Union for the Public Domain - Broadcasting

Letter to US Congress on WIPO Broadcast Treaty

Wed, 23 Nov 2005 15:28:16 -0500

13 October 2005

Dear Senators Bill Frist, Harry Reid, Arlen Specter, Patrick J. Leahy, and Representatives Dennis Hastert, Nancy Pelosi, James Sensenbrenner, Jr., and John Conyers, Jr.

RE: Request for Public consultations regarding Webcasting treaty proposal at WIPO

We are writing to ask that Congress insist that the United States negotiators block a diplomatic conference at WIPO that would create a new Intellectual Property Right for Broadcasting and Webcasting Organizations until a federal register notice requests public comment on the costs and benefits of the proposal.

The treaty proposal is complex and will have far-reaching consequences. But few US firms or members of the public are even aware of the proposal. Moreover, the U.S. government agencies responsible for WIPO negotiations on the treaty have not yet adequately analyzed even the most basic issues, including, for example, the impact of the treaty on the Internet, or the required changes in U.S. law.

UPD Supports "Eyes on the Prize" Screenings

Thu, 03 Feb 2005 03:10:00 -0500

The Union for the Public Domain board has passed a resolution in support of Downhill Battle's campaign to organize screenings of the U.S. civil rights documentary, "Eyes on the Prize":

UPD BOARD RESOLUTION

Whereas, the award-winning US documentary film series "Eyes on the Prize" on the US civil rights movement -- called "the principal film account of the most important American social movement of the 20th century" by one expert -- has not been available for public viewing for the past 10 years;

Whereas, copyright laws and related licensing restrictions have been the
chief barrier to this lack of access,

Whereas, "Eyes on the Prize" will be screened over the Internet and in
public showings across the US as part of Black History Month (February),
despite the objections of various corporations and others that hold copyrights on songs and historic footage that appear in the documentary; the documentary maker is deceased.

We, the board of the Union for the Public Domain,

(1) endorse the work of the group "Downhill Battle" in organizing these screenings and making this important documentary available to the public, and

(2) call upon national governments to implement specific limitations to copyright that permit such works to be shown, when the social, cultural, educational or developmental benefit of a use outweigh the costs imposed by it on private parties.

For more info contact updinfo at public-domain dot org

See Downhill Battle for more background,

U.S. corporates trying to disable your record button

Thu, 25 Nov 2004 11:28:00 -0500

From Eric Hellweg at Technology Review:

Is 'Fair Use' in Peril?

...

Do you like fast-forwarding through commercials on a television
program you've recorded? How much do you like it? Enough to go to
jail if you're caught doing it? If a new copyright and
intellectual property omnibus bill sitting on Congress's desk
passes, that may be the choice you'll face.

[more after the break]

Three Days of Defending the Public Domain at WIPO

Fri, 19 Nov 2004 13:12:00 -0500

It was an amazing three days at the World Intellectual Property Organisation, with a strong push at the very end for transparent procedure at WIPO. The main outcomes were:

Chile successfully added an agenda item to the next meeting of the committee, to address the rights of users to access and use knowledge.

There was very little support for giving webcasters the broad new powers that the broadcasters are gunning for.

There was little agreement on including technological protection measures.

There was a good deal of dramatic debate over WIPO's procedures, their transparency, and how much they reflected a process driven by member states.

Broadcasters Try to Steal More of the Public Domain, This Week at WIPO

Fri, 19 Nov 2004 18:20:00 -0500

UPDATE: Notes on the proceedings from all three days are now posted at http://www.public-domain.org/?q=node/view/66

Many of you will remember the broadcasting industry's efforts to push a power-grabbing treaty through the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). If the broadcasters have their way, the treaty will:

Give broadcasters copyright privileges over material they did not create, but merely broadcast, including control over public domain material. They would get these powers for up to 50 years.
Make it illegal to circumvent technology locks that enforce broadcasters' control over what users can do with broadcasts.

And if a small group of webcasters gets their way, they'll get these powers too.

In the last session the pro-treaty forces were pushing to move to the final stages of negotiation, while the developing countries in opposition were trying to slow down the process to get rid of the most odious positions.

The round of negotiations this week is more of the same, except that now there are even more civil society NGOs in attendance and WIPO recently welcomed a "Development Agenda" that explicitly acknowledges the need for these treaties to promote access to the public domain, not inhibit it. On the other side, the webcasters are making an extra hard push, and there still isn't a great deal of transparency and media coverage to keep the dogs at bay.

