WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty 1996 12 20

International Portal of the University of Portal Internacional de la Universidad
Alicante on Intellectual Property & de Alicante sobre Propiedad Industrial

Information Society e Intelectual y Sociedad de la
Información
WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT) (1996).
• CHAPTER I. GENERAL PROVISIONS ............................................. 1

• CHAPTER II. RIGHTS OF PERFORMERS ...................................... 3
• CHAPTER III. RIGHTS OF PRODUCERS OF PHONOGRAMS ...... 4
• CHAPTER IV. COMMON PROVISIONS ........................................... 5
• CHAPTER V. ADMINISTRATIVE AND FINAL CLAUSES ................ 7
adopted in Geneva on December 20, 1996
Preamble
The Contracting Parties,
Desiring to develop and maintain the protection of the rights of performers and producers of
phonograms in a manner as effective and uniform as possible,
Recognizing the need to introduce new international rules in order to provide adequate
solutions to the questions raised by economic, social, cultural and technological
developments,
Recognizing the profound impact of the development and convergence of information and
communication technologies on the production and use of performances and phonograms,
Recognizing the need to maintain a balance between the rights of performers and
producers of phonograms and the larger public interest, particularly education, research
and access to information,
Have agreed as follows:
CHAPTER I. GENERAL PROVISIONS ➦

• Article 1
Relation to Other Conventions
1. Nothing in this Treaty shall derogate from existing obligations that Contracting
Parties have to each other under the International Convention for the Protection
of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations done
in Rome, October 26, 1961 (hereinafter the "Rome Convention").
2. Protection granted under this Treaty shall leave intact and shall in no way affect
the protection of copyright in literary and artistic works. Consequently, no
provision of this Treaty may be interpreted as prejudicing such protection. 1
3. This Treaty shall not have any connection with, nor shall it prejudice any rights
and obligations under, any other treaties.
• Article 2
Definitions
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For the purposes of this Treaty:
a. "performers" are actors, singers, musicians, dancers, and other persons who act,
sing, deliver, declaim, play in, interpret, or otherwise perform literary or artistic
works or expressions of folklore;
b. "phonogram" means the fixation of the sounds of a performance or of other
sounds, or of a representation of sounds, other than in the form of a fixation
incorporated in a cinematographic or other audiovisual work; 2
c. "fixation" means the embodiment of sounds, or of the representations thereof,
from which they can be perceived, reproduced or communicated through a
device;
d. "producer of a phonogram" means the person, or the legal entity, who or which
takes the initiative and has the responsibility for the first fixation of the sounds of
a performance or other sounds, or the representations of sounds;
e. "publication" of a fixed performance or a phonogram means the offering of
copies of the fixed performance or the phonogram to the public, with the consent
of the rightholder, and provided that copies are offered to the public in
reasonable quantity; 3
f. "broadcasting" means the transmission by wireless means for public reception of
sounds or of images and sounds or of the representations thereof; such
transmission by satellite is also "broadcasting"; transmission of encrypted signals
is "broadcasting" where the means for decrypting are provided to the public by
the broadcasting organization or with its consent;
g. "communication to the public" of a performance or a phonogram means the
transmission to the public by any medium, otherwise than by broadcasting, of
sounds of a performance or the sounds or the representations of sounds fixed in
a phonogram. For the purposes of Article 15, "communication to the public"
includes making the sounds or representations of sounds fixed in a phonogram
audible to the public.
• Article 3
Beneficiaries of Protection under this Treaty
1. Contracting Parties shall accord the protection provided under this Treaty to the
performers and producers of phonograms who are nationals of other Contracting
Parties.
2. The nationals of other Contracting Parties shall be understood to be those
performers or producers of phonograms who would meet the criteria for eligibility
for protection provided under the Rome Convention, were all the Contracting
Parties to this Treaty Contracting States of that Convention. In respect of these
criteria of eligibility, Contracting Parties shall apply the relevant definitions in
Article 2 of this Treaty. 4
3. Any Contracting Party availing itself of the possibilities provided in Article 5(3) of
the Rome Convention or, for the purposes of Article 5 of the same Convention,
Article 17 thereof shall make a notification as foreseen in those provisions to the
Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). 5
• Article 4
National Treatment
1. Each Contracting Party shall accord to nationals of other Contracting Parties, as

