1st int'l audiovisual rights treaty to be signed in Beijing

Beijing (CNS) – The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has agreed to hold the high-level Diplomatic Conference on the Protection of Audiovisual Performances in Beijing from June 20 to 26, where an international treaty on the rights of audiovisual performers is to be adopted.

It will be the first such international treaty made in China, to be known as the "Beijing Treaty."

The conference will be held jointly by the WIPO, China's National Copyright Administration, the Foreign Affairs Ministry, the Commerce Ministry, the State Intellectual Property Office and Beijing's municipal government. About 800 representatives from 186 countries are scheduled to attend.

The conference will discuss common international standards for protecting performers' audiovisual rights, said Wang Yefei, spokesman of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Press and Publication, on Sunday. Chinese performers will benefit from the treaty if it is signed, he added.

The WIPO first proposed the treaty in 1996.