15 MAI 2006. - An Act to Accredit the following International Acts: 1° Treaty of the World Intellectual Property Organization on Copyright (WCT), adopted in Geneva on 20 December 1996; 2° Treaty of the World Intellectual Property Organization on Interpretations and Executions and Phonograms (WPPT), adopted in Geneva on 20 December 1996 (1)

ALBERT II, King of the Belgians,
To all, present and to come, Hi.
The Chambers adopted and We sanction the following:
Article 1^er. This Act regulates a matter referred to in Article 77 of the Constitution.
Art. 2. The Treaty of the World Intellectual Property Organization on Copyright (WCT), adopted in Geneva on 20 December 1996, will come out its full effect.
Art. 3. The Treaty of the World Intellectual Property Organization on Interpretations and Executions and Phonograms (WPPT), adopted in Geneva on 20 December 1996, will come out its full and full effect.
Promulgation of this law, let us order that it be clothed with the seal of the State and published by the Belgian Monitor.
Given in Brussels on 15 May 2006.
ALBERT
By the King:
Minister of Foreign Affairs,
K. DE GUCHT
Minister of Economy,
Mr. VERWILGHEN
Seal of the state seal:
The Minister of Justice,
Ms. L. ONKELINX
____
Notes
(1) Session 2005-2006:
Senate:
Documents. - Bill tabled on 16 December 2005, No. 3-1487/1. Report, No. 3-1487/2.
Annales parliamentarians. - Discussion. Session of February 9, 2006. - Vote. Session of February 9, 2006.
House of Representatives:
Documents. - Project transmitted by the Senate, No. 51-2276/1. - Text adopted in plenary and subject to Royal Assent, No. 51-2276/2.
Annales parliamentarians. - Discussion. Session of March 23, 2006. - Vote. Session of March 23, 2006.

Treaty of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WCT), adopted in Geneva on 20 December 1996
PREAMBULE
Contracting Parties,
Desiring to develop and ensure the protection of the rights of authors on their literary and artistic works in such an effective and uniform manner as possible,
Acknowledging the need to introduce new international rules and to clarify the interpretation of certain existing rules to provide appropriate responses to the issues raised by the evolution in the economic, social, cultural and technical fields,
Recognizing that the evolution and convergence of information and communication techniques have a significant impact on the creation and use of literary and artistic works,
Emphasizing the exceptional importance of copyright protection for the promotion of literary and artistic creation,
Acknowledging the need to maintain a balance between authors' rights and the general public interest, including in terms of education, research and access to information, as reflected in the Bern Convention,
The following agreed:
Article 1
Relationship to the Bern Convention
(1) This Treaty constitutes a special arrangement within the meaning of Article 20 of the Bern Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, with respect to Contracting Parties which are member countries of the Union established by this Convention. It has no relationship with other treaties than the Bern Convention and applies without prejudice to the rights and obligations arising from any other treaty.
(2) Nothing in this Treaty shall derogate from the obligations of the Contracting Parties to each other under the Bern Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works.
(3) In this Treaty, the Act of Paris of 24 July 1971 of the Bern Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works is to be heard by "the Bern Convention".
4) Contracting Parties shall comply with Articles 1^er to 21 and to the Annex to the Bern Convention.
Article 2
Scope of copyright protection
Copyright protection extends to expressions and not to ideas, procedures, methods of operation or mathematical concepts as such.
Article 3
Implementation of articles 2 to 6 of the Bern Convention
Contracting Parties shall apply mutatis mutandis the provisions of articles 2 to 6 of the Bern Convention in the context of the protection provided for in this Treaty.
Article 4
Computer programs
Computer programs are protected as literary works within the meaning of Article 2 of the Bern Convention. The intended protection applies to computer programs regardless of the mode or form of expression.
Article 5
Data compilations (databases)
Compilations of data or other elements, in any form, which, by the choice or disposition of materials, constitute intellectual creations are protected as such. This protection does not extend to the data or elements themselves and is without prejudice to any existing copyright on the data or elements contained in the compilation.
Article 6
Right of distribution
(1) The authors of literary and artistic works enjoy the exclusive right to authorize the public to make the original and copies of their works available through the sale or any other transfer of ownership.
(2) Nothing in this Treaty shall affect the ability of the Contracting Parties to determine any conditions under which the exhaustion of the right under paragraph (1) applies after the first sale or other transfer of ownership of the original or a copy of the work, carried out with the author's permission.
