HC Deb 27 April 1988 vol 132 c172W
Mr. Jim Lester

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) if he intends to consult the World Intellectual Property Organisation about the general compatibility of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Bill[Lords] with the requirements of the Berne convention; and if he will make a statement;

(2) what consultations there have been between his Department and the World Intellectual Property Organisation about the compatibility of clauses 115 to 119 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Bill [Lords] as regards the jurisdiction of the proposed Copyright Tribunal over licences to perform a literary, dramatic or musical, work in public, with the provisions of article II, as limited by the United Kingdom's 1948 Brussels declaration, and article II ter of the Berne convention (Paris Act): and if he will make a statment;

(3) what consultations there have been between his Department and the World Intellectual Property Organisation, about the compatibility of clause 65(3) of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Bill [Lords] with paragraph 3 of article II bis of the Berne convention (Paris Act) as regards the exemption for ephemeral recordings made by a broadcasting organisation by means of it own facilities and used for its own broadcasts; and if he will make a statement;

(4) what consultations there have been between his Department and the World Intellectual Property Organisation about the compatibility of clause 69(1) of the Copyright Designs and Patents Bill (Lords) under which the inclusion of certain works in a cable programme service would not be an infringement of the copyright in those works, with the provisions of article II bis of the Berne convention (Paris Act); and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Butcher

My Department has not formally consulted the World Intellectual Property Organisation on the general provisions of the Bill, or on any particular clause, since the functions of the organisation do not include judging the compatibility of national legislation with the requirements of the Berne convention. We have, however, kept the organisation fully informed of the progress and contents of the Bill.