ABUGA 2014: Copyright protection vital for broadcasters, meeting told.

Copyright and intellectual property protection is vital for broadcasters, an ABU forum has been told.

Mr Yan Bo, the Acting Chairperson of the ABU Copyright Committee, told a committee meeting in Macau that copyright was not just a definition in law, it was now an industry.

He said copyright and IP rights were not just critical in protecting broadcasters’ assets, but also in generating revenue for them. Research by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) indicated that the broadcasting industry was the third largest revenue contributing industry towards a country’s economy. As such it was important to ensure a healthy management of the industry enabling broadcasters to contribute further to society.

Mr Bo said today’s technical developments had given broadcasters both opportunities and challenges. However, the challenges could also be changed into opportunities if broadcasters acted in creating a balance between copyright laws and technical advances.

He said people wanted good content but if they did not worry about how they got this content, who would protect broadcasters’ assets?

“If broadcasters do not take the initiative, who will?” Mr Bo asked.

He said if new content had to be provided for new platforms, where would broadcasters get the revenue for this great demand of different content for different platforms unless broadcasters built on getting their revenue from other avenues.

“The copyright industry provides us this opportunity and we need to explore this opportunity,” Mr Bo added.