Article 7
Right of rental
(1) The authors
(i) computer programs,
(ii) cinematic works and
(iii) works incorporated in phonograms as defined in the national legislation of the Contracting Parties,
enjoy the exclusive right to authorize commercial rental to the public of the original or copies of their works.
(2) Paragraph 1^er is not applicable,
(i) with respect to computer programs, where the program itself is not the essential purpose of rental and,
(ii) in relation to cinematographic works, unless commercial rental has led to the widespread realization of copies of these works, which substantially undermines the exclusive right to reproduction.
(3) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (1), a Contracting Party which applied on 15 April 1994 and continues to apply a system of fair remuneration of the authors for the rental of copies of their works incorporated in phonograms may maintain this system provided that the commercial rental of works incorporated in phonograms does not substantially affect the exclusive right to reproduce the authors.
Article 8
Right to public communication
Without prejudice to the provisions of articles 11, paragraph (1), (2), 11bis, paragraph (1), (1) and (2), 11ter, paragraph (1), (2), 14 (1), (2) and 14bis, paragraph (1) of the Berne Convention, the authors of literary and artistic works shall enjoy the exclusive right to authorize any communication to the public of their works by wire or wireless, including the provision to the public of their works in such a way that each person may have access to them
Article 9
Duration of the protection of photographic works
With regard to photographic works, Contracting Parties do not apply the provisions of Article 7, paragraph 4, of the Bern Convention.
Article 10
Limitations and exceptions
(1) Contracting Parties may, in their legislation, provide for the addition of limitations or exceptions to the rights conferred on authors of literary and artistic works under this Treaty in certain special cases where it is not infringed on the normal exploitation of the work or caused unjustified prejudice to the legitimate interests of the author.
(2) By applying the Bern Convention, Contracting Parties shall restrict any limitations or exceptions to which they set the rights provided for in that Convention to certain special cases where it is not infringed on the normal operation of the work or caused unjustified prejudice to the legitimate interests of the author.
Article 11
Technical requirements
Contracting Parties shall provide for appropriate legal protection and effective legal sanctions against the neutralization of effective technical measures that are implemented by the authors in the exercise of their rights under this Treaty or the Bern Convention and which restrict the performance, in respect of their work, of acts that are not authorized by the authors concerned or permitted by the law.
Article 12
Obligations relating to information on the rights regime
(1) Contracting Parties shall provide for appropriate and effective legal sanctions against any person who performs any of the following acts by knowing, or, with respect to civil sanctions, having valid reasons to believe that such act will result in, permit, facilitate or conceal an infringement of a right under this Treaty or the Bern Convention:
(i) delete or modify, without authorization, any information relating to the rights regime in electronic form;
(ii) distribute, import for distribution, broadcast or communicate to the public, without authorization, works or copies of works knowing that information relating to the rights regime in electronic form has been deleted or amended without authorization.
(2) In this article, the expression "information on the rights regime" means information to identify the work, the author of the work, the holder of any right to the work or information on the terms and conditions of use of the work, and any number or code representing that information, where any of these information is attached to the copy of a work or appears in relation to the work of the public.
Article 13
Time application
The Contracting Parties shall apply the provisions of Article 18 of the Bern Convention with respect to the entire protection provided for in this Treaty.
Article 14
Provisions concerning the sanction of rights
(1) The Contracting Parties undertake to adopt, in accordance with their legal system, the necessary measures to ensure the application of this Treaty.
(2) The Contracting Parties shall ensure that their legislation contains procedures to enforce the rights provided for in this Treaty, so as to enable effective action against any act that would affect such rights, including measures to prevent promptly any infringement and measures to prevent further infringement.
Article 15
Assembly
(1) (a) The Contracting Parties have an Assembly.
(b) Each Contracting Party shall be represented by a delegate, who may be assisted by alternates, advisers and experts.
(c) The expenses of each delegation shall be borne by the Contracting Party which has designated it. The Assembly may request the World Intellectual Property Organization (hereinafter referred to as "OMPI") to provide financial assistance to facilitate the participation of delegations of Contracting Parties that are considered developing countries in accordance with the established practice of the United Nations General Assembly or are countries in transition to a market economy.
(2) (a) The Assembly deals with issues relating to the maintenance and development of this Treaty and its implementation and operation.
(b) The Assembly shall fulfil its role under Article 17, (2), considering the possibility of allowing certain intergovernmental organizations to become parties to this Treaty.