Stay tuned. Union for the Public Domain has two people here to make the arguments for the public domain, and we'll be posting daily updates to the UPD site (http://public-domain.org), including detailed notes on everything that happens in the assembly hall. In the meantime, don't hesitate to contact your country's copyright office to urge them to take a stand against this treaty.

(For more details on the treaty, see: http://www.public-domain.org/node/view/47)

UPD Intervention at SCCR 12

Fri, 19 Nov 2004 12:52:00 -0500

Delivered by Shyamkrishna Balganesh on November 19, 2004.

[A slightly abbreviated version of this intervention was delivered
in the interest of time.]

The Union for the Public Domain is an international membership
organization that works for the promotion and enhancement of the public
domain in matters concerning patents, copyrights and other forms of
government imposed ownership of knowledge and technology. This is our
second time participating in the work of the Standing Committee and
Copyright and Related rights, and we would like to thank the member
states and secretariat for this opportunity.

Joint NGO Statement on Trashing of Informational Documents at WIPO

Fri, 19 Nov 2004 12:49:00 -0500

18 November 2004

Mrs. Rita Hayes, WIPO Deputy-Director General

Dear Mrs. Hayes:

We welcome WIPO's recent efforts at greater transparency and support for civil society participation at these important meetings. It is therefore with regret that we have to inform you of difficulties we have experienced during this 12th Session of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights. We write to you to request your assistance to avoid a repetition of these unfortunate events.

Both yesterday and again today, written statements provided by IP Justice and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which were placed on the table designated for floor papers, were stolen within minutes of being deposited on the table. Additionally yesterday documents provided by the Union for the Public Domain were also missing shortly after being placed on the table.

This morning, many of these documents were recovered from the trash can in the first floor men's restroom. Another set of IP Justice statements as well as copies of the alternative NGO Proposal for a Broadcasting Treaty were recovered from behind a desk on the ground floor. These documents provided by IP Justice, EFF, and the Union for the Public Domain were critical of the Broadcasting Treaty. The papers drafted by the broadcasting industry, urging the treaty's adoption, however, remain undisturbed on the table for floor papers.

Delegates' receipt of written statements provided by civil society are doubly crucial because of the limited time that has been allocated for interventions for civil society during this meeting. The briefing papers' disappearance causes us particular difficulty given WIPO's new procedure to no longer photo-copy NGO floor papers for the delegates. In order for us to get replacements, we would have to get on a bus and travel back into town to make more copies for the delegates, who have invited us to submit advice on these issues.

Currently, we have placed a representative from civil society near the table for floor papers to "guard" these written statements. But clearly this in not an acceptable situation for NGOs or WIPO. We request that you take adequate and effective measures to protect the materials placed on the floor paper table, regardless of the views expressed in those statements. Thank you for your attention to these matters.

Very truly,

Robin Gross

Broadcasters Locking Up the Public Domain, Day 3

Fri, 19 Nov 2004 12:24:00 -0500

12th Session of the SCCR, Geneva

Election of Chair and Vice Chair

Chair: Jukka Leides

17 November, 2004

Notes by:

Thiru Balasubramaniam, thiru@cptech.org, Consumer Project on Technology
[TB]

David Tannenbaum, davidt@public-domain.org, Union for the Public Domain
[DT]

Cory Doctorow, cory@eff.org, Electronic Frontier Foundation [CD]

Jamie King, jamie@jamie.com [JK]

Volker Grassmuck, vgrass@rz.hu-berlin.de [VG]

--

Copyright-Only Dedication (based on United States law)

The person or persons who have associated their work with this document
(the "Dedicator") hereby dedicate the entire copyright in the work of

Links to information on the draft WIPO Treaty on the Protection of Broadcasting Organisations

Thu, 18 Nov 2004 15:30:00 -0500

Recent coverage

WIPO Secretariat ramps up the Pressure for a new Treaty on Broadcasting Organisations, IP-Watch, 4 November 2004
Talks on broadcasting move ahead despite differences, TechDaily, 14 June 2004
Proposal would extend broadcasters' rights, Associated Press, 10 June 2004
Talks on broadcast rights may lead to new pact, Financial Times, 11 June 2004
WIPO Press Release, 10 June 2004
Look Inside A PC-killing WIPO treaty, Slashdot, 9 June 2004
WIPO Broadcast Treaty Creates New Legal Rights for Broadcasters, Slashdot, 8 June 2004
News Broadcasting rights: proposed treaty under fire, outlaw.com, 9 June 2004

Concise Analysis

John Naughton, The Observer, 13 June 2004 (plus footnotes)
Ernest Miller, Corante
Edward Felten, Freedom to Tinker
UPD resolution
IP Justice's Top 10 Reasons to Reject the Consolidated Text
James Love's note
EFF's WIPO Resources

Detailed Analysis

Oxford report on the treaty by the UPD delegation to WIPO
IP Justice report
CPTech's compilation of documents on the treaty.

