WASHINGTON, DC — The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will hold public hearings on May 9th to discuss the proposed World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Broadcast Treaty, a controversial proposal that has been strongly criticized by digital rights watchdog groups and the U.S. Senate, alike.Bearing the current official title of the “Treaty on the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations,” the proposed WIPO treaty has met with staunch opposition from groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), who assert that the terms of the treaty give broadcasters “50 years of copyright-like control over the content of their broadcasts, even when they have no copyright in what they show,” according to the EFF.

“A TV channel broadcasting your Creative Commons-licensed movie could legally demand that no one record or redistribute it – and sue anyone who does,” the EFF states in an article calling on citizens to contact their elected representatives to voice opposition to the treaty. “And TV companies could use their new rights to go after TiVo or MythTV for daring to let you skip advertisements or record programs in DRM-free formats.”

In a letter dated March 1st, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee sent a letter to Marybeth Peters, the Register of Copyrights for the Library of Congress, and Jon Dudas, the Director of the USPTO – who serve in the U.S. delegation to WIPO – expressing their “concern with the latest developments in the Broadcasting Treaty debate.”

In the letter, signed by Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy and ranking Republican member of the Committee Arlen Specter, the Committee observes that “The Revised Draft Broadcasting Treaty appears to grant broadcasters extensive new, exclusive rights in their transmissions for a term of at least 20 years, regardless of whether they have a right in the content they are transmitting.”

“While we support the need to protect against signal theft of broadcast transmissions,” the letter continues, “the treaty appears to go beyond this purpose and grant broadcasters a right in their transmissions similar to a content holder’s copyright. As a result, the rights that would be granted to broadcasters by the Revised Draft Broadcasting Treaty could limit legitimate, fair use of the content and would add an unnecessary layer of uncertainty in consumer use.”

Further, the Senators assert, the revised version of the treaty “may also have the effect of restricting the rights of the underlying content owners and have implications, perhaps unintended, for intermediary liability.”

The bottom line, according to the Judiciary Committee’s letter, is that the terms of the current version of the treaty “appear to be inconsistent with United States law.”

“We strongly urge you to advocate for a treaty that is significantly narrower in scope, providing protections to broadcasters no greater than necessary to protect their signals, and make this position known at the upcoming meeting of the Standing Committee in
June,” the letter continues. “If the proposed treaty is not limited to true signal theft, we encourage you to oppose any effort to move to a Diplomatic Conference.”

The letter closes by reaffirming the Committee’s support for the “multilateral approach evident in the United States’ participation with WIPO,” and acknowledging that it is “important to improve international obligations for the protection and dissemination of protected works.”

“The Draft Broadcasting Treaty, however, would needlessly create a new layer of rights that would disrupt United States copyright law,” the Committee’s letter concludes.

The public hearing concerning the treaty will be held on Wednesday, May 9th, beginning at 2:00pm and ending at 4:00pm, in the Mumford Room at the James Madison Memorial Building, 6th Floor, Library of Congress, 101 Independence Avenue, SE., Washington, DC, according to a notice issued by David O. Carson, the Associate Register for Policy and International Affairs for the U.S. Copyright Office.

“Persons wishing to attend and observe or participate in the roundtable are required to submit requests to observe the roundtable or participate, preferably by electronic mail through the Internet to sking@loc.gov,” according to the Copyright Office notice.

Requests may also be submitted by fax at 202–707–8366 or via snail mail to: U.S. Copyright Office, Copyright GC/I&R, P.O. Box 70400, Southwest Station, Washington, DC 20024, marked to the attention of Simone King.

As delivery of mail, both by the U.S. Post Office and private carrier, to the U.S. Copyright Office is subject to delay, the Copyright Office strongly suggests that requests be submitted by email or fax.

Requests to observe or participate as a member of the roundtable discussion must supply on their submissions the following information:

The name of the person, including whether it is your intention to observe the roundtable or to participate as a member of the roundtable; the organization or organizations represented by that person, if any; and contact information, including postal address, telephone number(s) and email address.

Attendance requests must also include information on the “specific focus or interest of the observer or participant (or his or her organization) and any questions or issues you would like to raise,” according to the Copyright Office notice.

The deadline for receipt of requests to observe or participate in the roundtable is 5:00 pm on Friday, May 4th, 2007. According to the Copyright Office notice, if so many requests are received that “we reach the room’s capacity, attendance will be granted in the order the requests were received.”

For more information on the roundtable, contact Simone King by phone at 202–707–5516, fax number 202–707–8366, email at sking@loc.gov, or by standard mail marked to the attention of Simone King and addressed to:

U.S. Copyright Office,
Copyright GC/I&R,
P.O. Box 70400
Southwest Station, Washington,
DC 20024