(c) The Assembly shall decide to convene any diplomatic conference to review this Treaty and shall give the necessary instructions to the Director General of WIPO for the preparation of this Treaty.
(3) (a) Each Contracting Party which is a State shall have a vote and vote only in its own name.
(b) Any Contracting Party that is an intergovernmental organization may participate in the vote, instead of its member States, with a number of votes equal to the number of its member States that are parties to this Treaty. No intergovernmental organization shall participate in the vote if one of its member States exercises its right to vote, and vice versa.
4) The Assembly meets in ordinary session once every two years on the convocation of the Director General of WIPO.
5) The Assembly shall establish its rules of procedure, including with regard to its convening in special session, the rules relating to quorum and, subject to the provisions of this Treaty, the majority required for various types of decisions.
Article 16
International Bureau
The WIPO International Office is performing administrative tasks related to the treaty.
Article 17
Conditions for becoming a party to the treaty
(1) Any Member State of WIPO may become a party to this Treaty.
(2) The Assembly may decide to authorize to become a party to this Treaty any intergovernmental organization that declares that it has jurisdiction, and has legislation that binds all its member States, with respect to matters governed by this Treaty and that it has been duly authorized, in accordance with its internal procedures, to become a party to this Treaty.
(3) The European Community, having made the declaration referred to in the preceding paragraph at the diplomatic conference that adopted this Treaty, may become a party to this Treaty.
Article 18
Rights and obligations arising from the treaty
Unless otherwise expressly provided in this Treaty, each Contracting Party shall enjoy all rights and assume all obligations arising from this Treaty.
Article 19
Treaty signature
This Treaty is open for signature until 31 December 1997 and may be signed by any Member State of WIPO and by the European Community.
Rule 20
Entry into force of the treaty
This Treaty comes into force three months after 30 instruments of ratification or accession have been deposited with the Director General of WIPO by States.
Article 21
Effective date of treaty obligations
This Treaty binds
(i) the 30 States referred to in Article 20 from the date on which this Treaty has entered into force;
(ii) all other States upon the expiration of a period of three months from the date on which the State deposited its instrument with the Director General of WIPO;
(iii) the European Community upon the expiration of a period of three months following the deposit of its instrument of ratification or accession if it has been deposited after the entry into force of this Treaty in accordance with Article 20, or three months after the entry into force of this Treaty if it has been deposited before the entry into force of this Treaty;
(iv) any other intergovernmental organization authorized to become a party to this Treaty, upon the expiration of a period of three months following the deposit of its instrument of accession.
Article 22
Exclusion of reservations to the treaty
There is no reservation to this Treaty.
Article 23
Denunciation of the treaty
Any Contracting Party may denounce this Treaty by a notification addressed to the Director General of WIPO. The denunciation takes effect one year after the date on which the Director General of WIPO received the notification.
Article 24
Languages of the treaty
(1) This Treaty is signed in a single original copy in French, English, Arabic, Chinese, Spanish and Russian, all of which are equally authentic.
(2) An official text in any language other than those referred to in paragraph (1) shall be prepared by the Director General of WIPO at the request of an interested party, after consultation with all interested parties. For the purposes of this paragraph, "interested party" means any Member State of WIPO whose official language or one of the official languages is involved, as well as the European Community, and any other intergovernmental organization that may become a party to this Treaty, if any of its official languages is involved.
Rule 25
Depositary
The Director General of WIPO is the depositary of this Treaty.

Joint statements
Concerning Article 1^er, 4):
The right of reproduction set out in Article 9 of the Bern Convention and the exceptions to which it may be accompanied shall apply fully in the digital environment, in particular in the use of works in digital form. It is understood that the storage of a digitally protected work on electronic media is a reproduction within the meaning of Article 9 of the Bern Convention.
Concerning Article 3:
It is understood that for the purposes of Article 3 of this Treaty, the term "country of the Union" contained in Articles 2 to 6 of the Bern Convention means a Contracting Party to this Treaty, with regard to the application of these Articles of the Bern Convention to the protection provided for in this Treaty. It is also understood that the term "foreign countries to the Union" contained in these articles of the Bern Convention, in the same circumstances, means a country that is not a Contracting Party to this Treaty, and that the words "this Convention" contained in Article 2, 8), in Article 2bis, (2), 3, 4 and 5 of the Bern Convention designate the Bern Convention and this Treaty. Finally, it is understood that in Articles 3 to 6 of the Convention the words "national to one of the countries of the Union" mean, where these articles are applied to this Treaty, with respect 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.
