The Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances, or the Beijing Treaty for short, was adopted at the Diplomatic Conference on the Protection of Audiovisual Performances, held in Beijing from June 20 to 26, 2012, hosted by the World Intellectual Property Organization, the General Administration of Press and Publication (National Copyright Administration), and the Beijing Municipal People’s Government. It involves the intellectual property rights of performers in audiovisual performances.
The Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances is an international treaty on the protection of performers’ rights. The treaty grants performers of works such as films the right to authorize or prohibit others from using their images, movements, sounds, and other performance activities in accordance with the law when performing works. The conclusion of this treaty is of milestone significance in improving the international performers’ copyright protection system, promoting the healthy prosperity of cultural industries in countries around the world, and promoting the development of traditional folk performing arts in developing countries with a long cultural history, including China. The new treaty is also conducive to improving China’s copyright legal system, improving the level of protection of Chinese performers’ rights, and promoting the “going out” of Chinese traditional culture. The Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances is the first international intellectual property treaty born in China, which will greatly enhance the international status of China’s copyright cause and Beijing’s reputation in the international community.
The Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances is as famous as the Singapore Treaty, the Madrid System, the Berne Union and other intellectual property systems. The signing of the Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances ended the history of performers’ rights not being fully protected by intellectual property rights.
my country signed the treaty on June 26, 2012. On April 24, 2014, the 8th Session of the Standing Committee of the 12th National People’s Congress voted to approve the Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances. The birth of the Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances marked that the new international treaty on copyright protection for audiovisual performers, which had been negotiated for nearly 20 years, had finally come to fruition.