Copyright
Copyright Conventions
John Lambert
Last
updated 4 Feb 2006
HM government is party to the Berne and Universal Copyright Conventions ("UCC") and the TRIPs agreement. Recently, it has signed but not yet ratified the WIPO Copyright Treaty which provides among other things for software, databases, distribution and rental rights. .
Berne
Convention
Art. 1 establishes a union for the protection of the rights of authors
in their literary and artistic works ("the Bern Union") with an
assembly and executive committee.
Literary and
Artistic Works
Art. 2 (6) requires literary and artistic works to be protected in all
countries of the Union for the benefit of the author and his successors
in title. Art. 2 (1) lists the types of work that fall within that
description while art. 2 (2) permits national legislatures to decide
whether or not protection should depend on a measure of fixation in
material form. Art. 3 requires such protection to apply to works of
nationals and habitual residents of members of the Union and works first
published in a member of the Union. Special provision is made for
authors of cinematographic and artistic works by art. 4.
Moral Rights
Art. 6bis requires authors to be entitled to claim authorship and
to object to any distortion, mutilation or other modification of, or
other derogatory action in relation to their works that would be
prejudicial to his honour or reputation. These rights, known as moral
rights are to subsists quite independently of their economic rights.
Term
Art. 7 provides a general minimum term of protection of the life of the
author plus 50 years with variations for particular types of copyright
work.
Restricted Acts
Arts. 8 and 9 restrict to copyright owners the translation and
reproduction of their works subject to certain conditional exceptions
for quotation, educational use, reporting of current events and so forth
in arts. 10 and 10bis. The performance and communication of dramatic and
musical works are restricted to copyright owners by arts. 11 and 11bis.
Recitation and adaptation are also restricted by arts. 11ter and 12.
Art. 14ter provides a resale right for original manuscripts and works of
art.
Enforcement
Art. 15 permits authors to sue for infringement if their name appears on
the work. Art. 16 provides for seizure of infringing copies.
Special
Agreements
Art. 20 permits members of the Union to enter special agreements to
provide greater rights to authors if they so wish. The WIPO Copyright
Treaty is a special agreement within the meaning of art. 20 of Bern.
Developing
Countries
Art. 21 and the Appendix to the Convention make special provision for
developing countries on the application of certain provisions.
Administrative Provisions
The remaining articles provide for the work of the assembly and
executive committee, the administration of the Convention, budgetary
arrangements, amendment and review, dispute resolution and various
formalities.
UCC
Until the USA acceded to the Berne Convention in 1989 this was the only
multilateral copyright treaty to which both the UK and USA were party
thereby ending years of difficulty between the two countries. The UCC is
administered by UNESCO and not the WIPO. Contracting states undertake to
provide adequate and effective protection for authors and other
copyright proprietors in literary, artistic and scientific works.
Published and unpolished works are to enjoy the same protection in each
contracting state as the works of its own nationals. The only
formalities to be required of foreign works are the copyright symbol,
the name of the author and the year of first publication.
WIPO Copyright
Treaty
Art. 1 (1) of this treaty recites that it is a special agreement within
the meaning of art. 20 of Berne and contracting parties are required to
comply with arts. 1 to 21 and the appendix and to apply arts. 2 to 6 of
Berne. Art. 2 declares that "copyright protection extends to expressions
and not to ideas, procedures, methods of operation or mathematical
concepts as such." Arts. 4 and 5 require the protection of computer
programs as literary works and databases "which by reason of the
selection or arrangement of their contents constitute intellectual
creations" but "not the data or the material itself". Contracting
Parties have to provide adequate legal protection and effective legal
remedies against the circumvention of effective technological measures
that are used by authors in connection with the exercise of their rights
under the treaty or Berne that restrict acts, in respect of their works,
which are not authorized by the authors concerned or permitted by law.
They must also provide adequate and effective legal remedies against
removing or altering any electronic rights management information or
distributing works or copies knowing that electronic rights management
information has been removed or altered without authority.