Concerning Article 4:
The scope of protection provided for computer programs under Article 4 of this Treaty, taking into account Article 2, is consistent with Article 2 of the Bern Convention and is consistent with the relevant provisions of the TRIPS Agreement.
Concerning Article 5:
The scope of protection provided for data compilations (databases) under Article 5 of this Treaty, taking into account Article 2, is consistent with Article 2 of the Bern Convention and is consistent with the relevant provisions of the TRIPS Agreement.
Concerning articles 6 and 7:
For the purposes of these articles, the terms "examples" and "original and exemplary" in the context of the right of distribution and the right of rental provided for in these articles refer exclusively to the copies that may be put in circulation as tangible objects.
Concerning Article 7:
It is understood that the obligation under Article 7, (1) is not to require a Contracting Party to provide for an exclusive right to commercial lease for the authors who, under the legislation of that Contracting Party, do not enjoy rights to phonograms. It is understood that this obligation is consistent with Article 14, (4) of the TRIPS Agreement.
Concerning Article 8:
It is understood that the mere provision of facilities intended to permit or to carry out a communication does not constitute a communication to the public within the meaning of this Treaty or the Bern Convention. It is further understood that nothing in Article 8 prohibits a Contracting Party from applying Article 11bis (2).
Concerning Article 10:
It is understood that the provisions of Article 10 allow Contracting Parties to maintain and adequately extend the limitations and exceptions in their national legislation that have been considered acceptable under the Bern Convention in the digital environment. Similarly, these provisions must be interpreted as allowing Contracting Parties to design new exceptions and limitations that are appropriate in the digital network environment.
It is also understood that Article 10 (2) does not reduce or extend the scope of application of the limitations and exceptions permitted by the Bern Convention.
Concerning Article 12:
It is understood that the term "failure to a right under this Treaty or the Bern Convention" applies both to exclusive rights and to compensation rights.
It is further understood that Contracting Parties shall not rely on this Article to design or implement a regime of rights which may impose unlicensed formalities under the Bern Convention or this Treaty, prohibiting the free movement of goods or preventing the enjoyment of the rights recognized by this Treaty.

Treaty of the World Intellectual Property Organization on Interpretations and Executions and Phonograms (WPPT), adopted in Geneva on 20 December 1996
PREAMBULE
Contracting Parties,
Desiring to develop and ensure the protection of the rights of performers and phonogram producers in such an effective and uniform manner as possible,
Acknowledging the need to introduce new international rules to provide appropriate responses to the issues raised by developments in the economic, social, cultural and technical fields,
Recognizing that the evolution and convergence of information and communication techniques have a significant impact on the production and use of interpretations or executions and phonograms,
Recognizing the need to maintain a balance between the rights of performers and phonogram producers and the general public interest, including in terms of teaching, research and access to information,
The following agreed:
CHAPTER PREMIER
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1
Relationship with other conventions
(1) Nothing in this Treaty shall derogate from the obligations of the Contracting Parties with respect to each other under the International Convention on the Protection of Interpretered or Executing Artists, Phonogram Producers and Broadcasting Organizations, made in Rome on 26 October 1961 (hereinafter the "Rome Convention").
(2) The protection provided for in this Treaty leaves intact and in no way affects the protection of copyright on literary and artistic works. Accordingly, no provision of this Treaty may be construed as impairing this protection.
(3) This Treaty has no relationship with other treaties and applies without prejudice to the rights and obligations arising from any other treaty.
Article 2
Definitions
For the purposes of this Treaty:
(a)" performers or performers" actors, singers, musicians, dancers and other people who represent, sing, recite, decipher, play, perform or otherwise perform literary or artistic works or expressions of folklore;
(b) "phonogram" means the fixation of sounds from an interpretation or execution or other sounds, or a representation of sounds other than in the form of a binding incorporated in a film or other audiovisual work;
(c)" fixing" the incorporation of sounds, or representations thereof, in a medium that allows to perceive, reproduce or communicate them using a device;
(d)" producer of a phonogram" the natural or legal person who takes the initiative and assumes responsibility for the first fixation of the sounds from an interpretation or execution or other sounds, or representations of sounds;
(e)" publication" of a fixed interpretation or execution or a phonogram making available to the public copies of the prescribed interpretation or execution or copies of the phonogram with the consent of the rights holder, and provided that copies or copies are made available to the public in sufficient quantity;
(f)"broadcasting" wireless transmission of sounds or images and sounds, or representations thereof, for the purpose of receiving by the public; this term also means a transmission of this type by satellite; the transmission of encrypted signals is considered to be "broadcast" when decryption means are provided to the public by the broadcasting organization or with its consent;
(g)" communicate to the public" of an interpretation or execution or a phonogram the transmission to the public, by any means other than broadcasting, of sounds from an interpretation or execution or of sounds or representations of sounds fixed on a phonogram. For the purposes of section 15, the term "communication to the public" also includes making the sounds or representations of sounds set on a phonogram audible by the public.
