The Geneva Phonograms Convention 1971 and the Brussels Satellite Convention 1974

In one line

One convention answers record piracy by obliging States to stop the duplication of phonograms, and the other answers signal theft by obliging them to stop the distribution of satellite signals to people they were not meant for.

In exam wording: the Convention for the Protection of Producers of Phonograms Against Unauthorized Duplication of Their Phonograms, concluded at Geneva on 29 October 1971, obliges each Contracting State to protect producers of phonograms who are nationals of other Contracting States against the making of duplicates without their consent and against the importation and distribution of such duplicates; and the Convention Relating to the Distribution of Programme-Carrying Signals Transmitted by Satellite, concluded at Brussels on 21 May 1974, obliges each Contracting State to prevent the distribution on or from its territory of any programme carrying signal by a distributor for whom the signal was not intended.

The Phonograms Convention 1971

Why it was made. The Rome Convention of 1961 protected producers of phonograms, but its membership grew slowly and its Article 24(2) condition kept many States out. Meanwhile the cassette made record piracy cheap, and piracy on an industrial scale appeared in the 1960s.

So a short convention was made for the single problem, open to a wider membership, with no requirement of Berne or Universal Copyright Convention membership.

Article 1 defines phonogram, producer of phonograms, duplicate, and distribution to the public, in terms very close to Rome Article 3.

Article 2 is the obligation: each Contracting State shall protect producers of phonograms who are nationals of other Contracting States against the making of duplicates without the consent of the producer, and against the importation of such duplicates, provided that any such making or importation is for the purpose of distribution to the public, and against the distribution of such duplicates to the public.

Article 3 leaves the means to each State: protection may be by copyright, by a sui generis right, by the law of unfair competition, or by penal sanctions. That flexibility is the Convention's most distinctive feature, and it is why it was easier to join than Rome.

Article 4: the duration is a matter for domestic law, but if it fixes a specific duration it shall be not less than twenty years from the end of the year in which the sounds were first fixed or the phonogram first published.

Article 5 is the formalities provision, in the same terms as Rome Article 11: the P in a circle notice with the year of first publication satisfies any formality requirement.

Article 6 permits the same limitations as a State provides for authors, and permits compulsory licences only where reproduction is solely for teaching or scientific research, is limited to the territory, does not include export, and carries equitable remuneration.