defined in Article 3(2), the treatment it accords to its own nationals with regard to
the exclusive rights specifically granted in this Treaty, and to the right to
equitable remuneration provided for in Article 15 of this Treaty.
2. The obligation provided for in paragraph (1) does not apply to the extent that
another Contracting Party makes use of the reservations permitted by Article
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15(3) of this Treaty.
CHAPTER II. RIGHTS OF PERFORMERS ➦

• Article 5
Moral Rights of Performers
1. Independently of a performer's economic rights, and even after the transfer of

those rights, the performer shall, as regards his live aural performances or
performances fixed in phonograms, have the right to claim to be identified as the
performer of his performances, except where omission is dictated by the manner
of the use of the performance, and to object to any distortion, mutilation or other
modification of his performances that would be prejudicial to his reputation.
2. The rights granted to a performer in accordance with paragraph (1) shall, after
his death, be maintained, at least until the expiry of the economic rights, and
shall be exercisable by the persons or institutions authorized by the legislation of
the Contracting Party where protection is claimed. However, those Contracting
Parties whose legislation, at the moment of their ratification of or accession to
this Treaty, does not provide for protection after the death of the performer of all
rights set out in the preceding paragraph may provide that some of these rights
will, after his death, cease to be maintained.
3. The means of redress for safeguarding the rights granted under this Article shall
be governed by the legislation of the Contracting Party where protection is
claimed.
• Article 6
Economic Rights of Performers in their Unfixed Performances
Performers shall enjoy the exclusive right of authorizing, as regards their

performances:
i. the broadcasting and communication to the public of their unfixed performances

except where the performance is already a broadcast performance; and
ii. the fixation of their unfixed performances.
• Article 7
Right of Reproduction
Performers shall enjoy the exclusive right of authorizing the direct or indirect
reproduction of their performances fixed in phonograms, in any manner or form. 6
• Article 8
Right of Distribution
1. Performers shall enjoy the exclusive right of authorizing the making available to
the public of the original and copies of their performances fixed in phonograms
through sale or other transfer of ownership.
2. Nothing in this Treaty shall affect the freedom of Contracting Parties to
determine the conditions, if any, under which the exhaustion of the right in
paragraph (1) applies after the first sale or other transfer of ownership of the
original or a copy of the fixed performance with the authorization of the
performer. 7
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• Article 9
Right of Rental
1. Performers shall enjoy the exclusive right of authorizing the commercial rental to
the public of the original and copies of their performances fixed in phonograms
as determined in the national law of Contracting Parties, even after distribution of
them by, or pursuant to, authorization by the performer.
2. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (1), a Contracting Party that, on
April 15, 1994, had and continues to have in force a system of equitable
remuneration of performers for the rental of copies of their performances fixed in
phonograms, may maintain that system provided that the commercial rental of
phonograms is not giving rise to the material impairment of the exclusive right of
reproduction of performers. 8
• Article 10
Right of Making Available of Fixed Performances
Performers shall enjoy the exclusive right of authorizing the making available to the
public of their performances fixed in phonograms, by wire or wireless means, in such
a way that members of the public may access them from a place and at a time
individually chosen by them.
CHAPTER III. RIGHTS OF PRODUCERS OF PHONOGRAMS ➦