Article 3
Beneficiaries of the protection provided for in this Treaty
(1) The Contracting Parties shall grant the protection provided by this Treaty to performers or performers and producers of phonograms who are nationals of other Contracting Parties.
(2) By "nationals of other Contracting Parties" it is necessary to hear interpreters or performers or producers of phonograms who would meet the criteria required to benefit from the protection provided for in the Rome Convention if all Contracting Parties under this Treaty were Contracting States within the meaning of this Convention. With regard to these protection criteria, Contracting Parties shall apply the relevant definitions of Article 2 of this Treaty.
(3) Any Contracting Party that makes use of the faculty provided for in Article 5(3) of the Rome Convention or, for the purposes of Article 5 of that Convention, Article 17 shall notify the Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
Article 4
National treatment
(1) Each Contracting Party shall grant to nationals of other Contracting Parties, within the meaning of Article 3(2), the treatment it grants to its own nationals with respect to the exclusive rights expressly recognized in this Treaty and the right to fair remuneration provided for in Article 15 of this Treaty.
(2) The obligation under paragraph (1) shall not apply to the extent that another Contracting Party makes use of the reservations authorized under Article 15(3) of this Treaty.
CHAPTER II
RIGHTS OF INTERPRETINE OR EXECUTANT ARTISTS
Article 5
Moral law of performers or performers
(1) Regardless of his or her property rights, and even after the assignment of these rights, the performer or performer retains the right, with respect to his or her live sound interpretations or performances fixed on phonograms, to require that he or she be mentioned as such, except where the mode of use of interpretation or execution imposes the omission of that reference, and to be referred to as such,
(2) The rights recognized to the artist interpreting or executing under the preceding paragraph shall, after his death, be maintained at least until the termination of the property rights and exercised by the persons or institutions to which the legislation of the Contracting Party in which the protection is claimed gives quality. However, Contracting Parties whose legislation, in force at the time of ratification of or accession to this Treaty, does not contain provisions for the protection after the artist's death interprets or enforces all rights recognized under the preceding paragraph have the power to provide that some of these rights are not maintained after the artist's death interpreter or enforcer.
(3) The remedies to safeguard the rights recognized in this article shall be regulated by the legislation of the Contracting Party in which protection is sought.
Article 6
Heritage rights of performers or performers on their unfixed interpretations or executions
Performers or performers enjoy the exclusive right to authorize, with respect to their interpretations or executions:
(i) the broadcasting and communication to the public of their unfixed interpretations or executions, except where interpretation or execution is already a broadcast interpretation or execution; and
(ii) fixing their unfixed interpretations or executions.
Article 7
Right to reproduction
Interpreter or executing artists enjoy the exclusive right to authorize the direct or indirect reproduction of their phonogram-fixed interpretations or performances in any way and in any form.
Article 8
Right of distribution
(1) Interpreter or executing artists enjoy the exclusive right to authorize the public to make available the original and copies of their interpretations or performances fixed on phonograms by the sale or any other transfer of ownership.
(2) Nothing in this Treaty shall affect the ability of the Contracting Parties to determine any conditions under which the exhaustion of the right set out in paragraph (1) applies after the first sale or other transfer of ownership of the original or a copy of the prescribed interpretation or execution, carried out with the permission of the performer or executing.
Article 9
Right of rental
(1) Interpretering or executing artists shall enjoy the exclusive right to authorize commercial rental to the public of the original and copies of their interpretations or executions fixed on phonograms, as defined by the national legislation of the Contracting Parties, even after the distribution of them by the artists themselves or with their authorization.
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (1), a Contracting Party that applied on 15 April 1994 and continues to apply a system of fair remuneration for performers or performers for the rental of copies of their phonogram interpretations or executions may maintain that system provided that the commercial rental of phonograms does not substantially affect the exclusive rights of reproduction of performers or performers.
