Prior to the 1994 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade Uruguay Round agreement that created the World Trade Organization (WTO) and included the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), there was no single source for intellectual property obligations or norms. TRIPS incorporated by reference the following key treaties and conventions administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO): the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property; the Berne Convention for the protection of Literary and Artistic Works; the International Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms, and Broadcasting Organizations (the Rome Convention); and the Treaty on Intellectual Property in Respect of Integrated Circuits (IPIC Treaty). This means that WTO members can use WTO dispute mechanisms to enforce obligations found in these WIPO treaties and conventions. In addition, the WTO TRIPS Agreement created new enforcement obligations that represent an important step toward accountability. Accordingly, the TRIPS Agreement, for the first time, provided minimum norms for intellectual property protection that applied across the board for all WTO members. Although the WTO Secretariat administers the TRIPS Agreement through the TRIPS Council, the underlying treaties are still administerd by the World Intellectual Property Organization.
    Since the adoption of TRIPS, there have been two new WIPO treaties of note: at the end of 1996, WIPO member states adopted two new treaties to provide protection, respectively, to copyrighted works (the WIPO Copyright Treaty) and to performances and phonograms (the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty), to deal with emerging issues related to digital transmission of these copyrighted works.
    The complete text of the TRIPS Agreement, as well as an explanation of its provisions in layperson's terms, is provided on the WTO Web site at http://www.wto.org. The complete text of all of the WIPO treaties and a list of signatories are contained on the WIPO home page at http://www.wipo.int.

General

Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (1994) (Administered by the World Trade Organization)
The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) was concluded at the end of 1994 as part of the Uruguay Round multilateral trade agreement. It provides for establishment of standards for protection of a full range of intellectual property rights and the enforcement of those standards both internally and at the border through legal and administrative actions.
    The intellectual property rights covered by the TRIPS Agreement are: copyrights, patents, trademarks, industrial designs, trade secrets (undisclosed information), integrated circuits (semiconductors), and geographical indications. Following are highlights of the provisions.
    In the area of copyrights, TRIPS:
Obligates signatories to comply with provisions of the Berne Convention, except for that convention's requirements on moral rights;
Protects computer programs as literary works and databases as compilations under copyright.
Imposes an immediate obligation on signatories to grant owners of computer programs and sound recordings the right to authorize or prohibit the rental of their products.
Establishes a 50-year term for protection of sound recordings, as well as requiring signatories to provide protection for existing sound recordings.
Sets a minimum 50-year term for protection of motion pictures and other works where companies may be the author.
    In the area of patents, TRIPS:
Obligates signatories to protect product and process patents for virtually all types of inventions, including pharmaceuticals and agricultural chemicals;
Establishes a patent term of 20 years from the date the application is filed;
Requires prompt implementation of procedures to permit the filing of patent applications covering pharmaceuticals and agricultural chemicals upon entry into force of the agreement even in members that lack product patent protection.
Sets limits on the use of compulsory licensing, a method by which a government can compel a patent holder to license the patent to someone else.
    In the area of trademarks, TRIPS:
Requires signatories to register service marks as well as trademarks.
Provides protection for internationally well-known marks.
Prohibits the mandatory linking of trademarks.
Prohibits the compulsory licensing of marks.
    In other areas, TRIPS provides rules for protecting:
Trade secrets that enable owners to prevent unauthorized use or disclosure of confidential information.
Integrated circuits that eliminate the deficiencies of the 1989 Washington Treaty, by lengthening the term of protection from a minimum of eight years to a minimum of 10 years.
Industrial designs consistent with existing U.S. laws.
Nongeneric geographical indications used to identify wines and spirits.
    Enforcement Requirements
In general, members are required to provide expeditious, fair, and equitable remedies that create a deterrent to further infringements. Written decisions on the merits should be provided to parties, and there should be an opportunity for judicial review of final administrative decisions.
Injunctive relief and other effective provisional measures should be available through the judiciary.
Adequate damages should be available, which may include expenses to rightholder (including possible attorneys' fees); recovery of profits or payment of statutory damages is also permissible. The judiciary should have authority to provide other remedies, such as disposal of infringing goods, and should also have the authority to order the applicant to indemnify the accused party to make up any losses suffered due to abuse of enforcement procedures.
Border measures, including suspension of release by customs authorities, indemnification of the importer and owner of the goods, and a right of inspection, shall be provided by members.
Criminal procedures and penalties must be available for use at least in cases of willful trademark and copyright infringement committed on a commercial scale.
    Industrialized countries were given one year for implementation from the entry into force of the TRIPS accord, July 1, 1995. Developing countries and those shifting from centrally planned to market economies generally were given four additional years for implementation. However, these countries have another five years (for a total of nine additional years) for implementation in the pharmaceutical and agricultural chemicals sectors if such protection is currently unavailable. Least-developed countries have until 2006 to comply.
    Although developing countries were given a long transition period, they were required, at the end of the one-year transition period afforded all countries, to provide for national treatment (equal treatment for domestic and foreign parties) and most-favored-nation treatment (equal treatment for all participating trading partners).
    The Uruguay Round agreement created the World Trade Organization (WTO) to replace the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). The WTO is facilitating the implementation and administration of the agreement.
    Unlike the GATT system, the WTO integrates all the dispute settlement procedures established under individual agreements (goods, services, TRIPS). Disputes involving TRIPS are handled by the WTO General Council, acting as the Dispute Settlement Body.
    If a dispute settlement panel finds inadequate IPR protection or enforcement in a member country, the signatory bringing the complaint has the right to retaliate in other sectors.

