WIPO SCCR Breakthroughs on Copyright L&Es and Broadcast

The 48th session of the World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) embraced the first text-based work on Limitations and Exceptions (L&Es) since 2018 and agreed to draft new text on alternatives for the most controversial topics in the Broadcasting Treaty. These moves may indicate path toward progress on these long standing agenda items, both of which have been on the SCCR’s agenda for more than two decades.

Advancing Text-Based Work on Limitations and Exceptions

The issue of L&Es has been a standing agenda item since 2005, when the Committee approved Chile’s proposal of a work plan toward “agreement on exceptions and limitations for purposes of public interest that must be envisaged as a minimum in all national legislations for the benefit of the community; especially to give access to the most vulnerable or socially prioritized sectors.” (SCCR/13/5). See Schirru et al 2025.

The agenda item is operating under a 2012 General Assembly mandate “to work towards the adoption of an appropriate international legal instrument or instruments on exceptions and limitations” (WO/GA/41/14) for libraries, archives, museums, education and research institutions, and persons with disabilities not covered by the Marrakesh Treaty.

Recent Progress Toward an Instrument

There has been renewed progress toward text-based work since SCCR 43 in 2023, when the Committee adopted a Work Program to promote the 2012 mandate to draft an instrument.  

At SCCR 47, held in December 2025, multiple textual proposals were introduced to serve as a starting point, including two statements of principles and objectives submitted by the United States (SCCR/47/9 and SCCR/47/10); a “framework” for consideration of an instrument produced by the chair (SCCR/47/8), and a highly specific draft instrument from the African Group modeled on previous proposals in the committee from the pre-2018 period (SCCR/47/5). See Band 2026.

The issue in SCCR 48 was how to move toward text based discussions based on these varied proposals.

Priority Agenda Items  

South Africa, on behalf of the African Group, said in its opening statement at the SCCR that it remains committed to linking progress on the Broadcast Treaty to the development of an L&E instrument:

"The African Group wishes to remind [delegates] that the Committee's work continues to be guided by two General Assembly mandates. First, to conclude a signal-based treaty on the protection of traditional broadcasting organizations. Secondly, to advance work to add an international legal instrument on limitations and exceptions... it remains our firm position that these two processes should advance in tandem."

Brazil and the Group of Latin America and the Caribbean countries (GRULAC) have long advocated for more time on the agenda to be spent on the issues of Copyright in the Digital Environment and have at times been less engaged in the work on limitations and exceptions. But in SCCR 48, Brazil made clear that it “supports the continuation of work on limitations and exceptions” as a “a major element of WIPO's Development Agenda.” When the agenda turned to discussion of the tool kits on L&Es being prepared by the Secretariat, Brazil noted that “the General Assembly's mandate on exception and limitations specifically mentions an international legal instrument or instruments in whatever form.” Toolkits, it argued, “may feed important information but they do not replace nor implement the obligations approved by the General Assembly.”

Other member states and groups largely articulated their previous positions. The EU, for example, repeated opposition to "work towards legally binding instruments” but restated its more recent position that, “[n]evertheless, we stand ready to engage constructively... to reflect further on other possible nonbinding instruments.” 

The Chair's New Mandate on L&Es 

After extended informal sessions, in which observers were not able to listen in, the Committee agreed to instruct the chair to synthesize the proposals from SCCR 47 into a single, cohesive document, signaling the start of concrete, text-based work. The Chair reported: 

"In order to facilitate substantive discussions under this longstanding agenda item at SCCR 49, the Chair will prepare an informal document focusing on the following topics: First, limitations and exceptions for preservation. Second, limitations and exceptions for the benefit of people with other disabilities. And third, limitations and exceptions for education." 

To build this new text, the Chair will use the various existing documents in a complementary manner, actively combining elements from the African Group's proposal, the United States' proposed objectives and principles, and previous Chair texts to find convergences.

The endorsement of discussing specific textual proposals on limitations and exceptions marks a breakthrough in the Committee’s process. In the period between 2012 and 2018, there were a large number of substantive proposals for text for instruments on libraries, archives, museums, education, research and people with disabilities other than vision impairments. But starting 2019, the committee shifted to a series of information sessions followed by a WIPO-wide moratorium on normative work during COVID. SCCR 49 will therefore feature the first text based work on the issue in nearly a decade.