Article 10
Right to make available established interpretations or executions
Interpreter or executing artists enjoy the exclusive right to authorize the provision of their interpretations or performances on phonograms to the public, by wire or wireless, so that everyone can have access to the place and at the time he chooses individually.
CHAPTER III
RIGHTS OF PHONOGRAMMES
Article 11
Right to reproduction
Phonogram producers enjoy the exclusive right to authorize the direct or indirect reproduction of their phonograms in any way and in any form.
Article 12
Right of distribution
(1) Producers of phonograms enjoy the exclusive right to authorize the public to make the original and copies of their phonograms available by sale or any other transfer of ownership.
(2) Nothing in this Treaty shall affect the ability of the Contracting Parties to determine the conditions in which the exhaustion of the right set out in paragraph (1) applies after the first sale or other transfer of ownership of the original or a copy of the phonogram, carried out with the authorization of the producer of the phonogram.
Article 13
Right of rental
(1) Producers of phonograms enjoy the exclusive right to authorize commercial rental to the public of the original and copies of their phonograms, even after the distribution of these by the producers themselves or with their authorization.
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (1), a Contracting Party that applied on 15 April 1994 and continues to apply a system of fair remuneration for producers of phonograms for the rental of copies of their phonograms may maintain this system provided that commercial rental of phonograms does not substantially affect the exclusive reproductive rights of producers of phonograms.
Article 14
Right to provide phonograms
Producers of phonograms enjoy the exclusive right to authorize the provision of their phonograms by wire or wireless to the public so that everyone can have access to the place and at the time he chooses individually.
CHAPTER IV
COMMON PROVISIONS
Article 15
Right to remuneration for broadcasting and communication to the public
(1) Interpreter or executing artists and phonogram producers are entitled to fair and unique remuneration when phonograms published for commercial purposes are used directly or indirectly for broadcasting or for any communication to the public.
(2) Contracting Parties may provide in their national legislation that single fair remuneration must be claimed to the user by the performer or performer or by the producer of the phonogram, or both. Contracting Parties may adopt legislative provisions setting the conditions for the distribution of single fair remuneration between performers or performers and producers of phonograms for lack of agreement between the concerned.
(3) Any Contracting Party may declare, in a notification filed with the Director General of WIPO, that it will only apply the provisions of paragraph (1) in respect of certain uses, or that it will limit the application of it in any other manner, or that it will not apply any of these provisions.
4) For the purposes of this section, the phonograms made available to the public, by wire or wireless, so that everyone can have access to the place and at the time that he or she chooses individually are deemed to have been published for commercial purposes.
Article 16
Limitations and exceptions
(1) The Contracting Parties have the power to provide in their national legislation, with respect to the protection of performers or performers and producers of phonograms, limitations or exceptions of the same nature as those provided for in the protection of copyright on literary and artistic works.
(2) Contracting Parties shall restrict all limitations or exceptions to which they attach the rights provided for in this Treaty to certain special cases where it is not infringed on the normal operation of the interpretation or execution or phonogram or cause unjustified prejudice to the legitimate interests of the interpreter or performer or producer of the phonogram.
Article 17
Duration of protection
(1) The duration of the protection to be granted to performers or performers under this Treaty shall not be less than 50 years from the end of the year when the interpretation or execution was fixed on a phonogram.
(2) The duration of the protection to be granted to producers of phonograms under this Treaty shall not be less than 50 years from the end of the year in which the phonogram was published or, in the absence of such a publication within 50 years from the fixing of the phonogram, from the end of the year of the fixation.
Article 18
Technical requirements
Contracting Parties shall provide for appropriate legal protection and effective legal sanctions against the neutralization of effective technical measures that are implemented by performers or performers or producers of phonograms as part of the exercise of their rights under this Treaty and that restrict the performance, in respect of their interpretations or executions or their phonograms, of acts that are not authorized by the artists concerned
Article 19
Obligations relating to information on the rights regime
(1) Contracting Parties shall provide for appropriate and effective legal sanctions against any person who performs any of the following acts by knowing, or, with respect to civil sanctions, having valid reasons to believe that such act will result in, permit, facilitate or conceal an infringement of a right provided for in this Treaty:
(i) delete or modify, without authorization, any information relating to the rights regime in electronic form;
(ii) distribute, import for distribution, broadcast, communicate to the public or make available to the public, without authorization, interpretations or executions, copies of established interpretations or executions or copies of phonograms, knowing that information relating to the rights regime in electronic form has been deleted or amended without authorization.
