Universal Copyright Convention, Paris 1971 (UCC)
Prior to the UCC some countries, including the United States had different copyright laws according to whether the work or author was domestic or foreign. At one time in the U.S. foreign works had no copyright protection at all. That is no longer the case. In essence the UCC series of treaties sought to provide equal protection to foreign authors' work regardless of the country that the physical work was located in. That is, to prevent discrimination against foreign authors in countries other than their own. UCC standardized practices to help prevent these discrepencies. For example, if country X requires foreign artists to mark their work with ©, while domestic artist are not required to mark their work, this practice would not be permissible under the treaty. Different requirements for foreign and domestic authors (artists) cannot exist in UCC member countries, although the actual details of copyright protection may vary between countries.
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UCC provisions include defining “artistic works” as subject matter for copyright. |
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Protects foreign authors (artists) so long as their work was first “published” in their home country. Otherwise there must be equal protection for unpublished work as between domestics and foreigners. 2 |
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Permits countries to require the formality of the © mark on works, so long as it is applied equally to foreign and domestic works. The appropriate format is © year author's name, such as © 2007 Leonardo Vinci. The year indicated is that of initial publication. |
In regards to the United States and some other countries, the Berne Convention supercedes much of the UCC provisions and provides further protection to authors/artists between member countries.
Berne Convention Treaty (“Berne”): A foreign author (artist) has the same rights as a domestic author/artist, in regards to copyrights.3
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This means that the rights in each country are not necessarily the same from country-to-country, but member countries cannot discriminate against foreign authors. |
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Copyright protection is automatic, no formalities are necessarily. (Formalities might have included registration, mandatory marking of the work with the ©, etc. ) Formalities are perceived as procedures that inhibit authors from obtaining copyright protection, in part because of the difficulty of foreign authors to process formalities in (all) other countries where his or her work may be present. Therefore, such formalities are not required in Berne countries. | |
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A minimum duration of copyright protection is the life of the author plus 50 years. Some Berne member countries provide a duration longer than this. The duration of copyright in the U.S. is life + 70 years; meeting the treaty's requirement and surpassing it. | |
| Standards pertaining to the subject matter (what type of works are included). Visual art is specifically included as protected subject matter under Berne. Berne also has other minimum rights that member countries must recognize. |
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Berne doesn’t cover the subject of authorship (defining who made the work). Nor does it determine which uses are fair-use. The standards of the fair-use defense remain with the individual countries to determine according to their own laws. It should be noted that Berne allows for a different standard of protection for photographs than for other artworks. In the U.S. there is not a distinction between photographs and other visual works, but this is not necessarily the case in other Berne member countries.
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Berne specifically states that in regards to photographs and applied art, member countries must have a minimum copyright protection duration of 25 years from the date of creation. (Article 7(4)). Some countries have provided for a longer duration on photographs, but this does vary by country, so long as it is at least 25 years in Berne member countries. However, if the country has ratified WCT there is no difference between the duration of photogaphs and other artworks. See the WIPO section below. |
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The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty (WCT) essentially relates to Berne by clarifying and altering some of its provisions. Signatories to Berne are not automatically members of the WIPO Copyright Treaty. One significant provision of WCT is the inclusion of computer programs in protectable subject matter for copyright. WIPO member countries recognize that computer programs are covered by (their) copyright protection. Also, significantly for this context, for photographic works, member countries do not apply the Berne provision minimum 25 years of copyright protection, rather photographic works are protected consistent with other visual artworks.4
You can confirm whether the country of interest is a member of one of these treaties on either the Copyright Office and the WIPO websites.5 However, if you have a concern about your rights in another country, consider further research or seek specific advice about the copyright laws of that country, its requirements and protections.
As of October 2008, WCT is not in force in the European Union, Canada, Ireland, Israel, South Africa, Sweden, United Kingdom, Venezuela and many other countries. Some WCT member countries, as of October 15, 2008 include: Japan, Mexico, Phillipines, Republic of Korea (South Korea), Singapore, Turkey, Ukraine, U.S.A. See the WIPO website for full current information.
The Internet and Infringement
The borderless character of the internet makes copyright protection and enforcement a complex issue, particularly if an online infringer is located in another country. Even when a country is a treaty member it may have different rights than those of the U.S. and different procedures for resolving infringement complaints. In any case, the first step in responding to a possible infringement is often a letter or e-mail from the copyright owner to the infringer, e.g., "cease and desist." Such a letter would inform the infringer that the work is copyrighted, that that the work is being infringed, registration information if it applies, and probably an order to destroy all copies. A more aggressive approach may also indicate that the copyright owner will seek legal action.
