australia, China (2007); Switzerland (2008)
WIPO Internet Treaties …
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ensure that rightsholders control dissemination of protected
material over Internet, including right to make available ‘on
demand’
• right of reproduction (temporary reproduction)
• right of making available
• limitations and exceptions for the digital age
• technological protection measures
• rights management information
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protection of computer programs and databases
distribution and rental rights
enforcement
economic and moral rights for performers
economic rights for producers of phonograms
Free-trade agreements
• More than 300 FTAs worldwide concluded, or under
negotiation
• involve trilaterals, bilaterals and harmonization talks
• most include chapters on intellectual property rights
• Example: US-Singapore Free Trade Agreement
• resulted in Copyright (Amendment) Act 2005, in force in
Singapore on August 15, 2005
• FTA requires:
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legal protection against circumvention of technological protection
measures
notice-and-takedown procedures for illegal online content
certain provisions regarding limitations and exceptions
Balance in the WIPO copyright treaties
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WCT negotiators recognized “the need to maintain a
balance between the rights of authors and the larger public
interest, particularly education, research and access to
information as reflected in the Berne Convention” and
• the need to “provide adequate solutions to the
questions raised by the new economic, social,
cultural and technological developments”
• “the profound impact of the development and
convergence of information and communication
technologies on the creation and use of literary and
artistic works”
Limitations & exceptions to copyright
Current legal status
* 3 step test - Berne Convention, TRIPS Agreement, WCT
and WPPT
• certain special cases
• do not conflict with normal exploitation
• do not prejudice the legitimate interests of rightholders
* Issues: challenge to maintain exceptions (eg fair dealing) in
digital environment with use of DRM/TPMs
- DRM tools used to manage rights when faced with
increasing piracy of music, film, software, and
emergence of P2P networks
- use of contract to override exceptions
- role of private copying exceptions in P2P context
Limitations & exceptions to copyright
Chilean proposal in WIPO SCCR:
Proposal by Chile on the Analysis of Exceptions and
Limitations (SCCR/13/5, 2005)
http://www.wipo.int/meetings/en/details.jsp?meeting_id
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Define minimum exceptions at international level in three
areas:
• Educational uses
• Libraries and archives
• Handicapped persons
Limitations & exceptions to copyright (WIPO)
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Study on Copyright Limitations and Exceptions for the Visually Impaired
(Sullivan, 2007)
http://www.wipo.int/meetings/en/doc_details.jsp?doc_id=75696
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Automated Rights Management Systems and Copyright Limitations and
Exceptions (Garnett, 2006)
http://www.wipo.int/meetings/en/doc_details.jsp?doc_id=59952
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Study on Current Developments in the Field of Digital Rights Management
(Cunard, Hill, Barlas, 2004)
http://www.wipo.int/meetings/en/doc_details.jsp?doc_id=29478
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Study on Limitations and Exceptions to Copyright and Related Rights in the
Digital Environment (Ricketson, 2003)
http://www.wipo.int/meetings/en/doc_details.jsp?doc_id=16805
Broadcast treaty negotiations
– to provide a stable legal framework for the
activities of broadcasting organizations
– focus on “anti-piracy” function
– protection against competitors and against
unfair exploitation, and against free-riding
Current status of broadcast treaty…
– Discussions in 15 consecutive sessions of the Standing
Committee on Copyright & Related Rights (SCCR)
– Two special sessions of the SCCR convened in 2007
– The Second Special Session (June 18-22, 2007); further
discussions were required on various aspect before
moving to a diplomatic conference
– The 2007 WIPO General Assembly decided to keep the
item in the SCCR Agenda
– SCCR-16 (March 10-12, 2008): keep the item on
agenda for SCCR-17 (November 2008)
Issues in broadcast treaty
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Scope of the Treaty
Which forms of transmissions to be protected ?
Which organizations should be protected?
Coverage of simulcasting/webcasting ?
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Rights
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Rights to be granted?
Right of retransmission by third parties over
computer networks
Exclusive (economic) rights or right to prohibit?
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WIPO Development Agenda
Development Agenda process
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commenced WIPO General Assembly 2004 – proposal
submitted by Brazil and Argentina and supported by a
number of other countries
– to mainstream the “development dimension” into all of
WIPO’s substantive and technical assistance activities
and debates
“Friends of Development”
– 14 countries + other developing and least developed
countries
– various agendas (patents, trademarks, copyright, WIPO
governance)
WIPO Development Agenda…
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Recommendations adopted by WIPO General Assembly
(10/07) (4 clusters):
– Technical Assistance and Capacity Building
– Norm-Setting, Flexibilities, Public Policy and Public
Domain
– Technology Transfer, Information and Communication
Technologies and Access to Knowledge
– Assessment, Evaluation and Impact Studies
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Recommendations available at
http://www.wipo.int/ip-development/en/agenda.html
WIPO Development Agenda…
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Copyright issues mainly in Cluster B - NormSetting, Flexibilities, Public Policy and Public
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Principle of neutrality, balance between costs and
benefits to all stakeholders
Flexibility, consideration of different level of
development in international IPR agreements
Preservation and accessibility of the public domain
Access to knowledge and new licensing schemes
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WIPO & Information Society
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World Summit on the Information Society
– Two phases: Geneva 2003, Tunis 2005
– Declaration of Principles, Plan of Action, Agenda for
the Information Society
– Follow up: Internet governance & IP (Athens, 2005;
Rio 2007, Hyderabad 2008)
 WIPO Online Forum on Intellectual Property in the
Information Society
– Report at http://www.wipo.int/ipisforum/en/
Challenges of technology…
New business models for digital content
delivery, licensing
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Distributed technologies & collaborative creativity
Web 2.0, Web 3.0
Evolution of peer-to-peer networks (P2P) - Napster to
BitTorrent
User-generated content - YouTube, MySpace, Second Life
– UGC Principles for managing infringing content
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Online publishing - Google Book Search Project
Choice in licensing (Creative Commons, open source
software, GPL v.3)
Evolving role of technological protection measures and
RMI, particularly identifiers
Licensing & Enforcement
Standards and Interoperability
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Standard setting bodies, consortia (MPEG, ISO..)
Policy/legislation promoting interoperability (France, iTunes;
EU Creative Content Online process)
growing use of identifiers (RMI) to track content (eg
fingerprinting technologies)
– WIPO Seminar on Rights Management Information (Sept. 2007,
http://www.wipo.int/meetings/en/2007/sem_cr_ge/)
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“open standards” - IPR policies of SSOs
• licensing terms (RAND, FRAND, RF)
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role of patents in ICT technology and standards
Licensing & Enforcement
Internet Service Provider (ISP) liability
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‘Internet intermediary’ may include peer-to-peer (P2P) file
sharing services, portals and auction sites, search engines
effect of differing legislative approaches to third-party
liability regimes; implementation of FTA notice-andtakedown procedures
Role of self- and co-regulatory mechanisms
– Notice and takedown procedures
– UGC Principles
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WIPO Paper “Online Intermediaries and Liability for
Copyright Infringement (Waelde, Edwards, 2005)
http://www.wipo.int/meetings/2005/wipo_iis/en
Possible future issues for WIPO
copyright agenda
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Role of Internet intermediaries
Interoperability and standards for DRM and RMI
Further work to improve protection of audiovisual performers
Expanding choice of licensing models, business models and
tools to support them
Enhanced access to public domain material, orphan works
Copyright guidance for museums
Continued work on exceptions and limitations in the digital
environment
Thank you
www.wipo.int
[email protected]