Copyright and the Internet: A Caribbean perspective on the WIPO Internet Treaties

The WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT) are suggested to be essential to ensure adequate protection worldwide of copyright in the digital arena. I will consider why Caribbean countries are considering implementation of Treaties and conduct a general analysis of the laws and policies currently in effect in the Caribbean in relation to the enforcement of copyright. I will answer the question whether Caribbean countries should implement the Treaties and discuss the requirements needed for their implementation into the national laws of the Caribbean Islands. I will argue that there is no real compelling ideological basis for implementation of the Treaties and further that Caribbean countries are practically not in a strong enough position to implement and enforce the Internet Treaties. I will suggest methods of adequate implementation when ratification becomes more feasible and in doing so will also examine the examples of other countries, which have ratified the Treaties.