[Senate Treaty Document 114-8]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
114th Congress } { Treaty Doc.
SENATE
2d Session } { 114-8
_______________________________________________________________________
BEIJING TREATY ON AUDIOVISUAL PERFORMANCES
__________
MESSAGE
from
THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
transmitting
THE BEIJING TREATY ON AUDIOVISUAL PERFORMANCES, DONE AT BEIJING ON JUNE
24, 2012 (BEIJING TREATY)
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February 10, 2016.--Treaty was read the first time, and together with
the accompanying papers, referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
and ordered to be printed for the use of the Senate
______
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
59-118 WASHINGTON : 2016
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL
----------
The White House, February 10, 2016.
To the Senate of the United States:
With a view to receiving the advice and consent of the
Senate to ratification, I transmit herewith the Beijing Treaty
on Audiovisual Performances, done at Beijing on June 24, 2012
(Beijing Treaty). I also transmit, for the information of the
Senate, a report of the Secretary of State with respect to the
Beijing Treaty that includes a summary of its provisions.
This copyright treaty, concluded under the auspices of the
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), advances the
national interest of the United States in promoting the
protection and enjoyment of creative works. The Beijing Treaty
provides a modern international framework for the rights of
performers in motion pictures, television programs, and other
audiovisual works, similar to that already in place for
producers of such works, for authors, and for performers and
producers of sound recordings, pursuant to other WIPO copyright
treaties the United States has joined.
The United States played a leadership role in the
negotiation of the treaty, and its provisions are broadly
consistent with the approach and structure of existing U.S.
law. Narrow changes in U.S. law will be needed for the United
States to implement certain provisions of the treaty. Proposed
legislation is being submitted to both houses of the Congress
in conjunction with this transmittal.
I recommend that the Senate give early and favorable
consideration to the Beijing Treaty, and give its advice and
consent to its ratification, subject to a declaration pursuant
to Article 11 of the Beijing Treaty as described in the
accompanying Department of State report.
Barack Obama.
LETTER OF SUBMITTAL
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Department of State,
Washington, January 22, 2016.
The President,
The White House.
The President: I have the honor to submit to you, with a
view to its transmittal to the Senate for advice and consent to
ratification, the Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances,
done at Beijing June 24, 2012 (Beijing Treaty). The United
States played a leadership role in the development of the
Treaty, which was negotiated under the auspices of the World
Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Joining the Beijing
Treaty will promote the development of appropriate
international rules in the realm of intellectual property and
advance the rights of U.S. performers in motion pictures and
television programs on par with existing global standards for
musical performers.
A brief summary of the treaty follows below. A detailed
overview of the treaty, with an article-by-article summary, is
enclosed.
The Beijing Treaty is intended to provide up-to-date
copyright protection for audiovisual performers in the United
States and in countries around the world. It provides a modern
international framework for performers' legal rights--an
increasingly important assurance in today's world where
audiovisual works are distributed globally in digital form. It
also fills a gap in the international copyright system by
extending to such performers the type of protections previously
accorded to authors and to performers and producers of sound
recordings, pursuant to existing international agreements to
which the United States is a party. The Treaty's framework is
consistent with existing U.S. standards and its further
adoption worldwide would advance national economic interests in
the appropriate development, protection and exploitation of the
intellectual property generated by America's creative artists
and industries.
The provisions of the Beijing Treaty were carefully
negotiated over a period of more than 15 years. The issues
initially were considered in connection with the 1996
diplomatic conference that led to the conclusion of the WIPO
Copyright Treaty (WCT) and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms
Treaty (WPPT). (The United States ratified those two treaties
in 1999, following Senate advice and consent and Congressional
passage of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act the previous
year.) At the time, however, no international consensus had
developed as to how similar protection should be afforded to
audiovisual performers. Countries narrowed the gaps at a
diplomatic conference in 2000, but deadlocked over the issue of
how performers could transfer to producers, by contract or
otherwise, their exclusive rights regarding the uses of their
performances. In 2010, the United States, with input and
support from U.S. movie studios as well as artists'
representatives, worked to develop language that permits, but
does not require, parties to provide in their domestic law for
such a transfer of rights, once a performer has consented to
the fixation of his or her performance. This compromise,
reflected now in Article 12 of the Treaty, attracted support
from other key jurisdictions and paved the way for the text to
be finalized at a diplomatic conference in Beijing June 24,
2012. The outcome avoids prejudicing what is known in the
United States as the ``work made for hire'' doctrine, a bedrock
of U.S. motion picture industry practice.
Among other elements, the Beijing Treaty includes
provisions on audiovisual performers' exclusive rights of
authorizing the broadcasting, communication and fixation of
their live performances; their exclusive rights of
reproduction, distribution, rental, making available and
communication to the public of their fixed performances;
digital technologies; certain moral rights; and national
treatment. The rights provided for are modeled on, and similar
to, the rights provided to performers and producers of sound
recordings pursuant to the WPPT. (Authors, software developers
and computer programmers are accorded similar rights pursuant
to the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and
Artistic Works and the WCT.) These rights are largely already
enshrined for copyright owners in the United States and many
other countries: their inclusion in the Beijing Treaty helps
develop international rules in the copyright area and
encourages other countries to adopt these rules. The limited
statutory changes for the United States to implement the Treaty
are described in the separate proposed legislation the
Administration is submitting to the Senate and to the House of
Representatives in conjunction with the transmittal of this
Treaty. The Beijing Treaty is non-self-executing.
As described further in the article-by-article summary in
the overview, one declaration in respect of Article 11 of the
Treaty, concerning the exclusive right to authorize
broadcasting and an alternative right to equitable
remuneration, is recommended for inclusion in the Senate's
resolution of advice and consent to ratification of the Beijing
Treaty.
The Beijing Treaty is a landmark achievement for labor and
industry working together to protect and promote U.S.
audiovisual works globally. The Treaty will further encourage
U.S. businesses and artists to invest time and talent in
producing and exporting motion pictures and television
programs, an area where America has a strong competitive edge.
Once the Treaty is in force, if the United States joins, it
will help ensure that U.S. performers are appropriately
protected when their audiovisual performances are enjoyed by
audiences in other countries that are parties to the Treaty.
In view of the foregoing, I recommend that the Beijing
Treaty on Audiovisual Performances be transmitted to the Senate
as soon as possible for its advice and consent to ratification,
subject to a declaration pursuant to Article 11, as described
in the Overview.
Respectfully submitted.
John F. Kerry.
Enclosures: As stated.
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