Sixteenth ratification and an ongoing worldwide campaign for the Beijing Treaty

The WIPO Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances (BTAP) is a multilateral treaty acknowledging for the first time the intellectual property rights of performers with regard to their audiovisual performances. Adopted in 2012, it is a landmark achievement that acknowledges the right of audiovisual performers to be compensated fairly for the use of their creative contributions. On May 9^th, the independent State of Samoa ratified the BTAP, becoming the sixteenth country to do so, and FIA warmly welcomes this new ratification.

The BTAP is indeed the first of its kind granting a meaningful IP protection to audiovisual performances, with moral rights and economic rights adapted to both analogue and digital environments, but will enter into force only after ratification by 30 eligible countries. In order to encourage this process, FIA and its worldwide membership keep campaigning actively on any occasion.

On April 26 for example, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) celebrates the World Intellectual Property Day in order to promote discussion of the role of intellectual property (IP) in encouraging innovation and creativity. FIA and its members joined the celebration by calling for the ratification of the WIPO Beijing Treaty. ‘LET’S RATIFY NOW’ is the message they have been sending out on World IP day by sharing selfie pictures. Among outstanding participations, one can note the massive involvement of Slovenian performers who kept posting shots all day long and got significant media coverage for the event in national newspapers.

The Selfie Campaign coordinated by FIA on World IP Day this year has been a strong and visible success and the Federation is eager to keep building on this momentum. Performers all around the world need to stand together to ask for strong intellectual property rights to protect their work. That’s why FIA invites all performers to step in and keep taking selfie shots to call for ratification. All pictures are visible in the Selfie photo gallery on the dedicated website: www.beijingtreaty.com.