[drn-discuss] European Community: Specification of WIPO Treaties

Fri Oct 14 03:30:31 CDT 2005

>From yesterday's Lords Hansard:

European Community: Specification of WIPO Treaties

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Trade and
Industry (Lord Sainsbury of Turville): Two World Intellectual Property
Organisation (WIPO) treaties in the fields of copyright and performances
are to be specified as European Community treaties in a statutory
instrument being laid before Parliament. The WIPO Performances and
Phonograms Treaty (WPPT) and the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) are key
international agreements dealing with rights for the creative
industries. The specification of these treaties will require positive
resolutions in both Houses and will pave the way in due course for
European Community ratification of these important international
agreements and help secure rights for United Kingdom creators overseas.

Most of the requirements of these treaties were already in place in
United Kingdom law. Most of the remaining requirements were introduced
with the implementation in the United Kingdom of Directive 2001/29/EC of
the European Parliament and of the Council on the harmonisation of
certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the information
society. This directive was implemented by the Copyright and Related
Rights Regulations 2003 (SI 2003 No. 2498). The specification of the two
WIPO treaties would allow the introduction of the only remaining
requirement of these treaties, moral rights for performers, by means of
a further statutory instrument, which would be subject to negative
resolution procedure. A draft of such a further statutory instrument
accompanies the explanatory memorandum for the current statutory
instrument. A public consultation exercise seeking views on how
obligations on performers' moral rights should be implemented was
conducted in 2005. Summary copies of the responses to the consultation
exercise have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/ld199697/ldhansrd/pdvn/lds05/text/51013-23.htm#51013-23_head2