WIPO Welcomes EU Ratification of the WIPO “Internet Treaties”
Geneva, December 14, 2009
PR/2009/626
The Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO),
Mr. Francis Gurry, welcomed on December 14, 2009 the ratification by the
European Union (EU) of the so-called “Internet Treaties” - the WIPO Copyright
Treaty (WCT) and the WIPO
Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT)
- which establish the basic standards of protection for copyright and related
rights in the digital environment.
Noting that the EU plays a leading role in promoting use of the Internet and
in developing on-line content, Mr. Gurry said its ratification of the treaties
will positively influence the development of creativity within the digital
environment in Europe and beyond.
In 2001, the EU adopted a European Copyright Directive which incorporates
most of the provisions of the “WIPO Internet Treaties” concluded in 1996. All 27
EU member states have now implemented the European Copyright Directive. In
2000, the European Union and its member states took the formal decision to
ratify the WIPO “Internet Treaties” together. Indeed, these two treaties also
mark the first time that the EU is accorded full contracting party status in the
field of copyright and related rights.
An
EU statement said “By ratifying these Treaties, the European Union and its
member states hope to breathe new vigor into the current treaty-making work of
WIPO and encourage renewed commitment to moving forward on a high level of
protection for creators and creative industries.” Indeed the WIPO “Internet
Treaties” update the legal principles underpinning international copyright
protection and the rights of performers and phonogram producers on the
Internet and other digital networks.
The “Internet Treaties” laid the ground for a balanced system of protection
in the new technological environment in areas such as the interactive
transmission of copyright content, limitations to copyright and the promotion of
technologies that facilitate the distribution and use of creative content.
The WIPO "Internet Treaties” were adopted in December 1996 and entered into
force in 2002. With these new ratifications, membership of the “Internet
Treaties” will reach
88 for
WCT
and
76 for
WPPT. |