Treaties in the Field of Industrial Property

Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (1883) (Administered by WIPO)
The Paris Convention applies to industrial property in the widest sense, including inventions, marks, industrial designs, utility models, trade names, geographical indications, and the repression of unfair competition.
    The substantive provisions of the convention fall into three main categories: national treatment, right of priority, common rules.
    Under the provisions on national treatment, the convention provides that, as regards industrial property, each contracting state must grant the same protection to nationals of the other contracting states as it grants to its own nationals. Nationals of noncontracting states are also protected by the convention if they are domiciled or have a real and effective industrial or commercial establishment in a contracting state.
    The convention provides for the right of priority in the case of patents (and utility models, where they exist), marks, and industrial designs. This right means that, on the basis of a regular first application filed in one of the contracting states, the applicant may, within a certain period of time, apply for protection in any of the other contracting states; these later applications are then regarded as if they had been filed on the same day as the first application.
    The convention lays down a few common rules that all the contracting states must follow. Among them:

As to patents:

• Patents granted in different contracting states for the same invention are independent of each other; the granting of a patent in one contracting state does not oblige the other contracting states to grant a patent.
• The inventor has the right to be named as such in the patent.

• The convention does not regulate the conditions for the filing and registration of marks, which are therefore determined in each contracting state by the domestic law.
• Where a mark has been duly registered in the country of origin, it must, on request, be accepted for filing and protected in its original form in the other contracting states. Nevertheless, registration may be refused in well-defined cases.
• If, in any contracting state, the use of a registered mark is compulsory, the registration can be canceled only after a reasonable period and only if the owner cannot justify his inaction.
• Collective marks must be granted protection.

Madrid Agreement for the Repression of False or Deceptive Indications of Source on Goods (1891) (Administered by WIPO)
According to the Madrid Agreement, all goods bearing a false or deceptive indication of source, by which one of the contracting states or a place situated therein is directly or indirectly indicated as being the country or place of origin, must be seized on importation, or such importation must be prohibited, or other actions and sanctions must be applied in connection with such importation.
    The agreement provides for the cases and the manner in which seizure may be requested and effected. It prohibits the use, in connection with the sale or display or offering for sale of any goods, of all indications in the nature of publicity capable of deceiving the public as to the source of the goods. It is reserved to the courts of each contracting state to decide what appellations do not, on account of their generic character, come within the scope of the agreement.

Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks (1891) (Administered by WIPO)
The Madrid Agreement provides for the international registration of marks (both trademarks and service marks) at the International Bureau of WIPO in Geneva. Registrations effected under the agreement are called international as every registration has effect in several countries, potentially in all the contracting states (except the country of origin).
    To enjoy the advantages of the agreement, the applicant must be a national of a contracting state or must be domiciled or have a real and effective industrial or commercial establishment in a contracting state. He or she must first have his mark registered in the national or regional (Benelux) trademark office of the country of origin. Once this is done, he may apply, through that national or regional office, for international registration.
    The international registration, once effected, is published by the International Bureau and notified to the contracting states (or, in the case of Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands, the Benelux Trademark Office) in which the applicant seeks protection. Each such state (or the Benelux Office) may, within one year, declare — with an indication of the grounds for its decision — that protection cannot be granted to the mark in its territory. If such a declaration is made, the procedure continues in the refusing national or regional office or before the courts of the contracting state concerned. If such a declaration is not made within the period of one year, the international registration has the effect of a national (or regional) registration.