(2) In this article, the expression "information on the rights regime" means information to identify the interpreter or performer, the interpretation or execution, the producer of the phonogram, the phonogram, the holder of any right to interpretation or execution or the phonogram or information on the terms and conditions of use of the interpretation or execution or the phonogram, and
Rule 20
Formalities
The enjoyment and exercise of the rights provided for in this Treaty shall not be subject to any formality.
Article 21
Reservations
Except as provided for in Article 15(3), no reservation to this Treaty shall be allowed.
Article 22
Time application
(1) The Contracting Parties shall apply the provisions of Article 18 of the Bern Convention, mutatis mutandis, to the rights of performers or performers and producers of phonograms provided for in this Treaty.
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (1), a Contracting Party may limit the application of Article 5 of this Treaty to interpretations or executions that took place after the entry into force of the Treaty in respect of it.
Article 23
Provisions concerning the sanction of rights
(1) The Contracting Parties undertake to adopt, in accordance with their legal system, the necessary measures to ensure the application of this Treaty.
(2) The Contracting Parties shall ensure that their legislation contains procedures to enforce the rights provided for in this Treaty, so as to enable effective action against any act that would affect such rights, including measures to prevent promptly any infringement and measures to prevent further infringement.
CHAPTER V
ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS AND FINAL CLAUSES
Article 24
Assembly
(1) (a) The Contracting Parties have an Assembly.
(b) Each Contracting Party shall be represented by a delegate, who may be assisted by alternates, advisers and experts.
(c) The expenses of each delegation shall be borne by the Contracting Party which has designated it. The Assembly may request financial assistance from WIPO to facilitate the participation of delegations from Contracting Parties that are considered developing countries in accordance with the established practice of the United Nations General Assembly or are countries in transition to a market economy.
(2) (a) The Assembly deals with issues relating to the maintenance and development of this Treaty and its implementation and operation.
(b) The Assembly shall fulfil its role under Article 26, (2), considering the possibility of allowing certain intergovernmental organizations to become parties to this Treaty.
(c) The Assembly shall decide to convene any diplomatic conference to review this Treaty and shall give the necessary instructions to the Director General of WIPO for the preparation of this Treaty.
(3) (a) Each Contracting Party which is a State shall have a vote and vote only in its own name.
(b) Any Contracting Party that is an intergovernmental organization may participate in the vote, instead of its member States, with a number of votes equal to the number of its member States that are parties to this Treaty. No intergovernmental organization shall participate in the vote if one of its member States exercises its right to vote, and vice versa.
4) The Assembly meets in ordinary session once every two years on the convocation of the Director General of WIPO.
5) The Assembly shall establish its rules of procedure, including with regard to its convening in special session, the rules relating to quorum and, subject to the provisions of this Treaty, the majority required for various types of decisions.
Rule 25
International Bureau
The WIPO International Office is performing administrative tasks related to the treaty.
Rule 26
Conditions for becoming a party to the treaty
(1) Any Member State of WIPO may become a party to this Treaty.
(2) The Assembly may decide to authorize to become a party to this Treaty any intergovernmental organization that declares that it has jurisdiction, and has legislation that binds all its member States, with respect to matters governed by this Treaty and that it has been duly authorized, in accordance with its internal procedures, to become a party to this Treaty.
(3) The European Community, having made the declaration referred to in the preceding paragraph at the diplomatic conference that adopted this Treaty, may become a party to this Treaty.
Rule 27
Rights and obligations arising from the treaty
Unless otherwise expressly provided in this Treaty, each Contracting Party shall enjoy all rights and assume all obligations arising from this Treaty.
Rule 28
Treaty signature
This Treaty is open for signature until 31 December 1997 and may be signed by any Member State of WIPO and by the European Community.
Rule 29
Entry into force of the treaty
This Treaty comes into force three months after 30 instruments of ratification or accession have been deposited with the Director General of WIPO by States.
Rule 30
Effective date of treaty obligations
This Treaty binds:
(i) the 30 States referred to in Article 29 from the date on which this Treaty has entered into force;
(ii) all other States upon the expiration of a period of three months from the date on which the State deposited its instrument with the Director General of WIPO;
(iii) the European Community upon the expiration of a period of three months following the deposit of its instrument of ratification or accession if it has been deposited after the entry into force of this Treaty in accordance with Article 29, or three months after the entry into force of this Treaty if it has been deposited before the entry into force of this Treaty;
(iv) any other intergovernmental organization authorized to become a party to this Treaty, upon the expiration of a period of three months following the deposit of its instrument of accession.
