WIPO and international treaties

The Berne Convention (1886) is the founding text: it establishes automatic protection of works in all States parties and a minimum of rights. The 1996 WIPO treaties on copyright and on performances adapt these rules to the digital environment.

The Marrakesh Treaty (2013) and the Beijing Treaty (2012) concern neighbouring fields. For the art market, the Berne Convention and the 1996 treaty are the most important, because they underpin the protection of images of works online.

WIPO offers a mediation and arbitration centre specialising in intellectual property disputes. It handles disputes between artists, galleries, auction houses and publishers. OIMAP refers certain cases to it when the dispute mainly concerns copyright.

WIPO also provides databases of legislation, model contracts and training resources, which OIMAP integrates into its own modules for market operators.

The 2020 agreement between OIMAP and WIPO has produced concrete results: a joint training module for market operators, a guide to reproduction licences in sale catalogues, and a procedure for referring disputes between the Arbitral Tribunal and the mediation centre.

New projects are envisaged, notably on works generated by artificial intelligence, the protection of artists' archives and the fight against online counterfeits. They will be the subject of public consultations.