World Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty

The World Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty, abbreviated as the WIPO Copyright Treaty, was an international treaty on copyright law adopted by the member states of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in 1996. It provides additional protections for copyright deemed necessary by knowledge monopoly dependent industries due to advances in information technology since the formation of previous copyright treaties before it. There have been a variety of criticisms of this treaty, including that it is overbroad (for example in its prohibition of circumvention of technical protection measures, even where such circumvention is used in the pursuit of legal and fair use rights) and that it applies a 'one size fits all' standard to all signatory countries despite widely differing stages of economic development and knowledge industry.

It ensures that computer programs are protected as literary works (Article 4), and that the arrangement and selection of material in databases is protected (Article 5).

It provides authors of works with control over their rental and distribution in Articles 6 to 8 which they may not have under the Berne Convention alone. It also prohibits circumvention of technological measures for the protection of works (Article 11) and unauthorised modification of rights management information contained in works (Article 12).

The WIPO Copyright Treaty is implemented in United States law by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). By Decision of 16 March 2000, the European Council approved the treaty on behalf of the European Community. European Union Directives which largely cover the subject matter of the treaty are: Directive 91/250/EC creating copyright protection for software, Directive 96/9/EC on copyright protection for databases and Directive 2001/29/EC prohibiting devices for circumventing "technical protection measures" such as digital rights management.

However, the WIPO Copyright Treaty made no reference to copyright term extension beyond the existing terms of the Berne Convention, but there was a degree of association. This was because the United States Congress passed both the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act, which enacts copyright term extension during the same week and used the same method using voice vote to make it less likely that the news media would report on the bills. In addition, the European Union adopted its own copyright term extension around the same time.

See also

*List of parties to international copyright treaties
*Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs)
*Software patents under TRIPs Agreement
*WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT)

External links and references

*The text of the treaty is available at:
** http://www.wipo.int/documents/en/diplconf/distrib/94dc.htm
*The United Kingdom implemented much of Article 11 in 1988:
** http://www.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts1988/Ukpga_19880048_en_21.htm#mdiv296
*The parties to the treaty are listed at:
** http://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/ShowResults.jsp?lang=en&treaty_id=16

*Gasaway, L.: " [http://www.unc.edu/courses/2006spring/law/357c/001/projects/dougf/index.html Databases and The Law] ", Cyberspace law course, Spring 2006, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Discussion of the protection on databases. URL last accessed 2007-04-14.