We eagerly anticipated the passing of the Copyright Amendment Bill 2008. The bill will facilitate Trinidad and Tobago’s accession to World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) Treaties. Among them are the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT)
WPPT provides international protection for Producers of Phonograms against unauthorised copying of their recordings in the face of new technologies including the internet. It also covers performers, such as singers and musicians.
WPPT Article 5 Rights of Performers.
The treaty gives performers the ‘moral right’ reasonably to be identified as the performer, and to prevent modifications that damage their reputation.
WPPT Article 15 Right to Remuneration for Broadcasting and Communication to the Public
Significantly, this treaty verifies the right for Producers and Performers to be financially compensated whenever their recordings and performances are publicly performed and broadcasted via radio and television.
WPPT Article 18 Obligations
concerning Technological Measures.
Anti-circumvention
The first, known as the “anti-circumvention” provision, tackles
the problem of “hacking”: it requires our Copyright Act to provide
adequate legal protection and effective remedies against the circumvention of
technological measures (such as encryption including access and copy control)
used by right holders to protect their rights. Our act will also have to prohibit
the manufacturing, importation, distribution, sale, rental, etc. of all hardware
and software circumventing devices.
WPPT Article 19 Obligations concerning Rights Management Information
Rights management information
Secondly the treaty require that our Copyright act prohibit the deliberate alteration
or deletion of electronic “rights management information” that our
members may apply to their recordings. (RMI) is information which accompanies
any protected material, and which identifies the work, its creators, performer,
or owner, and the terms and conditions for its use.
The civil and criminal procedures, remedies and sanctions applicable to copyright infringement shall apply to any violation of provisions 18 and 19.
Our main task will be to lobby for the government to execute
prompt ratification and implementation of the (WPPT).