CROATIA SIGNS CONVENTIONS PROTECTING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

( Editorial: --> 8556 ) GENEVA, Dec 15 (Hina) - Croatia on Monday signed international agreements on copyright and recording and performance at the headquarters of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) in Geneva. The director of the State Authority for Intellectual Property, Nikola Kopcic, signed the two agreements on behalf of Croatia. The signing of the agreements means that a long, necessary step has been taken in the protection of copyright generally and, especially, in the protection of all forms of sound emission, such as gramophone records, compact discs and audio and video cassettes. By adopting these conventions, Croatia finally has a legal base for coordinating its legislation with the demands and criteria of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in areas which had not been regulated up to now. Croatia will, within WIPO, in January 1998 take over coordination of the regional group of countries from central and eastern Europe. (Hina) mm mb 152031 MET dec 97