Commercial broadcasters call for the finalisation of a meaningful broadcasters’ Treaty

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Geneva, 1 April 2019 – The Association of Commercial Television in Europe would like to thank the SCCR Chair, all the WIPO Member States and the WIPO Secretariat for the tremendous work and efforts put in the past years to find solutions that would represent a reasonable compromise between the different positions.Such a compromise should however endeavour to guarantee broadcasters meaningful protection at international level against the piracy of their signals, a protection that is long overdue.

Broadcasters are at the forefront of high quality content, be it on the production, co-production and/or distribution level, while functioning in a heavily regulated environment that guarantees citizens quality, safety, choice and diversity in the media landscape.

The negotiated Treaty should be future-proof and guarantee that broadcasters can rely on strong exclusive rights and on an independent protection. This is a precondition for a Diplomatic Conference to reach a successful and meaningful outcome and an additional special session may be needed in order to further streamline the text.

We believe that the existing text on the table, together with the language proposed by the Argentinian delegation, constitute a good basis to finalise the drafting work on all outstanding issues, which would allow the Standing Committee to recommend the WIPO Assembly to convene a Diplomatic Conference.

We remain committed to support WIPO with our expertise and any assistance needed to reach this goal.