At the request of AGICOA, the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center has developed WIPO Expedited Arbitration Rules for AGICOA tailored to the specific needs of AGICOA rightsholders.
AGICOA refers to the “Association of International Collective Management of Audiovisual Works” (Association de Gestion Internationale Collective des Oeuvres Audiovisuelles). AGICOA is an international not-for-profit organization involved in the tracking and distribution of royalties on the retransmission of audiovisual works created by independent producers.
AGICOA operates a conflict resolution procedure for disputes between AGICOA rightsholders where two or more rightsholders register a work with AGICOA with the same rights (double declaration) and with an overlapping cumulative percentage of declared rights of more than a hundred percent e.g., rights for the same territory, the same period, the same language version.
The AGICOA Conflict Rules for these disputes provide for a settlement and recommendation phase conducted by AGICOA.
If conflicting parties fail to reach an agreement, they can initiate legal proceedings, mediation, or arbitration under the WIPO Expedited Arbitration Rules for AGICOA or at any other arbitration institution, in accordance with Article 8 of the AGICOA Conflict Rules.
The WIPO Expedited Arbitration Rules for AGICOA thus apply where an Arbitration Agreement between AGICOA rightsholders provides for arbitration under the WIPO Expedited Arbitration Rules for AGICOA.
The WIPO Expedited Arbitration Rules for AGICOA consist of the WIPO Expedited Arbitration Rules modified in certain respects in order to take account of the particular needs of AGICOA conflicts. To achieve this objective, four main modifications have been introduced:
(i) Unless the parties have already filed an Arbitration Agreement with AGICOA and the WIPO Center, the Claimant shall send a written notification to AGICOA and the WIPO Center of its Intention to file a Request for Arbitration against the Respondent, whereupon the Center will request the parties to sign an Arbitration Agreement.
(ii) A party may file submissions in English or French, subject to appropriate determination by the sole arbitrator, in accordance with Article 35 of the WIPO Expedited Arbitration Rules for AGICOA.
(iii) Unless the parties agree otherwise, the arbitrator’s fees shall not exceed USD 300 per hour and are capped at a maximum of USD 5,000, in accordance with the Schedule of Fees for WIPO Expedited Arbitration for AGICOA.
(iv) The WIPO Center communicates the award to each of the parties and to AGICOA’s Legal and Business Department, whereupon AGICOA updates the rights and releases the royalties blocked by the conflict accordingly, pursuant to Article 55(c) of the WIPO Expedited Rules for AGICOA and Article 8 of the AGICOA Conflict Rules.
In the WIPO Center’s view, the effectiveness of arbitration depends largely on the quality of the arbitrator.
Thanks to the WIPO Center’s worldwide intellectual property network, the WIPO Center disposes of a database of over 1,500 independent WIPO arbitrators, mediators and experts from more than 70 different countries.
For AGICOA disputes, the WIPO Center has identified a separate panel of highly qualified and recognized copyright and entertainment law arbitrators from various jurisdictions.
The parties in a WIPO Expedited Arbitration for AGICOA may elect to use the WIPO eADR.
WIPO eADR allows parties and all other actors in a case under the WIPO Expedited Arbitration Rules for AGICOA to submit communications electronically into an online docket. Parties receive email alerts of any such submission being made and may view and search this docket at any time. The online docket may also be used to record the fact that a submission is being made in hardcopy outside WIPO eADR.
WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
34, chemin des Colombettes, 1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland
Tel: (41-22) 338 8247 - Fax: (41-22) 338 8337
E-mail: arbiter.mail@wipo.int