An international Treaty to update broadcasters' neighbouring right, as enshrined in the 1961 Convention of Rome, has been on the agenda of WIPO for 15 years. A fresh impetus to finalize this legal instrument was provided by a forward-looking proposal from South Africa and Mexico in 2011. Following the successful conclusion of the Marrakech Diplomatic Conference for a treaty on copyright limitations and exceptions for visually impaired persons in June 2013, the world's broadcasting organizations are urging WIPO to promptly devote its energy and resources to modernizing the protection of broadcast organizations.

A Broadcasters' Treaty would protect the services and innovation that broadcasters provide to the public at large, protection which is critical for the entire copyright society, and in all parts of the world. The misappropriation of broadcast signals on the Internet and elsewhere is rampant. A recent study shows that live television is the fastest growing segment of all copyright infringement today. The quantity and quality of services that broadcasters are able to provide the public they are licensed to serve is suffering as a result. After many years of debate and deliberation, broadcasters feel that a treaty is long overdue. This common desire was expressed in a joint declaration, signed recently by all of the world's broadcasting unions.

Broadcasters' associations urge the WIPO Assembly to direct that the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) should accelerate and finalize the work on the Broadcasters' Treaty as a matter of priority. A concrete work plan for the next SCCR meetings should be established so as to submit to the 2014 General Assemblies a text suitable for the convening of a Diplomatic Conference in 2015.

The current working document (SCCR 24/10 rev.) still requires intensive drafting work and it is important that copyright experts of broadcasting organizations continue explaining today's broadcasting activities to the WIPO delegations. At the next three SCCR meetings, starting in December 2013, this document should be moulded into a consensus text that can serve as the basis for convening a diplomatic conference to be scheduled in 2015.