WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty

The WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty extends the existing provision of the Berne Convention and the 1961 Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers and Phonograms and Broadcasting in relation to rights of performers and producers of phonograms. As in the case of the WIPO Copyright Treaty, some of the aspects of this treaty had already been addressed in TRIPS, and it was therefore important for WIPO to update existing protection to ensure that it remained at the leading edge of copyright and neighbouring rights protection.

Some of the provisions of the Copyright Treaty are repeated in this treaty in relation to performances and sound recordings. In particular, this treaty adopts the copy protection and rights management provisions of the Copyright Treaty, and it confirms that the rights of distribution and communication to the public given under the Copyright Treaty apply to performers and producers of sound recordings as well as to owners of copyright. Importantly, in cases of publication for commercial purposes, the right to authorize making available to the public by wire or wireless means is subject to Article 15, which permits contracting states to commute the right to a right to receive a single payment.