The treaty could hit what you can record

The World Intellectual Property Organisation's Broadcast Treaty began several years ago as an initiative to address signal theft. It came out of broadcaster's concerns that the international legal framework did little to protect against the theft or misuse of their television and radio signals.

While the content of most broadcasts is protected by copyright, broadcasters do not always hold that copyright.

Movie studios, television production companies or sports leagues typically retain the copyright in original television programming. Broadcasters pay for the exclusive right to transmit the programs. Private broadcasters use the programs to attract an audience and generate advertising revenues.

Stolen stream

If the programs are stolen - for example, the signals retransmitted by another party without permission, sold as an unauthorized DVD or performed publicly without the requisite license - the copyright owner may assert their rights, but in some countries the broadcasters are left with limited ability to protect their interests.

What started as an attempt to address this relatively narrow issue has since mushroomed into a massive treaty that would grant broadcasters in some countries many new rights.

The impact of the treaty on individuals and creators could be dramatic

Michael Geist

Some countries have begun to raise questions about the adverse consequences of certain provisions.

During the last major round of talks in the spring, the Canadian delegation wondered aloud whether the treaty would create a danger that some broadcasts might never fall into the public domain, effectively creating a perpetual broadcasting right.

Others have pointed out that the exceptions and limitations to the new treaty rights, a hallmark of a balanced policy approach, would be optional for countries that adopt the treaty.

Costly proposal

The impact of the treaty on individuals and creators could be dramatic, potentially making it more difficult to record television shows for viewing at a later time, locking up content that is otherwise in the public domain, and necessitating that film makers obtain twice as many consents for the re-use of broadcast clips.

The potential cost of the new rights is also significant.

For example, Canadian broadcast distributors, including the major telecommunications companies that have begun offering HDTV, fear that the new retransmission right alone could result in more than a half billion dollars in new royalty payments flowing out of Canada to U.S. broadcasters.

The treaty could have an impact on what we watch

When it became apparent in the spring that including webcasters within the treaty would result in a stalemate given many countries reluctance to expand the treaty beyond conventional broadcasting, that issue was moved to a separate track.

Despite that compromise, delegations have sought to bring the internet back into the picture, with the US recently raising the prospect of adding "netcasting," while the European Union has focused on "simulcasting".

With the prospect of a diplomatic conference looming (the final stage in the treaty-making process and a sure sign that agreement may be imminent), a coalition of critics of the proposed treaty, which included Dell, HP, Intel, Sony, AT&T and Verizon as well as library associations, and civil rights groups, went on the offensive last week.

The coalition outlined a series of concerns, most notably arguing that the treaty is a solution in search of a problem.

Secret meeting

The broadcasting industry has thrived in recent years with an explosion of new services and revenue streams. Given this success, the coalition observed that there does not appear to be any compelling need to provide the industry with a basket of additional rights.

In addition to the treaty's substantive shortcomings, the manner in which it has evolved is also cause for concern.

Broadcasters are looking for big hits like The Office

Other countries have been even more secretive. While the USPTO was conducting its meeting, Canadian government officials held a closed conference call with a select group of stakeholders to update them on the current status of the treaty negotiations.

Canada has not conducted any public consultations on the treaty nor issued any public statements articulating a definitive Canadian position.

Broadcasters regularly unveil new television programs, hopeful that a handful will emerge as the next Seinfeld or The Office. Programs that fail to quickly find an audience, face the prospect of cancellation.

In this regard, the broadcast industry clearly understands the need to cut its losses by putting an end to programs that are not working. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for those negotiating the unnecessary and potentially harmful WIPO Broadcast Treaty.



Michael Geist holds the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law.