Hague Agreement Concerning the International Deposit of Industrial Designs (1925) (Administered by WIPO)
The international deposit of an industrial design may be made at the International Bureau of WIPO either directly or through the intermediary of the national industrial property office of the contracting state that is the country of origin if the law of that state so permits. The domestic law of any contracting state may require that the international deposit be made through the intermediary of its national office.
    The international deposit has, in each of the contracting states designated by the applicant, the same effect as if all the formalities required by the domestic law for the grant of protection had been complied with by the applicant and as if all administrative acts required to that end had been accomplished by the office of that state (or by the Benelux Designs Office, as the case may be).
    The international deposit may extend its effects to the contracting state that is the country of origin (if that state is designated by the applicant), unless the legislation of that state provides otherwise.
    An international deposit may be renewed every five years. The term of protection cannot be less than five years, or 10 years if renewed during the last year of the first five-year period.

Nice Agreement Concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks (1957) (Administered by WIPO)
The Nice Agreement establishes a classification of goods and services for the purposes of registering trademarks and service marks. The trademark offices of the contracting states must indicate, in connection with each registration, the symbols of the classes.
    The classification consists of a list of classes — there are 34 classes for goods and eight for services — and an alphabetical list of the goods and services. The latter comprises some 11,000 items. Both lists are, from time to time, amended and supplemented by a committee of experts on which all contracting states are represented.
    Although only 58 states are party to the Nice Agreement, the trademark offices of more than 140 states, as well as the International Bureau of WIPO, the Benelux Trademark Office, the African Intellectual Property Organization, and the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) of the European Communities, actually use the classification.

Lisbon Agreement for the Protection of Appellations of Origin and Their International Registration (1958) (Administered by WIPO)
The aim of the Lisbon Agreement is to provide for the protection of appellations of origin, that is, the “geographical name of a country, region, or locality, which serves to designate a product originating therein, the quality and characteristics of which are due exclusively or essentially to the geographic environment, including natural and human factors” (Article 2). Such names are registered by the International Bureau of WIPO in Geneva upon the request of the competent authorities of the interested contracting state. The International Bureau communicates the registration to the other contracting states. Except for a contracting state that declares, within one year, that it cannot ensure the protection of a registered name, all contracting states must protect the internationally registered name as long as it continues to be protected in the country of origin.

Locarno Agreement Establishing an International Classification for Industrial Designs (1968) (Administered by WIPO)
The Locarno Agreement establishes a classification for industrial designs. The competent offices of the contracting states must indicate in the official documents reflecting the deposit or registration of industrial designs the appropriate symbols of the classification. They must do the same in any publication that the offices issue in respect of the deposit or registration.
    A committee of experts, on which all contracting states are represented, set up under the agreement, is entrusted with the task of periodic revision of the classification.
    The classification consists of 32 classes and 223 subclasses. It also comprises an alphabetical list of goods with an indication of the classes and subclasses into which these goods fall. The list contains some 6,320 indications of different kinds of goods.
    Although only 35 states are party to the Locarno Agreement, the industrial property offices of some other states apply the classification. The classification is also applied by the International Bureau of WIPO in the administration of the Hague Agreement and by the Benelux Designs Office.

Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) (1970) (Administered by WIPO)
The PCT makes it possible to seek patent protection for an invention simultaneously in each of a large number of countries by filing an “international” patent application. Such an application may be filed by anyone who is a national or resident of a contracting state. It may generally be filed with the national patent office of the contracting state of which the applicant is a national or resident or with the International Bureau of WIPO in Geneva. If the applicant is a national or resident of a contracting state that is party to the European Patent Convention, the Harare Protocol on Patents and Industrial Designs, or the Eurasian Patent Convention, the international application may also be filed with the European Patent Office (EPO), the African Regional Industrial Property Organization (ARIPO), or the Eurasian Patent Office (EAPO), respectively.
    The treaty regulates in detail the formal requirements that any international application must comply with.
    Among all the contracting states, the applicant indicates those in which he or she wishes the international application to have effect. The effect of the international application in each designated state is the same as if a national patent application had been filed with the national patent office of that state.
    The international application is then subjected to what is called an “international search” that is carried out by one of the major patent offices. The said search results in an “international search report” that lists the citations of such published documents that might affect the patentability of the invention claimed in the international application.

