Minister Bruton signs the Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances on behalf of the EU and Ireland

Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD on Wednesday 19th June, signed the Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances on behalf of the EU at the headquarters of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) in Geneva.

Under the Beijing Treaty, the rights of performers such as singers, musicians, actors and dancers in an audiovisual work will be strengthened in the online and offline environment and, when their performances are used, to be fairly remunerated. The main benefit of the new Treaty will be to ensure that this level of protection is recognized at international level and that European performers enjoy rights, and are fairly remunerated, when audiovisual works containing their performances are exploited in third countries and vice versa.

At the signing, the Minister said “I am delighted to sign the Beijing Treaty on behalf of the EU. It is a significant step forward in granting performers international protection for their works when included in audiovisual form and performed internationally among contracting States to the Treaty. Most importantly, it will assist performers to get paid when their works are used in this way”.

The Treaty was concluded in Beijing in June 2012 and remains open for signature at WIPO until 24 June 2013, although States can subsequently accede to the Treaty after that date. Following approval by Government, Minister Bruton took the opportunity also to sign the Treaty on behalf of Ireland. Ireland joins a number of EU Member States that have already or will, before the 24th June, sign the Treaty.

The Minister thanked all those who worked hard to bring the Treaty to fruition and congratulated the World Intellectual Property Organisation for the initiative shown in this area. He expressed the hope that the Treaty would garner wide support in terms of accession to the Treaty by WIPO-contracting States and enter into force as soon as possible.