New Zealand has joined the World Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty (WCT) and Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT) which are intended to ensure greater protection of works and the rights of their authors, producers and performers in the digital environment. Both the WCT and the WPPT address some of the challenges posed by today' digital technologies, in particular the dissemination of protected material over the Internet, according to a statement from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment on January 18. Joining the WPPT means that from December 30, 2018, performers have the right to be identified as the performer and to object to any modification to their performance. Performers, and in particular musicians, also get property rights in relation to any sound recordings made from their performances. New Zealand has also joined the 1971 Paris Act of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, which provides creators such as authors, musicians, poets and painters with the means to control how their works are used, by whom, and on what terms, the statement said.

Source: Xinhua