With this week’s Diplomatic Conference in mind, the BCC publishes a statement outlining its preliminary position.
The BCC welcomes the Diplomatic Conference on an Audio-Visual Treaty and hopes that the British Government supports this important initiative and will encourage the European Commission to do so. The BCC also congratulates WIPO on achieving agreement on Article 12 of the possible Treaty and endorses the view that opening the agreement reached on all the other articles of the Treaty is not advisable.
As a body representing all types of right holders, the BCC acknowledges that the proposed Treaty maintains an appropriate balance between the rights of performers and the interests of producers but we also welcome an initiative which will bring the rights of performers more closely in line with those of authors.
The BCC endorses adoption of the wording proposed for Article 12 in the Basic Proposal to be considered at the Conference and considers that the basic principles of the agreement reached on all other articles of the Treaty should be maintained.
As far as the UK’s national interest goes, we hope that IPO will work to protect the current position in the UK which works well for our performers.
As an Observer NGO member of WIPO, the BCC looks forward to participating in the Diplomatic Conference and to working closely with IPO on the further development of the UK’s position.
The BCC is represented at the Diplomatic Conference by Andrew Yeates who is also a member of the official UK delegation. A number of other BCC members will be attending the Conference.