GENEVA - The World Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty (WCT) and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT) entered into force with respect to the State of Qatar on October 28, 2005.
The Qatari government deposited its instruments of accession to the aforementioned treaties on July 28, 2005.
The WCT deals with the rights of the authors including the right of distribution, the right of rental, and the right of communication to the public.
The WPPT protects the intellectual property rights for performers (actors, singers, musicians, etc.), and producers of phonograms (the persons or legal entities that take the initiative and have the responsibility for the fixation of the sounds).
The treaty grants performers four kinds of economic rights in respect of their performances fixed in phonograms. They include the right of reproduction, the right of distribution, the right of rental, and the right of making available.
It also grants three kinds of economic rights to performers in respect of their unfixed (live) performances. They include the right of broadcasting (except in the case of rebroadcasting), the right of communication to the public (except where the performance is a broadcast performance), and the right of fixation.