WIPO and the new Beijing Treaty

The Beijing Treaty regulates for the intellectual property rights of performers in audiovisual performances.

The Beijing Treaty was adopted by the Diplomatic Conference on the Protection of Fixation Audiovisual Performances, held in Beijing from June 20 to 26, 2012, and entered into force with respect to its 30 contracting parties on April 28, 2020.

As the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has well expressed , the adoption of the Beijing Treaty is intended to grant performers in the international system protection in the digital environment. That is why the Treaty aims to strengthen the exclusive economic rights of reproduction, distribution, rental, making available, broadcasting and communication to the public of artists, performers and performers on the performances set in audiovisual format; As well as moral rights, that is, the right to be recognized as performers; and the right to oppose any distortion, mutilation or other modification that damages the author’s honor and reputation, taking into account the nature of audiovisual fixations.

Added to this are the positive and concrete effects that the Beijing Treaty will have for all WIPO member states, both developing and developed, and which will be perceived in various areas, among others, economic development, the situation of audiovisual performers and cultural diversity.

The Beijing Treaty grants performers four types of economic rights to their performances fixed in audiovisual fixations, which we detail below:

Firstly, the right of reproduction, which is the right to authorize the direct or indirect reproduction of the performance set in audiovisual fixations, by any procedure or in any form.

Secondly, the right of distribution, which is the right to authorize the making available to the public of the original and copies of their performances set in audiovisual fixations through the sale or other transfer of ownership.

Thirdly, the right of renting, which resides in the right to authorize the commercial rental to the public of the original and copies of their performances set in audiovisual fixations.

And fourthly, the right of making available, which is the right to authorize the making available to the public, by wire or wireless means, of any interpretation or performance set in an audiovisual fixation, so that members of the public have access to said interpretation from the place and at the time that each of them chooses. This right covers, in particular, the making available on request via the Internet.

With regard to live performances, the Treaty grants performers three types of economic rights: the right of broadcasting, (except in the case of retransmission); the right of communication to the public (except when the performance constitutes a broadcast performance); and the right of fixation.

Regarding the transfer of rights, the Treaty provides that the Contracting Parties may provide in their national legislation that when the performer has given their consent to fix their interpretation in an audiovisual fixation, the exclusive rights mentioned above They will be transferred to the producer of the audiovisual fixation. Regardless of such transfer of rights, national legislation or individual, collective or other agreements may grant the performer the right to receive royalties or fair remuneration for any use of the performance, as provided in the Treaty.

The duration of protection may not be less than 50 years.

The Contracting Parties shall grant the protection provided for in the Treaty to the interpretations and executions fixed that exist at the time of the entry into force of the Treaty, as well as to all the interpretations and executions that take place after the entry into force of the Treaty in each Contracting Party.

The Treaty obliges the Contracting Parties to adopt, in accordance with their legal system, the necessary measures to guarantee their application. In particular, all Contracting Parties shall ensure that there are enforcement procedures in national legislation that allow effective measures to be taken against acts of infringement of the rights provided for in the Treaty. Said measures must include agile resources to avoid infractions, as well as other resources that constitute an effective means of deterrence for new infractions.

The Treaty establishes an Assembly of Contracting Parties whose main function is to deal with issues related to the maintenance and development of the Treaty, and entrusts the WIPO Secretariat with the administrative work related to it.

In CASAS ASIN as a law firm specialized in Intellectual Property, we are able to offer you complete and personalized advice on the procedure to follow to internationally protect your Intellectual Property rights with respect to possible infringement cases.