Priya Raj
ABSTRACT:
Today in this era developing countries, especially in remote areas broadcasting through radio and television has become an important mechanism for communicating knowledge too public at large. The main aim of this article is to study the scope of protection granted to the rights of broadcasting.
INTRODUCTION:
In context of today’s “knowledge society” and knowledge based economy, the production, dissemination, and knowledge absorption of information has become central to a country’s social and economic development. Developing countries acquires knowledge overseas. In such process particular broadcasting plays a fundamental role in both promoting or limiting access to knowledge & its dissemination[1].
In remote areas broadcasting through Radio and Television has become one of the most important mechanisms for communicating knowledge to the public at large. The development in digital technologies holds immense potential for increasing access to knowledge and wide dissemination of works to the public and delivering information and entertainment quicker and cheaper to the all segment of society. As the protections given to the broadcasting organisations vary from country to country there is need for some International framework to provide protection to the broadcasting organizations when such broadcast is done across the national country. For these reasons protection to the rights of the broadcasting organisation has been granted through International norms e.g. Rome Convention, Brussels Convention, TRIPS Agreement, and WPPT etc.
Broadcasting constitutes a large segment of “mass communication”. Communication through the media plays an important role in providing information and suggesting a proper meaning for it. Access to information, freedom of expression, pluralism and cultural diversity are fundamental values and objectives that have particular relevance for the media system and receive wide recognition as such, including by broadcasting organisations[2].
Rights of Broadcasters
●Art 13 of International Conventions for Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organisations (“Rome Convention”) recognizes the rights of broadcasters to prevent reproductions, rebroadcasts and communication to the public of their broadcasts.
●Protection under the treaty is limited to wireless transmission of analog sounds with or without images. This does not capture transmissions via cable and satellite, while analog signals have largely been replaced with digital signals.
●Rome Convention also does not take into account the technological developments that have occurred since its adoption in 1961 – eg. cable television and the internet
Threats to Broadcasters:
●Convergence of info-communication technologies and emergence of the new digital environment gave rise to increasing opportunities for unauthorized use of broadcasts within and across borders.
●Trend towards conversion from analog to digital terrestrial broadcasts to allow for more efficient use of electromagnetic spectrum – unlike analog broadcast signals, digital signals can be replicated with little to no quality degradation, and can be retransmitted easily on the internet.
●Leads to loss of broadcast rights income, pay TV subscriptions and advertising revenue, with knock-on effects on jobs, content creation and community funding.
●Live streaming of sports events is fastest growing segment of broadcast copyright infringement.
●Aim of new treaty was to extend Rome Convention protection of broadcasters to cover digital transmissions, and provide broadcasters with certain rights with respect to their transmissions, separate and apart from any copyright in the content of the transmissions.
Protection for Broadcasters:
Article 14(3) of TRIPS Agreementrecognizes the right of broadcasters to prohibit the unauthorized fixation (recording), reproduction of fixations, wireless rebroadcasts, and communication to the public of television broadcasts.
Rights given to broadcasters under the Copyright Actare:
▪In the case of visual images of a television broadcast, to make a cinematograph film of the broadcast or to make a copy of such a film;
▪In the case of sound broadcast, or a television broadcast, in so far as it consists of sounds, to make a sound recording of the broadcast, or a copy of such a recording;
▪In the case of a television broadcast, to cause it to be seen or heard in public before paying audience;
▪Copyright in a television or sound broadcast shall subsist for 50 years after year in which the broadcast was made
Legal framework for the protection of broadcasters:
Broadcasting organizations have been granted rights in addition to rights under copyright law, acting as an additional layer of protection. The fact that the broadcasting organizations and cable casting organizations generally do not produce works, but arrange and transmit them, raises question about whether it is justified to grant new rights through new international copyright and related right norms. In countries that provide distinct classification between copyright and related rights, scope and level of protection granted to beneficiaries of related rights is generally lower than that of copyrights. Copyright takes into account the interests of society by granting protection for limited time with certain expectation so that the public could be benefitted from protected work[3]. Also, the purpose of related rights is to protect interests of certain person or legal entities that are ancillary to making work available to public[4].
Conclusion:
Undoubtedly, broadcasting remains tool for transmission of information and access to knowledge amongst public. The requirement of ensuring access to knowledge is fundamental in case of developing countries. Despite efforts towards liberalization in the broadcasting sector, countries around globe, both public oligopolies as well as private monopolies continue to exist.Moreover, with development of new technologies, transitional conglomerates, which operate on commercial basis and possess the ability to control entire chain of communication, have formed and continue to expand their horizons, which clearly means poorer citizens will be unable to express their preferences in commercial market for broadcasting. Today traditional broadcasting organizations enjoys certain protection against signal theft and granting of such right will have effect of merely creating a new layer on top of copyrights and other related right holders, which also negatively impacts production of creative work; a scenario inconsistent with original objective of copyright law. Also developing countries must reject inclusion of any exclusive rights or otherwise insist that such right do not extend beyond those already incorporated in different conventions that continues to be in operation.
[1]A Deveopment Analysis Of The Proposed WIPO Treaty On The Protection Of Broadcasting And Cablecasting Organizations, By Viviana Munoz Tellez And Andrew Chege Waitara, South Centre, January 2007 at p.2
[2]Supra note 1, at p.4
[3]The protection here refers to protection by exclusive rights, i.e. right enjoyed by a copyright holder that excludes acquisition or enjoyment of same right in relation to same work by anyone else, on basis that copyright folder may perform certain act and may authorize or prohibit performance of that act by others, at p. 18
[4]Ahuja V K, Law relating to Intellectual Property Rights, at p. 18
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