Six trade associations have written Mary Critharis, Director of the USPTO’s Office of Policy and International Affairs, urging the U.S. delegation to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to oppose the Broadcast Treaty. The treaty is under debate this week at WIPO’s Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights. The letter explains that “a rights-based broadcasting treaty is unnecessary and counterproductive” and that signal theft can be combatted through “a treaty narrowly focused on signal theft, consistent with the approach taken in the United States.”
The associations weigh in on recent additions to the treaty text. They are alarmed that it has been amended to include “new, additional IP-like rights for broadcasters (e.g., the right of fixation) with no set term.” The new rights could “create rent-seeking opportunities in perpetuity.”
The letter is signed by America’s Communications Association, the Consumer Technology Association, the Computer and Communications Industry Association, the CRIA, the Rural Broadband Association, CTIA, and U.S. Telecom. It includes as an attachment a letter signed by 36 civil society groups which share their concerns, and briefing note from the Access to Knowledge Coalition.
