Copyright Law Chapter 13

The National Treatment Principle

each country agrees to give citizens of foreign countries the same degree of copyright protection that it gives to its own citizens

protecting anything on an international basis poses substantial problems because

each country operates independently with its own laws

US Does not recognize

moral rights (breach of contract, unfair competition...?)

GATT -General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs

multi-national treaty that is designed to encourage free international trade -includes TRIPS -Trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights -member countries must agree to enact copyright laws that give effect to the substantive provisions of the Berne Convention BROADCAST RIGHTS min 50 years

Berne

no rights of distribution or public display

Berne convention applies to

literary and artistic works which shall include every production in the literary and artistic domain, whatever may be the mode or form of its expression.

2 Minimum standards of protection guaranteed

-duration of copyright protection must be at least for the life of the author plus 50 years -each member country's laws must provide for some fair use of copyrighted works for purposes such as education and news reporting

The main goal of UCC universal copyright convention

-to bring the US into the international copyright community -UCC members of one country can avoid rules of another UCC country by placing copyright notice of their country on the work -Berne Convention takes priority over UCC

CHACE ACT

1891 Amendment to US Copyright Act -Allowed the president to extend copyright protection by proclamation to works originating in foreign countries if they in turn provided protection for American works. many of these have been superseded by multinational treaties such as the Berne Convention

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

1992 The US, Canada, Mexico -requires copyright protection for computer programs, data compilations, and sound recordings; recognition of rental rights for sound recordings; limitations on compulsory licensing; and recognition of rights against unauthorized importation of copies of protected works for NAFTA member countries -Producers of sound recordings can authorize or prohibit a recording's direct or indirect reproduction, important of unauthorized copies, first public distribution, and commercial rental -min protection 50 years

Countries that have no copyright relations with the United States (4)

Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Iran, Iraq

The former Register of copyrights was:

Barbara Ringer

Under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974...

Congress has authorized the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to identify and investigate countries that failed to adequately enforce or protect f the rights and recommend retaliatory trade measures if the offending countries refused to take steps to increase copyright protection

Duration Fair Use Berne convention standards!!!

Life of Author + 50 years

"Once works are in the public domain, they stay in the public domain" ...EXCEPT!!!! (3)

Limited to Foreign works:

Berne convention does NOT include:

SOUND RECORDINGS 'performers are not equivalent to authors'

Exclusive Rights similar to 106 and 107

RECOGNITION OF MORAL RIGHTS reproduction, translation, adaptation, public performance (NO distribution or public display)

The most important international (world) copyright treaty:

The Berne Convention administered by WIPO - world intellectual property organization (UN geneva, Switzerland) signed by 136 nations, revised 7 times

March 1, 1989

U.S. congress passed the Berne convention implementation act of 1988 -added certain amendments to the 1976 copyright act, including -copyright notice was made optional rather than mandatory for works published after 03/01/1989 -copyright transfers no longer have to be recorded in order to file a copyright infringement suit

September 16, 1955

U.S. joined the Universal Copyright Convention (UCC)

WIPO Treaties -

agency of UN -1998 2 treaties -WIPO copyright treaty -WIPO performances and phonograms treaty

rights of attribution and integrity

attribution: the right to be known as the author of a work integrity: once an author publishes a work, it shall not be cut, separated, or revised in any way without the author's permission

Uruguay Round Agreements Act (3)

automatic restoration of copyright for certain foreign works that previously entered the public domain in the united states due to publication without copyright notice. Qualify: a work must not be in the public domain in its source country but in the public domain in the United states for one of the following reasons 1- Failure to comply with us copyright formalities 2- lack of subject matter protection if the work is a sound recording fixed before February 15, 1972 3- lack of national eligibility if the work's source country had no copyright relations with the United states at the time of publication

WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty

first international treaty that specifically provides protection for sound recordings distributed digitally over computer networks such as the internet...requires that member countries provide at least 50 years of protection after the first fixation of recordings...also gives sound recording copyright owners the exclusive right to authorize others to make their recordings available by interactive internet communications, including by wire or wireless means, in such a way that members of the public can access the recordings from places and at times individually chosen by them GREATER PROTECTION THAN *TRIPS

biggest problem is

inconsistency of protection between countries

Geneva Convention

passed 1971, effective March 10, 1974 -designed to provide international protection against record piracy by recognizing the rights of reproduction distribution, and importation of sound recordings

WIPO Copyright Treaty

updates Berne Convention with respect to technological developments. Clarifies that the reproduction right in Berne applies in the digital environment by providing that the storage of a work in a digital or electronic medium is a reproduction...digitally downloading a recording from a website could constitute reproduction