• Article 11
Right of Reproduction
Producers of phonograms shall enjoy the exclusive right of authorizing the direct or
indirect reproduction of their phonograms, in any manner or form. 9
• Article 12
Right of Distribution
1. Producers of phonograms shall enjoy the exclusive right of authorizing the

making available to the public of the original and copies of their phonograms
through sale or other transfer of ownership.
2. Nothing in this Treaty shall affect the freedom of Contracting Parties to
determine the conditions, if any, under which the exhaustion of the right in
paragraph (1) applies after the first sale or other transfer of ownership of the
original or a copy of the phonogram with the authorization of the producer of the
phonogram. 10
• Article 13
Right of Rental
1. Producers of phonograms shall enjoy the exclusive right of authorizing the

commercial rental to the public of the original and copies of their phonograms,
even after distribution of them by or pursuant to authorization by the producer.
2. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (1), a Contracting Party that, on
April 15, 1994, had and continues to have in force a system of equitable
remuneration of producers of phonograms for the rental of copies of their
phonograms, may maintain that system provided that the commercial rental of
Información
phonograms is not giving rise to the material impairment of the exclusive right of
reproduction of producers of phonograms. 11
• Article 14
Right of Making Available of Phonograms
Producers of phonograms shall enjoy the exclusive right of authorizing the making
available to the public of their phonograms, by wire or wireless means, in such a way
that members of the public may access them from a place and at a time individually
chosen by them.
CHAPTER IV. COMMON PROVISIONS ➦

• Article 15
Right to Remuneration for Broadcasting and Communication to the Public
1. Performers and producers of phonograms shall enjoy the right to a single

equitable remuneration for the direct or indirect use of phonograms published for
commercial purposes for broadcasting or for any communication to the public.
2. Contracting Parties may establish in their national legislation that the single
equitable remuneration shall be claimed from the user by the performer or by the
producer of a phonogram or by both. Contracting Parties may enact national
legislation that, in the absence of an agreement between the performer and the
producer of a phonogram, sets the terms according to which performers and
producers of phonograms shall share the single equitable remuneration.
3. Any Contracting Party may in a notification deposited with the Director General
of WIPO, declare that it will apply the provisions of paragraph (1) only in respect
of certain uses, or that it will limit their application in some other way, or that it
will not apply these provisions at all.
4. For the purposes of this Article, phonograms made available to the public by
wire or wireless means in such a way that members of the public may access
them from a place and at a time individually chosen by them shall be considered
as if they had been published for commercial purposes. 12 13
• Article 16
Limitations and Exceptions
1. Contracting Parties may, in their national legislation, provide for the same kinds
of limitations or exceptions with regard to the protection of performers and
producers of phonograms as they provide for, in their national legislation, in
connection with the protection of copyright in literary and artistic works.
2. Contracting Parties shall confine any limitations of or exceptions to rights
provided for in this Treaty to certain special cases which do not conflict with a
normal exploitation of the performance or phonogram and do not unreasonably
prejudice the legitimate interests of the performer or of the producer of the
phonogram. 14 15
• Article 17
Term of Protection
1. The term of protection to be granted to performers under this Treaty shall last, at
least, until the end of a period of 50 years computed from the end of the year in
which the performance was fixed in a phonogram.
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2. The term of protection to be granted to producers of phonograms under this

Treaty shall last, at least, until the end of a period of 50 years computed from the
end of the year in which the phonogram was published, or failing such
publication within 50 years from fixation of the phonogram, 50 years from the
end of the year in which the fixation was made.
• Article 18
Obligations concerning Technological Measures
Contracting Parties shall provide adequate legal protection and effective legal
remedies against the circumvention of effective technological measures that are used
by performers or producers of phonograms in connection with the exercise of their
rights under this Treaty and that restrict acts, in respect of their performances or
phonograms, which are not authorized by the performers or the producers of
phonograms concerned or permitted by law.
• Article 19
Obligations concerning Rights Management Information
1. Contracting Parties shall provide adequate and effective legal remedies against
any person knowingly performing any of the following acts knowing, or with
respect to civil remedies having reasonable grounds to know, that it will induce,
enable, facilitate or conceal an infringement of any right covered by this Treaty:
i. to remove or alter any electronic rights management information without
authority;
ii. to distribute, import for distribution, broadcast, communicate or make
available to the public, without authority, performances, copies of fixed
performances or phonograms knowing that electronic rights management
information has been removed or altered without authority.
2. As used in this Article, "rights management information" means information
which identifies the performer, the performance of the performer, the producer of
the phonogram, the phonogram, the owner of any right in the performance or
phonogram, or information about the terms and conditions of use of the
performance or phonogram, and any numbers or codes that represent such
information, when any of these items of information is attached to a copy of a
fixed performance or a phonogram or appears in connection with the
communication or making available of a fixed performance or a phonogram to
the public. 16
• Article 20
Formalities
The enjoyment and exercise of the rights provided for in this Treaty shall not be
subject to any formality.
• Article 21
Reservations
Subject to the provisions of Article 15(3), no reservations to this Treaty shall be

permitted.
• Article 22
Application in Time
Información
1. Contracting Parties shall apply the provisions of Article 18 of the Berne

