China safeguards performers' rights

China threw its weight behind a proposed treaty to strengthen the economic rights of film and music performers worldwide as the Diplomatic Conference on the Protection of Audiovisual Performances opened in Beijing on Wednesday.

The World Intellectual Property Organization and the Chinese government convened the conference, which takes place from Wednesday to June 26.

It is expected to result in a treaty that will enable performers to share proceeds with producers from audiovisual revenues generated internationally. The rights are not included in existing international copy-right law.

"The Chinese government is very supportive of the treaty," said Liu Binjie, head of the General Administration of Press and Publication.

Liu noted that the audiovisual performances industry accounted for about 50 billion yuan ($7.86 billion) of China's gross domestic product in 2011.

"Signing the treaty will encourage more Chinese performers to invest their intelligence and material resources in audiovisual performances. It will then produce more good works for the public and contribute more to the economy," he said.

The Copyright Law, introduced in China in 1990, has been amended twice and the draft of a third amendment is under review. The treaty will help adjust the law to meet existing international regulations, he said. 

The conference also serves as international recognition for China's progress in copyright protection, Liu said.

"It is particularly appropriate that the value of performers should be recognized in a treaty concluded in China because of the depth of China's historical association with theater and performance, and because of the vitality and dynamism of its contemporary theater, cinema and television," said Francis Gurry, director-general of the World Intellectual Property Organization.

The audiovisual performances industry contributes 5.2 percent of the world economy and 5.4 percent of its employment, he noted.

Negotiations began in 1996 and made "significant progress" at a meeting in 2000, with provisional agreement on 19 of 20 articles under discussion.

The one issue left unresolved was the transfer of economic rights from performers to producers, said Michele Woods, director of the copyright law division of the organization's culture and creative industries sector.

An agreement was reached on the final article in Geneva in 2011 with compromise wording that makes the provision on the transfer flexible to adapt to different national laws, paving the way for the treaty to be signed during the next week in Beijing.

More than 700 negotiators from 154 countries and 48 international organizations have come to Beijing to attend the conference.