WIPO Copyright Treaty

WIPO Copyright Treaty
Name	WIPO Copyright Treaty
Type	Copyright treaty
Location signed	Geneva
Date signed	1996
Date effective	2002
Condition effective	30 ratifications
Signatories	69
Parties	101
Depositor	Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization

WIPO Copyright Treaty

The WIPO Copyright Treaty is a multilateral international agreement adopted to update Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works standards for the digital age, addressing rights in the context of Internet distribution, digital rights management and online service provider liability. Negotiated under the auspices of the World Intellectual Property Organization during the 1990s, the treaty supplements existing frameworks such as the Berne Convention and aligns with instruments like the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty. It has shaped national statutes including the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and directives such as the EU Copyright Directive.

Background and Negotiation

Negotiations occurred at World Intellectual Property Organization meetings in Geneva and involved delegations from United States, European Union, Japan, Canada, Australia, Brazil, India, China, South Africa and other states, against the backdrop of the rise of the World Wide Web, Mosaic, Netscape Navigator, Microsoft Windows 95 deployment and the expansion of digital audio workstations and compact disc distribution. Key international actors included the WIPO Copyright Committee, representatives from the United Nations, industry coalitions such as the Business Software Alliance, collective management organizations like ASCAP and PRS for Music, and rights holders represented by entities including the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers and the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. Negotiation flashpoints mirrored disputes evident in cases like Basic Books, Inc. v. Kinko's Graphics Corp. and debates surrounding Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc..

Main Provisions

The treaty establishes obligations on contracting parties to grant economic rights and certain moral rights to authors of literary works, musical works, cinematographic works and other categories protected under the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works. It requires protection of rights in relation to the making available to the public via interactive networks and the authorization of digital reproduction, paralleling statutory language in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and the InfoSoc Directive. The treaty contains provisions on technological protection measures and rights management information that echo provisions in legislation such as the US Copyright Act of 1976 amendments and the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement debates. It addresses liability limitations for online intermediaries similar to doctrines in Sony Corp. v. Universal City Studios and offers standards that influenced case law in jurisdictions including the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, the European Court of Justice and the High Court of Australia.

Implementation and Significance

States implemented treaty obligations through national legislation including the Digital Millennium Copyright Act in the United States, the Copyright Amendment Act 2000 in Australia, revisions to the Indian Copyright Act and amendments to the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 in the United Kingdom. The treaty influenced policy debates in forums such as the World Trade Organization, the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law, and regional bodies like the European Parliament and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. It also affected practices at institutions such as the Library of Congress, British Library, Bibliothèque nationale de France and archives engaged in digitization projects exemplified by initiatives like Project Gutenberg and Google Books.

Ratification and Parties

The treaty was adopted in 1996 and entered into force once the required number of ratifications was met. Among early parties were United States, Australia, Japan and members of the European Union, with later accession by states including Brazil, South Africa, China and many Latin America and Asia states. Ratification patterns reflected domestic debates in legislatures such as the United States Senate, the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the Diet (Japan), and the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha in India. The Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization serves as depositary for instruments of ratification.

Impact on Digital Rights and Technology

The treaty catalyzed legislative and technological responses: adoption of technological protection measures in consumer devices, deployment of digital rights management systems by companies like Microsoft, Apple Inc., Sony Corporation and IBM, and legal frameworks for intermediary liability that shaped platforms such as YouTube, Napster, eBay, Facebook and Amazon (company). It influenced litigation trends in cases involving peer-to-peer file sharing exemplified by A&M Records, Inc. v. Napster, Inc. and Arista Records LLC v. Lime Group LLC and policy choices around open source distribution and licensing by projects like GNU Project, Linux Kernel, Apache HTTP Server and Mozilla Firefox. The treaty's emphasis on rights management information affected metadata practices in repositories like Creative Commons-licensed archives and standards bodies such as the Internet Engineering Task Force.

Criticism and Controversies

Critics included civil society groups such as Electronic Frontier Foundation, academics at institutions like Harvard University and Stanford University, and public-interest coalitions concerned about implications for access to knowledge in contexts like Wikipedia, Project Gutenberg and university repositories at University of Oxford. Objections centered on perceived imbalances favoring rights holders represented by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry and the Motion Picture Association over users' rights promoted by organizations such as Doctors Without Borders and Public Knowledge. Debates mirrored controversies surrounding the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement and proposals like the Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect IP Act, and raised constitutional and human rights issues adjudicated in forums including the European Court of Human Rights and national supreme courts such as the Supreme Court of the United States.

Category:Intellectual property treaties