Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances in Effect

Source: China IP News

The Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances, first ever international IP treaty signed in China and named after a Chinese city since the founding of the people's republic, has come into effect on April 28. The implementation of the treaty will upgrade protection for performers in the international community, fully guarantee the rights of audiovisual performers, further inspire their creativity, enrich spiritual and cultural products, facilitate the healthy development of the audiovisual industry, protect traditional culture and folklore, and promote the development of cultural diversity. WIPO Director-General Francis Gurry applauded the treaty as an important milestone in international IP protection.

The Beijing Treaty was concluded in Beijing on June 26, 2012. It is an international copyright treaty administered by the United Nations specialized agency - the World Intellectual Property Organization, to protect the rights of performers. According to the relevant provisions of the treaty, it will take effect three months after ratification and accession by 30 member states. As Indonesia, the key 30th party ratified the treaty on January 28, this high-profile international copyright treaty rolled into action on April 28.

In the sphere of performing arts, two major types of copyrights are under protection of the copyright law－one targets performance right which entitled the copyright holder to "publicly perform the works and publicly broadcast the works by various means" enjoyed by the copyright holder; the other focuses on performers' rights which entitled the performers (such as singers, actors, etc.) to license or prohibit others from using their images, actions, sounds and other performances in performing works including live broadcast, recording, producing audiovisual products and distribution and disseminating through the Internet. The Beijing Treaty, an international treaty on the protection of performers' rights, will further improve international IP system. China will continuously improve the copyright protection system and propel high-quality development of the copyright industry including audiovisual performances.