Convention, mutatis mutandis, to the rights of performers and producers of
phonograms provided for in this Treaty.
2. Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a Contracting Party may limit the application of
Article 5 of this Treaty to performances which occurred after the entry into force
of this Treaty for that Party.
• Article 23
Provisions on Enforcement of Rights
1. Contracting Parties undertake to adopt, in accordance with their legal systems,

the measures necessary to ensure the application of this Treaty.
2. Contracting Parties shall ensure that enforcement procedures are available
under their law so as to permit effective action against any act of infringement of
rights covered by this Treaty, including expeditious remedies to prevent
infringements and remedies which constitute a deterrent to further infringements.
CHAPTER V. ADMINISTRATIVE AND FINAL CLAUSES ➦

• Article 24
Assembly
1.
a. The Contracting Parties shall have an Assembly.
b. Each Contracting Party shall be represented by one delegate who may be
assisted by alternate delegates, advisors and experts.
c. The expenses of each delegation shall be borne by the Contracting Party
that has appointed the delegation. The Assembly may ask WIPO to grant
financial assistance to facilitate the participation of delegations of
Contracting Parties that are regarded as developing countries in conformity
with the established practice of the General Assembly of the United
Nations or that are countries in transition to a market economy.
2.
a. The Assembly shall deal with matters concerning the maintenance and
development of this Treaty and the application and operation of this Treaty.
b. The Assembly shall perform the function allocated to it under Article 26(2)
in respect of the admission of certain intergovernmental organizations to
become party to this Treaty.
c. The Assembly shall decide the convocation of any diplomatic conference
for the revision of this Treaty and give the necessary instructions to the
Director General of WIPO for the preparation of such diplomatic
conference.
3.
a. Each Contracting Party that is a State shall have one vote and shall vote
only in its own name.
b. Any Contracting Party that is an intergovernmental organization may
participate in the vote, in place of its Member States, with a number of
votes equal to the number of its Member States which are party to this
Treaty. No such intergovernmental organization shall participate in the vote
if any one of its Member States exercises its right to vote and vice versa.
4. The Assembly shall meet in ordinary session once every two years upon
convocation by the Director General of WIPO.
5. The Assembly shall establish its own rules of procedure, including the
convocation of extraordinary sessions, the requirements of a quorum and,
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subject to the provisions of this Treaty, the required majority for various kinds of
decisions.
• Article 25
International Bureau
The International Bureau of WIPO shall perform the administrative tasks concerning
the Treaty.
• Article 26
Eligibility for Becoming Party to the Treaty
1. Any Member State of WIPO may become party to this Treaty.

2. The Assembly may decide to admit any intergovernmental organization to
become party to this Treaty which declares that it is competent in respect of, and
has its own legislation binding on all its Member States on, matters covered by
this Treaty and that it has been duly authorized, in accordance with its internal
procedures, to become party to this Treaty.
3. The European Community, having made the declaration referred to in the
preceding paragraph in the Diplomatic Conference that has adopted this Treaty,
may become party to this Treaty.
• Article 27
Rights and Obligations under the Treaty
Subject to any specific provisions to the contrary in this Treaty, each Contracting Party
shall enjoy all of the rights and assume all of the obligations under this Treaty.
• Article 28
Signature of the Treaty
This Treaty shall be open for signature until December 31, 1997, by any Member
State of WIPO and by the European Community.
• Article 29
Entry into Force of the Treaty
This Treaty shall enter into force three months after 30 instruments of ratification or
accession by States have been deposited with the Director General of WIPO.
• Article 30
Effective Date of Becoming Party to the Treaty
This Treaty shall bind
i. the 30 States referred to in Article 29, from the date on which this Treaty has
entered into force;
ii. each other State from the expiration of three months from the date on which the
State has deposited its instrument with the Director General of WIPO;
iii. the European Community, from the expiration of three months after the deposit
of its instrument of ratification or accession if such instrument has been
deposited after the entry into force of this Treaty according to Article 29, or, three
months after the entry into force of this Treaty if such instrument has been
deposited before the entry into force of this Treaty;
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iv. any other intergovernmental organization that is admitted to become party to this
Treaty, from the expiration of three months after the deposit of its instrument of
accession.
• Article 31
Denunciation of the Treaty
This Treaty may be denounced by any Contracting Party by notification addressed to

