Dear all,

Ron Sherwood asked me to forward the message below.

Thanks,

Gabi


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14/12/2009 Today, the European Union and its Member States ratified the
WIPO Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty,
the so-called "Internet" Treaties. These Treaties were concluded to make
the world's copyright laws 'fit for the internet'.

Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy commented on the WIPO
ratifications : "Today is an important day for the European Union and
its Member States and WIPO. We, as a group have shown our attachment to
the international system of protection of copyright and related rights.
These two treaties brought protection up to speed with modern
technologies. As the technological evolution accelerates, protecting
creators and creative industries is more urgent than ever."

By ratifying these Treaties, the European Union and its Member States
hope to breathe new vigour into the current treaty-making work of WIPO
and encourage renewed commitment to moving forward on a high level of
protection for creators and creative industries.

The European Union and its Member States participated fully in the
Diplomatic Conference of 1996 that aimed to upgrade the rights of
authors, performers and phonogram producers to withstand the challenges
of the digital age. The two WIPO copyright treaties contain rules on
distribution, rental, the right of public communication and the "making
available" of protected content online.

In 2000, the European Union and its Member states took the formal
decision ^1
 
<http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/09/1916&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en#footnote-1>
 
to ratify the WIPO Treaties together. Indeed, negotiations on these two
Treaties marked the first time that the European Union was accorded full
Contracting Party status in the field of copyright, as opposed to the
observer status it enjoyed so far in WIPO on copyright issues.

Immediately after the Diplomatic Conference in 1996, work started at the
European level to adapt European copyright law to the WIPO "internet"
Treaties. A European Copyright Directive ^2

<http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/09/1916&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en#footnote-2>

was adopted in 2001. All EU Member States have meanwhile transposed the
provisions of the 2001 Copyright Directive into their national legislation.

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is a specialized
agency of the United Nations. It is dedicated to developing an
international intellectual property <http://www.wipo.int/about-ip/en/>
(IP) system, which rewards creativity, stimulates innovation and
contributes to economic development while safeguarding the public interest.

WIPO was established by the WIPO Convention
<http://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/convention/> in 1967 with a mandate
from its Member States <http://www.wipo.int/members/en/> to promote the
protection of IP throughout the world through cooperation among states
and in collaboration with other international organizations. Its
headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland.

^1 :

Council Decision of 16 March 2000 on the approval, on behalf of the
European Community, of the WIPO Copyright Treaty and the WIPO
Performances and Phonograms Treaty, Official Journal L 89 of 11 April
2000,p. 6

^2 :

Directive 2001/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22
May 2001 on the harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and
related rights in the information society. Official Journal L 167 of 22
June 2001.

http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/09/1916&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en
 
 
 
 


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