Rule 31
Denunciation of the treaty
Any Contracting Party may denounce this Treaty by a notification addressed to the Director General of WIPO. The denunciation takes effect one year after the date on which the Director General received the notification.
Rule 32
Languages of the treaty
(1) This Treaty is signed in a single original copy in French, English, Arabic, Chinese, Spanish and Russian, all of which are equally authentic.
(2) An official text in any language other than those referred to in paragraph (1) shall be prepared by the Director General of WIPO at the request of an interested party, after consultation with all interested parties. For the purposes of this paragraph, "interested party" means any Member State of WIPO whose official language or one of the official languages is involved, as well as the European Community, and any other intergovernmental organization that may become a party to this Treaty, if any of its official languages is involved.
Rule 33
Depositary
The Director General of WIPO is the depositary of this Treaty.

Joint statements
Concerning Article 1^er:
It is understood that section 1^er(2) specifies the relationship between the existing phonogram rights under this Treaty and the copyright on the works incorporated in these phonograms. In cases where both the author's authorization of a work incorporated in the phonogram and that of an interpreter or executing artist or a producer with rights on the phonogram is required, the obligation to have the author's permission does not cease to exist because the authorisation of the performer or producer is also required, and vice versa.
It is also understood that no provision of section 1^er(2) prevents a Contracting Party from foreseeing for performers or performers or producers of phonograms exclusive rights beyond the provisions of this Treaty.
Concerning article 2, (b):
It is understood that the definition of the phonogram contained in section 2, b) does not imply that incorporation into a film or other audiovisual work has any impact on the rights on the phonogram.
Concerning articles 2, (e), 8, 9, 12 and 13:
For the purposes of these articles, the terms "copying", "copying or exemplary" and "original and copies" in the context of the right of distribution and the right of rental provided for in these articles shall be limited to the copies or copies that may be put in circulation as tangible objects.
Concerning Article 3:
It is understood that, applied to this Treaty, the term "national of another Contracting State" in Articles 5, (a) and 16, (a), (iv) of the Rome Convention shall, with respect to an intergovernmental organization that is a Contracting Party to this Treaty, be returned to a national of one of the member countries of that organization.
Concerning Article 3, 2):
For the purposes of section 3, (2), it is understood that by fixation the final development of the motherband is understood.
Concerning articles 7, 11 and 16:
The right of reproduction set out in sections 7 and 11 and the exceptions to which it may be bound under section 16 apply fully in the digital environment, in particular in the use of interpretations and executions and phonograms in digital form. It is understood that the storage of a protected interpretation or execution, or a protected phonogram, in a digital format on an electronic medium, constitutes a reproduction within the meaning of these articles.
Concerning Article 15:
It is understood that section 15 does not provide a definitive solution to the question of the level of broadcasting and communication rights to the public, to which, in the digital age, interpreters or performers and producers of phonograms should enjoy. Since delegations were unable to reach consensus on the diverging proposals regarding the aspects of exclusivity to be accorded in certain circumstances, or the rights to be recognized without the possibility of reservations, they have waived the issue here.
Concerning Article 15:
It is understood that Article 15 does not prevent the granting of the right conferred by this article to artists performing folklore and to producers of phonograms incorporating folklore when these phonograms were not published for commercial profit.
Concerning Article 16:
The joint declaration concerning Article 10 (on the Limitations and Exceptions) of the WIPO Treaty on Copyright is applicable mutatis mutandis to Article 16 (on the Limitations and Exceptions) of the WIPO Treaty on Interpretations and Executions and Phonograms.
Concerning Article 19:
The joint declaration concerning article 12 (on obligations relating to information on the rights regime) of the WIPO Treaty on Copyright is applicable mutatis mutandis to article 19 (on obligations relating to information on the rights regime) of the WIPO Treaty on Interpretations and Enforcements and Phonograms.
Notification of the Kingdom of Belgium
"In accordance with Article 3.3 of the Treaty of the World Intellectual Property Organization on Interpretations and Executions and Phonograms (WPPT), the Kingdom of Belgium declares to make use of the faculty provided for in Article 5.3 of the 1961 Rome Convention (International Convention on the Protection of Performers or Executors, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations), in that sense it shall not apply the criterion of publication » .

Treaty of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WCT), adopted in Geneva on 20 December 1996
For the consultation of the table, see image