On Monday, 15 April 2024, Ambassador Guilherme de Aguiar Patriota (Permanent Representative of Brazil to the World Trade Organization and other economic organizations based in Geneva) delivered the following opening statement (in Brazil’s national capacity) at the 45th session of WIPO’s Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR).
45 SCCR
Opening statement
Thank you, Madam Chair,
Brazil would like to congratulate you and the vice-presidents for your election.
I would also like to thank the Secretariat for the work in preparation of this session and for its openness to suggestions and comments presented by the Brazilian delegation during this process.
On the Broadcasting Organizations Treaty, Brazil can constructively engage in the negotiation of a signal-based treaty, in line with what was agreed during the 33rd WIPO General Assembly.
Nevertheless, the “slightly modified” third revised draft under consideration – document SCCR/45/3 – still requires considerable revision, notwithstanding more than 25 years of discussions. Some of its persistent shortcomings include, but are not limited to:
1) the definition of “broadcasting organizations” and of program-carrying signal, which do not contemplate Members, such as Brazil, which would be ready to update protection only with respect to the rights of traditional broadcasting organizations over their transmissions, to the extent that these rights are established under applicable legislation.
2) the fact that the draft-treaty’s own provision on “Limitations and Exceptions” prevents these from being fully enforceable.
3) the language on “Obligations Concerning Technological Measures” in relation to Limitations and Exceptions, which does not comply with the Marrakesh treaty, representing an unwarranted regressive trend.
4) The lack of clarity in respect of the object of protection, whether the program-carrying signals or the Broadcasting Organizations themselves, as wording changes depending on different provisions.
5) The extension of exclusive rights beyond the linear program transmissions of broadcasting organizations, encompassing pre-broadcast signals, post-fixation transmissions by any means, the transmission of stored programs by any means, retransmissions by any means.
6) The draft creates new layers of protection in favor of broadcasting organizations, on top of the existing copyrights of authors, performers, and producers of phonograms. It is not clear how this would benefit the latter rights holders, in spite of such claim being claim made in the fourth preambular paragraph.
We have spent too much time over the years trying to move forward a discussion and a
negotiating process that simply have not achieved meaningful convergence. Until they do, my delegation is of the opinion that we should not have this matter as a permanent item of the SCCR, taking up two full days of a five-day SCCR session, when the Committee has so many other fundamental issues to discuss, such as the digital agenda and AI.
For Brazil, the possibility of progressing on a draft Broadcasting Organizations Treaty requires focusing on a signal-based treaty only, not currently the case.
_____
On the agenda item dealing with Exceptions and Limitations, Brazil welcomes the results achieved so far, namely the Work Program proposed by the African Group and adopted at the 43rd session of the Committee. It is crucial to protect and promote the interests of the wider public to access science, technology, and culture. Brazil is ready to constructively engage to develop a strong Implementation Plan for the Work Program on L&E.
____
Furthermore, Brazil stresses the urgency for this Committee to properly address Copyright in the digital environment. A Draft Work Plan has been submitted by GRULAC. Previous documents presented by the regional group, as well as studies prepared by the Secretariat have underlined the difficulties facing rightsholders in enforcing their rights in the digital environment. This issue requires appropriate attention and time allocation within the SCCR, and justify holding two Committee Sessions per year, a tradition my delegation strongly supports.
GRULAC’s Work Plan provides a timeline for the elaboration of studies, the organization of regional and multilateral discussions, and the review of national, regional and international practices. These activities would support a debate on the need for an international legal framework around copyrights in the digital environment, without prejudging its nature. The topic is proposed as a permanent agenda item of the SCCR, reflecting the huge challenges digitalization poses to artists, authors, and related rights holders.
It is worth noting that AI would greatly increase the importance of the proposed digital debate and should be tackled in detail under the SCCR. We welcome the presence of Brazilian artists in the “Information Session on the Opportunities and Challenges Raised by Generative AI as it Relates to Copyright” organized as part of this session.
We look forward to discussions that address both opportunities and challenges arising from the growing use of AI in content creation. The Committee should debate recent disputes involving creators and AI companies, examine regulatory proposals about transparency and fair remuneration for creators in the AI context, as well as the protection of voice, image, and other personal attributes, as part of performing rights. This is a unique opportunity to reaffirm the strategic relevance of the SCCR within the global Copyright system, as AI and other contemporary trends of the digital age challenge the foundations of Bern Convention’s human-centric dimensions.
Thank you.