the Director General of WIPO. Any denunciation shall take effect one year from the
date on which the Director General of WIPO received the notification.
• Article 32
Languages of the Treaty
1. This Treaty is signed in a single original in English, Arabic, Chinese, French,

Russian and Spanish languages, the versions in all these languages being
equally authentic.
2. An official text in any language other than those referred to in paragraph (1) shall
be established by the Director General of WIPO on the request of an interested
party, after consultation with all the interested parties. For the purposes of this
paragraph, "interested party" means any Member State of WIPO whose official
language, or one of whose official languages, is involved and the European
Community, and any other intergovernmental organization that may become
party to this Treaty, if one of its official languages is involved.
• Article 33
Depositary
The Director General of WIPO is the depositary of this Treaty.
1: Agreed statement concerning Article 1(2): It is understood that Article 1(2) clarifies the relationship between
rights in phonograms under this Treaty and copyright in works embodied in the phonograms. In cases where
authorization is needed from both the author of a work embodied in the phonogram and a performer or producer
owning rights in the phonogram, the need for the authorization of the author does not cease to exist because the
authorization of the performer or producer is also required, and vice versa.
It is further understood that nothing in Article 1(2) precludes a Contracting Party from providing exclusive rights to
a performer or producer of phonograms beyond those required to be provided under this Treaty.
➦
2: Agreed statement concerning Article 2(b): It is understood that the definition of phonogram provided in Article
2(b) does not suggest that rights in the phonogram are in any way affected through their incorporation into a
cinematographic or other audiovisual work. ➦
3: Agreed statement concerning Articles 2(e), 8, 9, 12, and 13: As used in these Articles, the expressions "copies"
and "original and copies," being subject to the right of distribution and the right of rental under the said Articles,
refer exclusively to fixed copies that can be put into circulation as tangible objects. ➦
4: Agreed statement concerning Article 3(2): For the application of Article 3(2), it is understood that fixation means
the finalization of the master tape ("bande-mère"). ➦
5: Agreed statement concerning Article 3: It is understood that the reference in Articles 5(a) and 16(a)(iv) of the
Rome Convention to "national of another Contracting State" will, when applied to this Treaty, mean, in regard to an
intergovernmental organization that is a Contracting Party to this Treaty, a national of one of the countries that is a
member of that organization. ➦
6: Agreed statement concerning Articles 7, 11 and 16: The reproduction right, as set out in Articles 7 and 11, and
the exceptions permitted thereunder through Article 16, fully apply in the digital environment, in particular to the
use of performances and phonograms in digital form. It is understood that the storage of a protected performance
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or phonogram in digital form in an electronic medium constitutes a reproduction within the meaning of these
Articles. ➦
Articles. ➦
10: Agreed statement concerning Articles 2(e), 8, 9, 12, and 13: As used in these Articles, the expressions
"copies" and "original and copies," being subject to the right of distribution and the right of rental under the said
Articles, refer exclusively to fixed copies that can be put into circulation as tangible objects. ➦
11: Agreed statement concerning Articles 2(e), 8, 9, 12, and 13: As used in these Articles, the expressions
"copies" and "original and copies," being subject to the right of distribution and the right of rental under the said
Articles, refer exclusively to fixed copies that can be put into circulation as tangible objects. ➦
12: Agreed statement concerning Article 15: It is understood that Article 15 does not represent a complete
resolution of the level of rights of broadcasting and communication to the public that should be enjoyed by
performers and phonogram producers in the digital age. Delegations were unable to achieve consensus on
differing proposals for aspects of exclusivity to be provided in certain circumstances or for rights to be provided
without the possibility of reservations, and have therefore left the issue to future resolution. ➦
13: Agreed statement concerning Article 15: It is understood that Article 15 does not prevent the granting of the
right conferred by this Article to performers of folklore and producers of phonograms recording folklore where such
phonograms have not been published for commercial gain. ➦
Articles. ➦
15: Agreed statement concerning Article 16: The agreed statement concerning Article 10 (on Limitations and
Exceptions) of the WIPO Copyright Treaty is applicable mutatis mutandis also to Article 16 (on Limitations and
Exceptions) of the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty. [The text of the agreed statement concerning
Article 10 of the WCT reads as follows: "It is understood that the provisions of Article 10 permit Contracting Parties
to carry forward and appropriately extend into the digital environment limitations and exceptions in their national
laws which have been considered acceptable under the Berne Convention. Similarly, these provisions should be
understood to permit Contracting Parties to devise new exceptions and limitations that are appropriate in the digital
network environment.
"It is also understood that Article 10(2) neither reduces nor extends the scope of applicability of the limitations and
exceptions permitted by the Berne Convention."]
➦
16: Agreed statement concerning Article 19: The agreed statement concerning Article 12 (on Obligations
concerning Rights Management Information) of the WIPO Copyright Treaty is applicable mutatis mutandis also to
Article 19 (on Obligations concerning Rights Management Information) of the WIPO Performances and
Phonograms Treaty. [The text of the agreed statement concerning Article 12 of the WCT reads as follows: "It is
understood that the reference to `infringement of any right covered by this Treaty or the Berne Convention'
includes both exclusive rights and rights of remuneration.
"It is further understood that Contracting Parties will not rely on this Article to devise or implement rights
management systems that would have the effect of imposing formalities which are not permitted under the Berne
Convention or this Treaty, prohibiting the free movement of goods or impending the enjoyment of rights under this
Treaty."]