Tackling the Controversial Core of the Broadcast Treaty

Alongside the L&E breakthrough, SCCR 48 made significant procedural headway toward narrowing the Treaty for the Protection of Broadcast Organizations, an item that has been on the agenda since 1998. 

The primary hurdle for the Broadcasting Treaty has been aligning the draft text with the 2006 and 2007 General Assembly mandates, which require a strictly "signal-based approach" limited to the protection of traditional broadcasters (see WO/GA/33/10, para 107, 2006). On the history of the Broadcast Treaty, see Schirru et al 2025. 

The most intense controversies have surrounded the proposed inclusion of Article 7 (fixation) and Article 8 (stored programs) and associated limitations and exceptions, which critics argue extend beyond signal protection into post-fixation rights. See Flynn 2025.

Providing broadcasters the right to control the fixation of signals and the use of stored programs poses a significant risk to public-interest uses and to competition. These rights could allow broadcasters to prevent consumers from using third-party “catch up” services to record and play back lawfully received content, as well as force cultural institutions to seek permission to record lawfully received content for preservation, education, research and other public interest purposes. Because of these issues, public interest groups and several Member States have demanded that mandatory limitations and exceptions (Article 11) apply to all uses permitted by copyright law. 

Concerns were also raised by the African Group over the proposal to allow reservations, rather than a freedom to opt-in, for coverage of purely webcast transmissions and over the use of a reciprocity principle rather than a national treatment norm in Article 5.

Failure to Incorporate Concerns into the Latest Draft of the Broadcast Treaty

Despite many countries raising concerns with these issues in recent meetings of the SCCR, the Chair’s Text for SCCR 48 (SCCR/48/3) did not contain any brackets or changes noting the controversies. Several groups and countries expressed frustration at the limited changes in the Chair’s draft in response to opposition to various provisions. 

The African Group stated:

“We are deeply concerned that our discussions in this committee, including the specific objectives to particular provisions raised by our group and other Delegations are not reflected in the Chair's draft. Our support for continuing to spend time discussing the broadcasting Treaty is contingent on those discussions being reflected in the drafts that the Chair produces.”

The United States similarly stated:

“[W]e are disappointed that the latest draft text retains the post fixation articles about which we have expressed deep concerns and have repeatedly requested their removal. We cannot support their inclusion."

Canada took an active role in the discussion to “urge this committee to focus its efforts on issues where there is presently consensus and to set aside issues where further consensus is at least for now impossible."

The Chair's New Mandate on Broadcast 

Acknowledging the impossibility of moving a stagnant draft to a Diplomatic Conference without addressing these fundamental disagreements, the Committee agreed to instruct the Chair to draft new text presenting direct alternatives for the specific friction points. The Chair summarized: 

"Substantive discussions focused on three main areas where further in-depth discussions are needed to achieve a final agreement on the convening of a Diplomatic Conference on the broadcasting organizations treaty. First, Article 7 and 8 and how they are interlinked with Article 11 on exceptions and limitations. Second, Article 10 and its connection with Article 5 regarding national treatment and the reciprocity principle. And third, Article 3.6." 

To drive the negotiations forward, the summary confirms that “the Chair in consultation with interested Delegations will prepare a separate informal document for the next session of the SCCR presenting possible options on these three main areas." 

A way forward for the SCCR?

The drafting of an instrument on L&Es as well as on the protection of broadcast organizations have each been on the SCCR’s agenda for over two decades. Many countries, particularly in the GRULAC group, are eager for the committee to devote more time to remuneration and other issues associated with copyright in the digital environment, including new issues being raised by the rapid growth of artificial intelligence. Thus far, however, there is not a clear consensus on any form of instrument that the digital agenda might produce. By officially committing to generate option-based texts for the most contentious broadcasting provisions and initiating consolidated, text-based negotiations on L&E, SCCR 48 laid the groundwork for a more balanced and functional negotiation on these agenda items that might prepare one or both of the items for conclusion in later meetings.