Pauline Wong is the Assistant Director of IP Osgoode.

The Chairs of the WIPO copyright consultation meetings held in April recently issued reports on two copyright treaties that are currently being negotiated: the draft Treaty on the Protection of Audiovisual Performances and the draft Treaty on the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations.

Protection of Audiovisual Performances

Informal open-ended consultations were held on the draft text of a WIPO treaty on the protection of audiovisual performances in Geneva on April 13 and 14, 2011.

At issue were Article 12 on transfer of rights and the broader scope of the proposal from the Delegation of Brazil.  Urgency was expressed in concluding the negotiations. To that end, a recommendation was made to prepare a document for the 2011 General Assembly upon the convening of a Diplomatic Conference.  See the report of the Chair of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR-22), dated May 9, 2011.

The next session of the Committee will take place from June 15 to 24, 2011.

Protection of Broadcasting Organizations

Informal consultations, involving technical experts, were held on a draft WIPO treaty on the protection of broadcasting organizations in Geneva on April 14 and 15, 2011.

The delegations of Canada, Japan and South Africa presented new proposals.  Based on the presentations and subsequent exchanges of views, the Chair will prepare a non-paper for the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR-22) setting out possible elements for a draft treaty. She will take into account previous documents and aim for a technology-neutral approach.  See the report of the Chair of the Committee, dated May 9, 2011.

The non-paper will be made available in advance of the next session of the Committee, which will take place from June 15 to 24, 2011.

[Note: This post was revised to clarify that the reports were issued by the Chairs of the copyright consultation meetings in April rather than by the Chair of the Committee.]