0.1 The international framework  (Page 12/12)

A thorough review of the principal exceptions and limitations to copyrights recognized by the main multilateral agreements -- combined with a argument for the clarification and expansion of those exceptions and limitations, emphasizing "the importance of access to creative works for developing countries" -- may be found in  Ruth L. Okediji, "The International Copyright System: Limitations, Exceptions and Public Interest Considerations for Developing Countries, International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development and United Nations Conference on Trade and Development," Issue Paper No. 15 (2006) . Included in Okediji's essay is an excellent discussion of the Berne Convention Appendix.

For a WIPO study more skeptical of the value of those exceptions and limitations, see  WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights, WIPO Study on Limitations and Exceptions of Copyright and Related Rights in the Digital Environment, 9th Session, June 23-27, 2003, WIPO Doc. SCCR/9/7 (April 5, 2003) .

An excellent study of the process of implementing the TRIPS Agreement (including a detailed discussion of the complex processes that led to the revised Bangui Agreement among the OAPI countries) can be found in Carolyn Deere,  The Implementation Game: The TRIPS Agreement and the Global Politics of Intellectual Property Reform in Developing Countries  (Oxford UP 2009). The Introduction, which sketches the argument of the book, is available online  here .

For up-to-date information concerning the implementation of the EU Information Society Directive by individual countries, including a good bibliography of scholarly studies of the implementation process, see Instituut voor Infomatierecht (IVIR),  Report on the Implementation of the Information Society Directive (2008).

Cases

The following judicial opinion and summaries of rulings issued in WTO dispute resolution proceedings explore and apply some of the principles discussed in this module:

Joined Cases C-92/92 and C-326/92, Phil Collins v Imtrat Handelsgesellschaft mbH; Patricia Im-und Export Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH and Another v EMI Electrola GmbH (1993)  (Applicability of the EEC Treaty to IP rights)

Sarah E. Henry, "The First International Challenge to U.S. Copyright Law: What Does the WTO Analysis of 17 U.S.C. § 110(5) Mean to the Future of International Harmonization of Copyright Laws Under the TRIPS Agreement?," 20 Penn State International Law Review 301 (2001) .  (EU vs. US)

Jan Bohanes&Adrian Emch, "WTO Panel Report on China IPR: A Mixed Result," China Law&Practice, pp. 19-20, March 2009  (US vs. China)

Assignment and discussion questions

Assignment

1. Which international treaties governing copyright law has your country signed, ratified, and implemented?

2. If your country is a member of the Berne Convention, may your national legislature set the copyright term to either a) 120 years or b) 25 years? Why or why not?

3. Imagine that your country is a member of the Berne Convention, but not of the WTO. Thus, your country is not bound by TRIPS.

May your national legislature require foreign copyright holders to register their works with your country in order to receive copyright protection?

If your legislature  did  require registration, could other members of the Berne Convention take action against your country? How would your answer be different if your country were also a member of the WTO?

4. Suppose that the fictional country of Atlantis has recently signed and ratified the WCT. Its national legislature wants to implement the treaty. Atlantis only imports software from other countries and it has never before protected them under copyright law. The legislature believes that it is in the interest of Atlanteans to extend as little copyright protection to computer programs as possible. What provisions of the WTC would allow Atlanteans to freely use computer programs?

5. Do you think that both developed and developing countries should have the same rules for copyright protection? Why or why not?

6. Read article 3-1 of the  draft text of the A2K treaty . Comment on the importance of one or two provisions for the missions you perform as a librarian.

Discussion question(s)

Please read the comments on the A2K treaty proposals that your colleagues provided to question 6, above, and comment on one (or more) of them. You may give more examples based on situations you have faced at work, or projects you could develop.

Contributors

This module was created by  Petroula Vantsiouri . It was then edited by a team including  Sebastian Diaz ,  William Fisher ,  Urs Gasser , Adam Holland ,  Kimberley Isbell ,  Peter Jaszi ,  Colin Maclay ,  Andrew Moshirnia , and  Chris Peterson .