Digital Rights + Internet Governance + Innovation Policy

IP Justice Statement to WIPO General Assembly July 2022

IP Justice submitted the following statement to the 63rd WIPO General Assembly, which was held 14-22 July 2022 in Geneva, Switzerland:  IP Justice Statement Issues Raised: Proposed Broadcast Treaty Domain Name & Country Names Issue Intellectual Property Waiver for COVID-19 Vaccines and Medicines IP Justice's Statement at the WIPO 63/GA was drafted by Solveig Legoupil.

IP Justice Statement at WIPO General Assemblies 2021

I am representing IP Justice, an international advocacy organization on internet regulation and digital governance.  I urge the delegates to reject the WIPO Broadcast Treaty and adopt Limitations and Exceptions provisions. Imagine when big broadcasting companies own the learning materials in school, and that broadcaster will own the contents created by artists. The Broadcast Treaty [...]

IP Justice WIPO Broadcasting Treaty Policy Brief 

Summary  The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Broadcast Treaty had a long journey of two decades of negotiation on the WIPO table. U.S. delegates proposed a most recent draft at the Standing Committee of Copyright (SCCR 38) in 2019, and the last SCCR 41 Agenda asks for comments on possible next steps for the Broadcast [...]

Joint NGO Statement at the 2nd Special Session of WIPO’s SCCR

We call upon WIPO delegates to reject the proposed WIPO Broadcast Treaty. After more than 9 years of discussions, efforts to find a treaty formulation that deals with piracy of broadcast signals, but which does not harm copyright owners and the legitimate users of broadcasts have failed.

Joint Statement from NGOs and Tech Industry to US Delegation at WIPO on Broadcast Treaty

Statement Concerning WIPO Broadcast Treaty Provided by Information Technology, Consumer Electronics and Telecommunications Industries Representatives, Public Interest Organizations, and Creative Community Representatives: The undersigned represent a broad and diverse group, united in common concern that the WIPO Treaty on the Protection of Broadcasts and Broadcasting Organizations could harm important economic and public policy interests. Members of this group submitted a statement in connection with a forum held at the USPTO on September 5, 2006, and the issues identified in that earlier statement largely remain relevant. This Statement dated May 9, 2007 offers preliminary comments regarding the Chair’s “Non-paper on the WIPO Treaty on the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations” issued by WIPO on May 1, 2007. .....

Tech-Industry & NGO Joint Statement on WIPO Broadcast Treaty

The undersigned organisations represent a broad set of constituencies with a direct interest in the discussions underway regarding an international instrument relating to broadcasting. Whilst we remain unconvinced that a treaty is necessary at all – and note that no convincing evidence has been presented that new international norms are required in this area – we do believe that a focussed, signal-protection-based Instrument to prevent piracy could be valuable. ...

Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) Letter to US Govt. on WIPO Broadcast Treaty

The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) appreciates the efforts of the U.S. Delegation to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to advance a signal-theft-based approach in the negotiations on the WIPO Treaty on the Protection of Broadcasts and Broadcasting Organizations, and urges you to continue to work to ensure that any WIPO broadcasting treaty does not impede the ability of the world’s consumers to benefit from developments in home and personal network technologies. ....

IP Justice and Others Sign Letter to US Govt. to Request Public Meeting on WIPO Broadcast Treaty

The undersigned public interest organizations wish to request a public and recordable meeting with the US delegation to WIPO before the Special Session of the World Intellectual Property Organization's Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR), First Session January 17, 2007 to January 19, 2007 (Geneva, Switzerland). The undersigned respectfully request that the USPTO or/and the Library of Congress (LOC) invite formal public comments on the proposal to create a new International Treaty obligation establishing a novel intellectual property regime for broadcasting and cablecasting organizations, through the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). We believe it is important to have public comments on the impact on U.S. law and affected constituencies if the U.S. or any other country were to ratify a new WIPO Treaty embodying that proposal.

IP Justice’s Top 10 Reasons to Reject the WIPO Broadcast Treaty

1. Eliminates the public domain. 2. Creates obligations that drastically exceed international standards. 3. Chills freedom of expression similarly to U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). 4. Threatens to regulate Internet transmissions of media. Read more .....

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