Strasbourg Agreement Concerning the International Patent Classification (1971) (Administered by WIPO)
The Strasbourg Agreement establishes the International Patent Classification (IPC), which divides technology into eight sections with approximately 67,000 subdivisions. Each subdivision has a symbol consisting of Arabic numerals and letters of the Latin alphabet.
    The appropriate IPC symbols are indicated on each patent document (published patent applications and granted patents), of which about 1 million were issued each year in the last 10 years or so. The appropriate symbols are allotted by the national or regional industrial property office that publishes the patent document.
    Although only 41 states are party to the agreement, the patent offices of more than 80 states, four regional offices, and the International Bureau of WIPO under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) actually use the IPC.

Vienna Agreement Establishing an International Classification of the Figurative Elements of Marks (1973) (Administered by WIPO)
The agreement establishes a classification for marks that consist of or contain figurative elements. The competent offices of the contracting states must indicate in the official documents and publications relating to registrations and renewals of marks the appropriate symbols of the classification.
    A committee of experts, on which all contracting states are represented, is entrusted with the task of periodic revision of the classification.
    The classification consists of 29 categories, 144 divisions, and 1,796 sections in which the figurative elements of marks are classified.
    Although only 13 states are party to the Vienna Agreement, the classification is used by the industrial property offices of at least 30 states, as well as by the International Bureau of WIPO, the Benelux Trademark Office, and the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) of the European Communities.

European Patent Convention (1973) (Administered by the European Patent Office)
The European Patent Convention (EPC) created the European Patent Office (EPO), which is based in Munich, Germany. The convention currently applies to most European Community member states and to several other European countries. (EPO membership is not open to the United States, but close relations are maintained through the U.S. Commerce Department's Patent and Trademark Office.) The EPC provides for a single application — in English, German, or French — on which a central search and examination is carried out. Once the patent is accepted for grant and the appropriate fees and translations have been submitted, the single application is converted into a bundle of individual national patents. The system also allows an opposition to the grant to be lodged at the EPO within nine months from patent grant. Subsequent issues of validity, however, must be dealt with on a country-by-country basis by individual national courts.

Nairobi Treaty on the Protection of the Olympic Symbol (1981) (Administered by WIPO)
All states that are party to the treaty are under the obligation to protect the Olympic symbol — five interlaced rings — against use for commercial purposes without the authorization of the International Olympic Committee. The treaty also provides that, whenever a license fee is paid to the International Olympic Committee for its authorization to use the Olympic symbol for commercial purposes, part of the revenue must go to the interested national Olympic committees.

Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure (1977) (Administered by WIPO)
Disclosure of the invention is a requirement for the grant of patents. Normally, an invention is disclosed by means of a written description. Where an invention involves a microorganism or the use of a microorganism, disclosure is not possible in writing but can be effected only by the deposit, with a specialized institution, of a sample of the microorganism.
    To eliminate the need to deposit in each country in which protection is sought, the Budapest Treaty provides that the deposit of a microorganism with any “international depositary authority” suffices for the purposes of patent procedure before the national patent offices of all of the contracting states and before any regional patent office (if such a regional office declares that it recognizes the effects of the treaty).
    What the treaty calls an “international depositary authority” is a scientific institution — typically a “culture collection” — that is capable of storing microorganisms. Such an institution acquires the status of “international depositary authority” through the furnishing by the contracting state in the territory of which it is located of assurances to the Director General of WIPO to the effect that the institution complies with certain requirements of the treaty.
    The treaty is primarily advantageous to the depositor if he or she is an applicant for patents in several contracting states; the deposit of a microorganism under the procedures provided for in the treaty will save the depositor money and increase the security of the patent application.

Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks (1989) (Administered by WIPO)
The Madrid Protocol was adopted to introduce certain new features into the system of the international registration of marks (as existing under the Madrid Agreement). The new features remove the difficulties that are preventing certain countries from adhering to the Madrid Agreement. The Madrid Protocol operates in a complementary way with the Madrid Agreement.
    As compared with the Madrid Agreement, the protocol introduces the following main innovations:
The applicant may base his or her application for international registration not only on the registration of his mark in the national (or regional) office of origin but also on an application for national (or regional) registration filed with that office.
Each contracting party in which the applicant seeks protection may, within 18 months (instead of one year), and an even longer period in the case of opposition, declare that protection cannot be granted to the mark in its territory.
The office of each contracting party may receive higher fees than under the Madrid Agreement.
An international registration that is canceled at the request of the office of origin may be transformed into national (or regional) applications benefiting from its filing date and, where applicable, priority date.
    Furthermore, the protocol establishes links with the trademark system of the European Communities.
    Finally, applications governed by the protocol can be filed not only in French but also in English.

Washington Treaty on Intellectual Property in Respect of Integrated Circuits (1989) (Administered by WIPO)
Although the treaty is not yet in force, it has been incorporated by reference in the TRIPS Agreement of the World Trade Organization (WTO), subject to several modifications.
    Under the treaty, each contracting party is obliged to secure, throughout its territory, intellectual property protection of original layout-designs (topographies) of integrated circuits, whether or not the integrated circuit concerned is incorporated in an article.
    Each contracting party must accord the same treatment to natural persons and legal entities of other contracting parties as it accords to its own nationals.
    The contracting parties must, at a minimum, consider the following acts to be unlawful if performed without the authorization of the holder of the right: the reproduction of the layout-design, and the importation, sale, or other distribution for commercial purposes of the layout-design or an integrated circuit in which the layout-design is incorporated.

Trademark Law Treaty (TLT) (1994) (Administered by WIPO)
The aim of the TLT is to make national and regional trademark registration systems more user friendly. This is achieved through the simplification and harmonization of procedures and through removing pitfalls, thus making the procedure safe for the owners of marks and their representatives.
    The great majority of the provisions of the TLT concern the procedure before the trademark registry, which can be divided into three main phases: application for registration, changes after registration, and renewal. The rules concerning each phase are so constructed as to make clear what a trademark office can require and what that office cannot require from the applicant or the owner.

Treaties in the Field of Copyright and Neighboring Rights

Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (1886) (Administered by WIPO)
The Berne Convention rests on three basic principles and contains a series of provisions determining the minimum protection to be granted, as well as special provisions available to developing countries that want to make use of them.
    The three basic principles are the following:
Works originating in one of the contracting states must be given the same protection in each of the other contracting states as the latter grants to the works of its own nationals.
Such protection must not be conditional upon compliance with any formality.
Such protection is independent of the existence of protection in the country of origin of the work. If, however, a contracting state provides for a longer term than the minimum prescribed by the convention and the work ceases to be protected in the country of origin, protection may be denied once protection in the country of origin ceases.
    As to works, the protection must include “every production in the literary, scientific, and artistic domain, whatever may be the mode or form of its expression” (Article 2(1)). The following are among the rights that must be recognized as exclusive rights of authorization: the rights to translate; to make adaptations and arrangements of the work; to perform in public dramatic, dramatico-musical, and musical works; to recite in public literary works; to communicate to the public the performance of such works; to broadcast; to make reproduction in any manner or form; to use the work as a basis for an audiovisual work; and to reproduce, distribute, perform in public, or communicate to the public that audiovisual work.
    The convention also provides for “moral rights,” that is, the right to claim authorship of the work and the right to object to any mutilation or deformation or other modification of, or other derogatory action in relation to, the work that would be prejudicial to the author's honor or reputation.
    As to the duration of protection, the general rule is that protection must be granted until the expiration of the 50th year after the author's death.

Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms, and Broadcasting Organizations (1961) [Administered jointly by WIPO, the International Labour Organization (ILO), and the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)]
The Rome Convention secures protection in performances of performers, phonograms of producers of phonograms, and broadcasts of broadcasting organizations.
    Performers (actors, singers, musicians, dancers, and other persons who perform literary or artistic works) are protected against certain acts they have not consented to. Such acts are: the broadcasting and communication to the public of their live performance; the fixation of their live performance; the reproduction of such a fixation if the original fixation was made without their consent or if the reproduction is made for purposes different from those for which they gave their consent.
    Producers of phonograms enjoy the right to authorize or prohibit the direct or indirect reproduction of their phonograms.
    Broadcasting organizations enjoy the right to authorize or prohibit certain acts, namely: the rebroadcasting of their broadcasts; the fixation of their broadcasts; the reproduction of such fixations; the communication to the public of their television broadcasts if such communication is made in places accessible to the public against payment of an entrance fee.

