WIPO Welcomes EU Ratification of Internet Treaties

Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization Francis Gurry has welcomed the ratification by the European Union of the WIPO Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty.

The treaties establish the basic standards of protection for copyright and related rights in the digital environment.

Mr Gurry said the EU’s ratification of the treaties will positively influence the development of creativity within the digital environment in Europe and beyond.

In a statement, the EU said “By ratifying these Treaties, the European Union and its member states hope to breathe new vigour into the current treaty-making work of WIPO and encourage renewed commitment to moving forward on a high level of protection for creators and creative industries.”

The treaties have laid the ground for a system of protection in the new technological environment in areas such as the interactive transmission of copyright content, limitations to copyright and the promotion of technologies that facilitate the distribution and use of creative content.

The WIPO adopted the treaties in December 1996 and they went into force in 2002.

With these new ratifications, membership of the treaties will reach 88 countries for the Copyright Treaty and 86 countries for the Performances and Phonograms Treaty.