ABU members urged to support intellectual property treaty

The head of the Philippines Intellectual Property Office has called on ABU members to support the WIPO Broadcasters Treaty.

Atty Ric Blancaflor, the Director General of the Philippines Intellectual Property Office, told ABU members attending the 18th ABU Copyright Committee Meeting and Seminar in Manila that the treaty was important and the process should be expedited. 

He urged the broadcasters to actively involve their governments, to seek inspiration from the Performance Treaty in Beijing and to work for a similar successful outcome for the Broadcasters Treaty.

Proponents believe that under the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), a Broadcasters’ Treaty will protect the rights of broadcasters on an international level.

ABU Secretary General Dr Javad Mottaghi welcomed the copyright committee members to the Manila meeting, which was co-hosted by Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) and ABS-CBN.  

He encouraged members to work together on regulations and copyright issues and assured them of support from the ABU Secretariat. 

Following lengthy discussion, a consensus was reached by the members on the Articles to be represented as the ABU’s stand on the Broadcasters Treaty at the WIPO meeting in October 2012.

The meeting ended with Mr Yoshinori Naito of NHK-Japan unanimously elected as the new Chairperson of the ABU Copyright Committee. 

(Source : Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union)