fyi, re some recent etree discussion ... the WIPO press release is at
http://www.wipo.org/pressroom/en/releases/2002/p302.htm
GENEVA (AP) -- A treaty that brings world copyright law into the
digital age by protecting musicians on the Internet will take effect May
20, the United Nations said Thursday.
Kamal Idris, director-general of the U.N.'s World Intellectual Property
Organization, said the treaty would "offer more comprehensive protection
for creators and creative enterprises in the digital environment."
The treaty is the first global accord to protect specifically the
rights of recording artists and producers.
It is one of two agreements negotiated by 160 nations six years ago to
protect against piracy on the Internet. Having received the necessary
ratification from 30 countries, it will to come into force in three months,
a WIPO spokeswoman said.
The second treaty, which mirrors the other and protects authors on the
Internet, crossed the 30-country threshold in December and comes into force
March 6.
Both accords will "help to boost the future development of the
Internet, electronic commerce and the culture and information industries
because content producers and creators will be more confident that their
interests are better guarded," said Idris.
Negotiators said the treaties were essential in an age in which digital
copies of music can be made almost instantaneously anywhere by computer.
IFPI, a London-based organization representing the global recording
industry, welcomed the announcement. The treaty "provides essential tools
for the record industry to do business in the online world" because it
"strengthens our industry's protection from piracy on the Internet," said
Jay Berman, chairman of IFPI.
The United States is among the countries that have ratified both
copyright treaties but the 15 European Union members are still on the
outside because they have a provision that all must ratify together,
officials said. The 30th country ratifying the music copyright treaty was
Honduras.
Idris said that the treaties must become widely incorporated into
national law by countries in all regions of the world if they are to be
effective.
"This will create the conditions necessary for the broad-based and
legitimate distribution of creative works and recordings on the Internet,"
he said.
Copyright gives authors the ability to control the exploitation of
their literary works. The so-called law of "related rights" provides
similar protection for performers, producers and broadcasters.
The treaties forge links among different national laws, ensuring that
creators are also protected in countries other than their own, WIPO
officials said.
The treaties require ratifying countries to grant minimum rights to
authors from other countries as well as their own.
The treaty on sound recordings supplements the major "related rights"
treaty, the Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of
Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations, which was adopted in 1961.
The other treaty protects "literary and artistic works," which includes
books, computer programs, music, art and movies. It updates the Bern
Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, the major
international copyright treaty in the world today, which was originally
adopted in 1886, and most recently revised in 1971.
The accords are to enable payment for the ways in which creations are
used and enjoyed by others. They ensure that rightholders can use
technology like encryption to protect their rights and to license their
works online.
Countries are obliged to provide effective enforcement measures.
By distinguishing between temporary and permanent computer copies, the
treaties balanced the interests of creators against those of consumers, who
will still be able to look at a copyright work without having to pay.
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