REPUBLIC OF VANUATU

WORLD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ORGANISATION PERFORMANCES AND PHONOGRAMS TREATY (RATIFICATION) ACT NO. 15 OF 2019

Arrangement of Sections 
1 Ratification
2. Commencement 

Assent:	23/12/2019	
Commencement:	16/01/2020	

WORLD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ORGANISATION PERFORMANCES AND PHONOGRAMS TREATY (RATIFICATION) ACT NO. 15 OF 2019
An Act to provide for the ratification of the World Intellectual Property Organisation Performances and Phonograms Treaty. 
Be it enacted by the President and Parliament as follows-
1	Ratification 
(1) The World Intellectual Property Organisation Performances and Phonograms Treaty is ratified. 
(2) A copy of the Treaty is attached. 
2	Commencement 
This Act commences on the day on which it is published in the Gazette. 
----------------------
WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty 
(WPPT)*
(adopted in Geneva on December 20, 1996)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Article	
Preamble			
Chapter I:	General Provisions		
	Relation to Other Conventions………………………………….…	1	
	Definitions…………………………………………………………	2	
	Beneficiaries of Protection under this Treaty……………………..	3	
	National Treatment………………………………………………..	4	
Chapter II:	Rights of Performers		
	Moral Rights of Performers……………………………………….	5	
	Economic Rights of Performers in their Unfixed Performances…………………………………………………..….	6	
	Right of Reproduction……………………………………………..	7	
	Right of Distribution………………………………………………	8	
	Right of Rental…………………………………………………….	9	
	Right of Making Available of Fixed Performances……………….	10	
Chapter III:	Rights of Producers of Phonograms		
	Right of Reproduction……………………………………………..	11	
	Right of Distribution………………………………………………	12	
	Right of Rental…………………………………………………….	13	
	Right of Making Available of Phonograms……………………….	14	
Chapter IV:	Common Provisions		
	Right to Remuneration for Broadcasting and Communication to the Public………………………………………………………….	15	
	Limitations and Exceptions	16	
	Term of Protection………………………………………………...	17	
	Obligations concerning Technological Measures…………………	18	
	Obligations concerning Rights Management Information………...	19	
	Formalities…………………………………………………………	20	
	Reservations………………………………………………………..	21	
	Application in Time………………………………………………..	22	
	Provisions on Enforcement of Rights……………………………...	23	
Chapter V:	Administrative and Final Clauses Assembly………………………	24	
	International Bureau……………………………………………….	25	
	Eligibility for Becoming Party to the Treaty………………………	26	
	Rights and Obligations under the Treaty…………………………..	27	
	Signature of the Treaty…………………………………………….	28	
	Entry into Force of the Treaty……………………………………..	29	
	Effective Date of Becoming Party to the Treaty…………………..	30	
	Denunciation of the Treaty………………………………………...	31	
	Languages of the Treaty…………………………………………...	32	
	Depositary…………………………………………………………	33	
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. 
(3) This Treaty shall not have any connection with, nor shall it prejudice any rights and obligations under, any other treaties. 
Article 2 
Definitions
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; 
	(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; 
	(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. 
(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). 
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 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. 
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. 
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. 
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. 
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. 
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 phonograms is not giving rise to the material impairment of the exclusive rights of reproduction of producers of phonograms. 
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.  
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.  
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. 
(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. 
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
(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, 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; 
	(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. 
* Entry into force: May 20, 2002.
Source: International Bureau of WIPO.
Note: The agreed statements of the Diplomatic Conference that adopted the Treaty (WIPO Diplomatic Conference on Certain Copyright and Neighboring Rights Questions) concerning certain provisions of the WPPT, are reproduced in endnotes below.