The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has concluded the Beijing Treaty, a pact that sets international legal standards of rights for performers who work in screen-based entertainment industries.

The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists, whose president attended the diplomatic conference that yielded the treaty that had been nearly 20 years in the making, urged the Canadian federal government to quickly sign on to the agreement.

“The Canadian government should seize this opportunity to be a leader on the international stage and demonstrate its commitment to artists by being one of the first to sign the Beijing Treaty,” Stephen Waddell, ACTRA national executive director, said in a statement Tuesday.

Waddell argued that by signing the WIPO Audiovisual Performances Treaty and implementing its provisions into domestic law the federal government “would not only demonstrate [its] commitment to enhanced intellectual property rights, but would also signal that Canada wants to do business with China.” He noted the Asian powerhouse has invested not only considerable resources but “great pride” in hosting the conference, which started last week.

Ferne Downey, ACTRA’s national president who attended the conference, explained in the same statement “this treaty is real. It secures new economic rights for performers whose precarious careers are filled with uncertain work opportunities and equally fluctuating paycheques.”

According to WIPO’s website, the treaty needs to be ratified by 30 eligible parties, “including countries or certain intergovernmental organizations,” before it can come into force.  Signing it does not force a country into a binding legal obligation to ratify it. If or when a country does ratify it however it does become legally binding.