Geneva Convention for the Protection of Producers of Phonograms Against Unauthorized Duplication of Their Phonograms (1971) (Administered by WIPO in cooperation with the ILO and UNESCO)
The Geneva Convention provides for the obligation of each contracting state to protect a producer of phonograms who is a national of another contracting state against making duplicates without the consent of the producer, against the importation of such duplicates, where the making or importation is for the purposes of distribution to the public, and against the distribution of such duplicates to the public. Protection may be provided as a matter of copyright law, sui generis (neighboring rights) law, unfair competition law, or penal law. Protection must last for at least 20 years from the first fixation or the first publication of the phonogram.

Brussels Convention Relating to the Distribution of Programme-Carrying Signals Transmitted by Satellite (1974)
The Brussels Convention provides for the obligation of each contracting state to take adequate measures to prevent the unauthorized distribution on or from its territory of any program-carrying signal transmitted by satellite. The distribution is unauthorized if it has not been authorized by the organization — typically a broadcasting organization — that has decided what the program consists of. The obligation exists in respect of organizations that are nationals of a contracting state.
    The provisions of this convention are not applicable, however, where the distribution of signals is made from a direct broadcasting satellite.

WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) (1996)
This treaty was concluded in Geneva on December 20, 1996. It is awaiting ratification.
    Any contracting party (even if it is not bound by the Berne Convention) must comply with the substantive provisions of the 1971 (Paris) Act of the Berne Convention.
    As to the subject matters to be protected by copyright, the treaty mentions two: (1) computer programs, whatever may be the mode or form of their expression, and (2) compilations of data or other material (“databases”), in any form, which by reason of the selection or arrangement of their contents constitute intellectual creations.
    As to the rights of authors, the treaty deals with three: (1) the right of distribution, (2) the right of rental, and (3) the right of communication to the public. Each of them is an exclusive right, subject to certain limitations and exceptions.
    The treaty obliges the contracting parties to provide legal remedies against the circumvention of technological measures (e.g., encryption) used by authors in connection with the exercise of their rights and against the removal or altering of information, such as certain data that identify the work or their authors, necessary for the management (e.g., licensing, collecting, and distribution of royalties) of their rights (“rights management information”).
    The treaty obliges each contracting party to adopt, in accordance with its legal system, the measures necessary to ensure the application of the treaty. In particular, the contracting party must ensure that enforcement procedures are available under its law so as to permit effective action against any act of infringement of rights covered by the treaty. Such action must include expeditious remedies to prevent infringement and remedies that constitute a deterrent to further infringements.

WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT) (1996)
This treaty was concluded on December 20, 1996. It is awaiting ratification.
    This treaty deals with intellectual property rights of two kinds of beneficiaries: (1) performers (actors, singers, musicians, etc.), and (2) producers of phonograms (the persons or legal entities who or which take the initiative and have the responsibility for the fixation of the sounds).
    As far as performers are concerned, the treaty grants performers four kinds of economic rights in their performances fixed in phonograms: (1) the right of reproduction, (2) the right of distribution, (3) the right of rental, and (4) the right of making available. Each of them is an exclusive right, subject to certain limitations and exceptions.
    The treaty grants three kinds of economic rights to performers in respect of their unfixed (live) performances: (1) the right of broadcasting (except in the case of rebroadcasting), (2) the right of communication to the public (except where the performance is a broadcast performance), and (3) the right of fixation.
    The treaty also grants performers moral rights: the right to claim to be identified as the performer and the right to object to any distortion, mutilation, or other modification that would be prejudicial to the performer's reputation.
    As far as producers of phonograms are concerned, the treaty grants them four kinds of rights (all economic) in their phonograms: (1) the right of reproduction, (2) the right of distribution, (3) the right of rental, and (4) the right of making available. Each of them is an exclusive right, subject to certain limitations and exceptions.
    As far as both performers and phonogram producers are concerned, the treaty obliges each contracting party to accord to nationals of the other contracting parties with regard to the rights specifically granted in the treaty the treatment it accords to its own nationals.
    Furthermore, the treaty provides that performers and producers of phonograms enjoy the right to a single equitable remuneration for the direct or indirect use of phonograms, published for commercial purposes, for broadcasting, or for communication to the public.
    The term of protection must be at least 50 years.

SIDEBAR: The World Intellectual Property Organization

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