E sccr/21/2 Original: English date: August , 2010 Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights Twenty First Session Geneva, November to 12, 2010

Figure 1: Context of Broadcast and Cablecast Signal Creation and Use

12 The treaty, if consensus is reached that it is necessary, is designed to protect the signal—not affect other rights in the signal—and is designed to ensure that cross-border signals enjoy the same protection that domestic signals receive. Although the treaty may allow broadcasters to license uses of the signal that contains content owned by other rights holders, the license to use the signal, in itself, will not mean anything to the licensee who wishes to use the broadcast content unless it is accompanied by a separate license for the use of the content carried by the signal. Any subsequent authorized uses of the transmissions would generally require that licenses be obtained from both the broadcasters/cablecasters and—in cases where the broadcasters do not have all rights—the rights holders.

13 In its current iteration,⁵ which includes various alternative clauses, the proposed treaty extends to fixation of signal and subsequent utilization thereof.⁶ However, it should be noted that discussion is ongoing whether to include direct webcasting, that is, signals originating in and transmitted over computer networks.

14 Issues of fixation and post fixation are increasingly relevant because of developments in on demand television based on broadband and Internet services, and also because of new technologies in producing and distributing fixations of broadcasts. However, the primary issues in a post fixation phase can generally be expected to invoke concerns about copyrights around content, rather than signal rights as such.

15 The proposed treaty is concerned with the protection of investments in the dissemination of copyrighted works, which is a neighboring right, to copyright works themselves. Consideration of its effects takes place within the fundamental concept that intellectual property and related rights are designed to produce broad social benefits. These include creating the means for society to benefit from increased production and dissemination of knowledge and cultural expression and the creation of better economic foundations that support increased creativity and production.

16 This report identifies stakeholders in the treaty milieu and their interests relative to copyright and the treaty specifically. It discusses the economics of broadcasting and the relationship of unauthorized uses to costs, revenue, investment, and profit. It then explores the primary unauthorized use of signals and the economic effects of unauthorized uses. Subsequently, it explores the rights within and related to the signal, the abilities of broadcasters and cablecasters to exploit these rights through subsequent uses, and how unauthorized uses affect these rights. Ultimately, it identifies social benefits resulting from unauthorized uses and some uses that some stakeholders deem worthy of exceptions or limitations to protections.

17 The study then investigates the extent to which the interests of stakeholders will be affected by provisions of the proposed treaty and provides a balance of benefit and detriment analysis that considers the distribution of benefits and detriments of proposed options in the treaty among the stakeholders and the equity of their distribution.