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International Portal of the University of Portal Internacional de la Universidad

Alicante on Intellectual Property & de Alicante sobre Propiedad Industrial

WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT) (1996).

• CHAPTER I. GENERAL PROVISIONS ............................................. 1

adopted in Geneva on December 20, 1996

The Contracting Parties,

Have agreed as follows:

CHAPTER I. GENERAL PROVISIONS ➦

For the purposes of this Treaty:

1. Each Contracting Party shall accord to nationals of other Contracting Parties, as

15(3) of this Treaty.

CHAPTER II. RIGHTS OF PERFORMERS ➦

1. Independently of a performer's economic rights, and even after the transfer of

Performers shall enjoy the exclusive right of authorizing, as regards their

i. the broadcasting and communication to the public of their unfixed performances

CHAPTER III. RIGHTS OF PRODUCERS OF PHONOGRAMS ➦

1. Producers of phonograms shall enjoy the exclusive right of authorizing the

1. Producers of phonograms shall enjoy the exclusive right of authorizing the

CHAPTER IV. COMMON PROVISIONS ➦

1. Performers and producers of phonograms shall enjoy the right to a single

2. The term of protection to be granted to producers of phonograms under this

Subject to the provisions of Article 15(3), no reservations to this Treaty shall be

1. Contracting Parties shall apply the provisions of Article 18 of the Berne

1. Contracting Parties undertake to adopt, in accordance with their legal systems,

CHAPTER V. ADMINISTRATIVE AND FINAL CLAUSES ➦

1. Any Member State of WIPO may become party to this Treaty.

This Treaty shall bind

This Treaty may be denounced by any Contracting Party by notification addressed to

1. This Treaty is signed in a single original in English, Arabic, Chinese, French,

The Director General of WIPO is the depositary of this Treaty.

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