When a seemingly anonymous blogger or website owner is infringing, research will need to be done to determine who that person is and where he or she is located. In the case of websites, owners are registered through various domain registrars. For top level domains (e.g., .com) the registrar is listed with ICANN/InterNIC's Whois services. The registrar must provide public information about the registrant (website owner) listed on the website. For country level domains, registrar systems may vary by country, but some information is available through the InterNIC portal as well. Determining the owner of the top level domain may just be a first step if the offending website is a subset of a larger site. In this situation the top level domain may be contacted about the infringement. Generally, the internet provider – the service hosting the webiste – is not liable for infringment. However, some services may have policies about its users posting infringing material. If it is not possible to determine the website owner, it may be helpful to contact the internet service that is hosting the website, which may be determined from registrar information. If such methods result in deadends, then some creativity may be necessary to reach the individual you are seeking. Online social networkings sites will sometimes provide clues into website owners or contact information, as well as general online searching.
More Than Copyright
Another issue to consider is that in some countries artist’s rights extend beyond copyright and include moral rights. These can include the right to have your name associated with your artwork (attribution); to not have your name associated with the work; and to prevent destruction or mutilation of the artwork. These type of rights exist is some other countries, but specifically in the European Union and they reflect the different perspective that those countries have on artmaking. There is a general perception that the artwork produced is inherently that of the artist; it is his face, his reputation, and represents the labor that he put into the work. Moral rights are geared towards this concept of artmaking (or other relevant activities). In contrast, the copyright laws in the U.S. are based upon the concept that they are property right granted by the Constitution. Since copyrights are provided for in the Constitution, they not an inherent moral-type right, in this perspective. Some U.S. states have enacted moral rights as well, and some mininmal moral rights are provided on the federal level in the Visual Artists Rights Act (VARA). However, moral rights for artists are in its infancy in the United States in comparison to some other countries.
Notes and Resources
Further an alternative discussion of international issues see: http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl100.html
Full text of the Berne Convention Treaty for the Portection of Literary and Artistic Works
Berne Member Countries (October 2008): www.wipo.int/treaties/en/ShowResults.jsp?lang=en&treaty_id=15 (note which countries are "in force")
World Intellectual Property Organization: www.wipo.int
WCT member countries: www.wipo.int/treaties/en/ShowResults.jsp?lang=en&treaty_id=1 (note which countries are "in force")
WIPO also maintains a database of country's laws, which may be used to intiate research: www.wipo.int/clea/en/
Country relations status as of January 2003, representing several treaties: http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ38a.html#2003
Japan, see Copyright System in Japan, published online by the Japanese Copyright Office
United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office's Copyright Info: www.ipo.gov.uk/types/copy.htm
Internic: www.internic.net
Internic Whois search: www.internic.net/whois.html
UWhois: www.uwhois.com
For licensing of internet/web-based works, see also, Ready-Made Copyright Licenses, Delineating the Boundaries of Artistic Collaboration, especially regarding the issue of jurisdiction.
For country dodes and other domains on UWhois: www.uwhois.com/cgi/domains.cgi?User=NoAds
See also Visual Artists Rights Act regarding U.S. moral rights.
[ Check this space for additional resources to be added at later dates ]
1 If the author (artist) is located outside of the country or is an author in a country with a reciprcol treaty, rights accrue automatically as well.
2 In the past, in the U.S., there were certain conditions pertaining to whether the work was published or not. This has been eliminated, but may still be the case in some other countries.
3 These rights may be referred to as "author's rights" rather than the narrower term of "copyrights".
4 Member countries “shall not apply the provisions of Article 7(4) of the Berne Convention.” (WIPO Treaty, Article 9)
Article 7 (4) of Berne states that, "It shall be a matter for legislation in the countries of the Union to determine the term of protection of photographic works and that of works of applied art in so far as they are protected as artistic works; however, this term shall last at least until the end of a period of twenty-five years from the making of such a work." Berne reserves the right to the country itself to determine the copyright duration of photographs to the countries, so long as it is 25 years +. The WIPO provision appears to remove this right thereby includiing photographs in the same category as other visual artwork. It should be noted because countries belonging to Berne, but not WIPO may have shorter durations for photographs.
5 Copyright office, circular 38a re international copyright relations of the United States, general info at: http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ38a.html.
Copyright © 2008 - 2009 Jennifer Unruh. Licensing Information.
Unless otherwise stated, the original writings contained in this website are solely the expression of opinion by the author(s) and are not intended to provide or be a substitute for professional legal advice. Statues and other governmental publications are provided for informational and educational purposes only. For legal matters, the advice of an attorney should be timely sought. Be aware that the preservation of legal rights may be time sensitive. The author(s) does not promote or endorse any particular legal service provider. This website is not attorney advertising.
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