Treaty text

Draft prepared for SCCR 11

Broadcasters Locking Up the Public Domain, Day 1, 2 and 3

Thu, 18 Nov 2004 04:15:00 -0500

Click here for more info on the treaty and this meeting of the copyright committee at WIPO.

Day 1 Notes

Day 2 Notes

Day 3 Notes

 12th Session of the SCCR, Geneva


Election of Chair and Vice Chair

Chair: Jukka Leides

17 November, 2004

Notes by:

Thiru Balasubramaniam, thiru@cptech.org, Consumer Project on Technology
[TB]

David Tannenbaum, davidt@public-domain.org, Union for the Public Domain

Story on Upcoming WIPO Broadcasting Treaty Meeting

Tue, 09 Nov 2004 23:19:00 -0500

The new reporting service, IP Watch has a nice summary story on what's happened so far with the Broadcast Treaty, and what's about to happen.

Lessig on broadcasters' control over the public domain

Wed, 11 Aug 2004 12:56:00 -0400

Law professor Lawrence Lessig has a column in Wired describing how broadcasters wield control over speeches by government officials that should be in the public domain. The proposed WIPO broadcast treaty would strengthen this control. Lessig makes the further point that networks' ability to limit distribution of embarassing moments for politicians gives them an unfair competitive advantage that reinforces media concentration.

The US president owns neither his words nor his image - at least not when he speaks in public on important matters. Anyone is free to use what he says, and the way he says it, to criticize or to praise.... But what happens when the commander in chief uses private venues to deliver public messages, holding fewer press conferences and making more talk-show appearances? Who controls his words and images then?

Talks on broadcasting move ahead despite differences, TechDaily, 14 June 2004

Wed, 16 Jun 2004 12:56:00 -0400

June 14 PM Edition Techdaily

Talks On Broadcasting Move Ahead Despite Differences
by William New

International negotiators working to craft a treaty on the protection of broadcasters' rights last week agreed to take the talks to the next level at the World Intellectual Property Organization despite deep disagreement over key areas.

Last week's negotiations in Geneva for an international treaty on the rights of broadcasters was aimed at helping address problems of signal piracy, but for consumer groups and others at the event, the debate was about much more than that.

An unprecedented number of nonprofit groups participated in the WIPO meeting, and James Love, the director of the Consumer Project on Technology, said an "unholy alliance" formed among copyright holders, performers and consumer groups in support of a treaty that addresses signal piracy. Broadcasters want another layer of rights to broadcasts that they currently have no right to, the nonprofits said, and that would limit access to information in the public domain.

Taking Stock of the WIPO Broadcast Treaty, the June meeting

Tue, 15 Jun 2004 05:00:00 -0400

From June 7-9, WIPO delegates from 90 member states debated whether to extend the powers granted to broadcasters. The treaty as drafted would give broadcasters unprecedented control over material that is in the public domain, cannot be copyrighted, or is available under copyleft-type licences. Our position is that the treaty should be rejected.

The debate took place in the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights, and the main question was whether there was enough consensus to pass the broadcast treaty on to the General Assembly for a "Diplomatic Conference." From our point of view there wasn't enough agreement to move forward, and India, Brazil and the African bloc (led by Egypt) held strong on this position.

See below for a full impressionistic transcript of the June 7-9 meeting, written in collaboration with EFF. Elsewhere we have more information about the treaty, including recent coverage, and some short running commentary for Days 1, 2, and 3.

The WIPO Broadcast Treaty

Mon, 14 Jun 2004 17:32:00 -0400

The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) is currently considering an international treaty that would extend the power that broadcasters have to control how we use and record images and sounds, including material in the public domain. This treaty will trade off the public's freedom for additional powers that the broadcasters have not demonstrated are necessary for the public good. Our position is that the treaty should be rejected.

For recent coverage and analysis of the treaty go here.
The Union for the Public Domain sent a delegation of four to the June 7-9th WIPO meeting on the treaty, and we have complete coverage here, including some short running commentary for Days 1, 2, and 3.
Prior to the meeting we asked volunteers to administer a survey to their national governments, but we found that most governments wouldn't publicise their positions on the treaty until the WIPO meeting. You can find a lot of information on national positions in the annotated transcript we co-produced with EFF.

If you would like to volunteer to protect the public domain from this treaty, do e-mail us. To keep up-to-date on the treaty, sign up for our low-traffic e-mail list.