Universal Copyright Convention
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Universal Copyright Convention (UCC) is an international instrument which was drawn up in 1952 under the auspices of UNESCO. The UCC was adopted in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1952, and enforced in 1955. It is one of the two principal international conventions protecting copyright; the other is the Berne Convention.[1]
History
[edit]The UCC was developed by UNESCO in 1952, adopted at Geneva, Switzerland, and came into force in 1955.[2] It was developed as an alternative to the Berne Convention for those states that disagreed with aspects of the Berne Convention but still wished to participate in some form of multilateral copyright protection. These states included countries such as the United States and most of Latin America. The developing countries thought that the strong copyright protections granted by the Berne Convention overly benefited Western, developed, copyright-exporting nations; whereas the United States and Latin America were already members of the Buenos Aires Convention, a Pan-American copyright convention that was weaker than the Berne Convention. The Berne Convention states also became party to the UCC, so that their copyrights would exist in non-Berne convention states. In 1973 the Soviet Union joined the UCC.
The United States only provided copyright protection for a fixed renewable term, and required that, for a work to be copyrighted, it must contain a copyright notice and be registered at the Copyright Office. The Berne Convention, on the other hand, provided for copyright protection for a single term based on the life of the author, and did not require registration or the inclusion of a copyright notice for copyright to exist. Thus the United States would have to make several major modifications to its copyright law to become a party to the Berne Convention. At the time, the United States was unwilling to do so. The UCC thus permits those states that had a system of protection similar to the United States for fixed terms at the time of signature to retain them. Eventually, the United States became willing to participate in the Berne Convention and change its national copyright law as required. In 1989 it became a party to the Berne Convention as a result of the Berne Convention Implementation Act of 1988.
Under the Second Protocol of the Universal Copyright Convention (Paris text), protection under U.S. copyright law is expressly required for works published by the United Nations, by UN specialized agencies and by the Organization of American States (OAS).[3] The same requirement applies to other contracting states as well.
Berne Convention states were concerned that the existence of the UCC would encourage parties to the Berne Convention to leave that convention and adopt the UCC instead. So the UCC included a clause stating that parties which were also Berne Convention parties need not apply the provisions of the convention to any former Berne Convention state that renounced the Berne Convention after 1951. Thus, any state that has once adopted the Berne Convention is penalised if it then decides to renounce the Berne Convention and use the UCC protections instead, as its copyrights might no longer exist in Berne Convention states.
Since almost all countries are either members or aspiring members of the World Trade Organization (WTO), and thus comply with the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement (TRIPS), the UCC has lost significance. [citation needed]
See also
[edit]External links
[edit]
- "Geneva text of the UCC". 6 September 1952. Archived from the original on 22 September 2022. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
- "Paris text of the UCC". 14 July 1971. Archived from the original on 5 October 2022. Retrieved 11 May 2009.
- States Parties of UCC, with Appendix Declaration relating to Article XVII and Resolution concerning Article XI. Geneva, 6 September 1952..
- States Parties of UCC as revised on 24 July 1971, with Appendix Declaration relating to Article XVII and Resolution concerning Article XI. Paris, 24 July 1971..
References
[edit]- ^ Kéréver, André (20 November 2023). "The Universal Copyright Convention". unesco. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
- ^ "Universal Copyright Convention". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
- ^ House Report No. 94-1476 Archived 31 August 2006 at the Wayback Machine in connection with Title 17, United States Code, Section 104
- Copyright treaties
- Treaties concluded in 1952
- Treaties concluded in 1971
- Treaties entered into force in 1974
- Intellectual property treaties of Algeria
- Intellectual property treaties of Argentina
- Intellectual property treaties of Andorra
- Intellectual property treaties of Australia
- Intellectual property treaties of Austria
- Intellectual property treaties of Azerbaijan
- Intellectual property treaties of the Bahamas
- Intellectual property treaties of Bangladesh
- Intellectual property treaties of Barbados
- Intellectual property treaties of Belgium
- Intellectual property treaties of Belize
- Intellectual property treaties of Bolivia
- Intellectual property treaties of Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Intellectual property treaties of the Second Brazilian Republic
- Intellectual property treaties of the People's Republic of Bulgaria
- Intellectual property treaties of the Kingdom of Cambodia (1953–1970)
- Intellectual property treaties of Cameroon
- Intellectual property treaties of Canada
- Intellectual property treaties of Chile
- Intellectual property treaties of the People's Republic of China
- Intellectual property treaties of Colombia
- Intellectual property treaties of Costa Rica
- Intellectual property treaties of Croatia
- Intellectual property treaties of Cyprus
- Intellectual property treaties of Cuba
- Intellectual property treaties of Czechoslovakia
- Intellectual property treaties of the Czech Republic
- Intellectual property treaties of Denmark
- Intellectual property treaties of the Dominican Republic
- Intellectual property treaties of Ecuador
- Intellectual property treaties of El Salvador
- Intellectual property treaties of Fiji
- Intellectual property treaties of Finland
- Intellectual property treaties of the French Fourth Republic
- Intellectual property treaties of West Germany
- Intellectual property treaties of Ghana
- Intellectual property treaties of the Kingdom of Greece
- Intellectual property treaties of Guatemala
- Intellectual property treaties of Guinea
- Intellectual property treaties of Haiti
- Intellectual property treaties extended to Hong Kong
- Intellectual property treaties of the Hungarian People's Republic
- Intellectual property treaties of Iceland
- Intellectual property treaties of India
- Intellectual property treaties of Ireland
- Intellectual property treaties of Israel
- Intellectual property treaties of Italy
- Intellectual property treaties of Japan
- Intellectual property treaties of Kazakhstan
- Intellectual property treaties of Kenya
- Intellectual property treaties of South Korea
- Intellectual property treaties of the Kingdom of Laos
- Intellectual property treaties of Lebanon
- Intellectual property treaties of Liberia
- Intellectual property treaties of Liechtenstein
- Intellectual property treaties of Luxembourg
- Intellectual property treaties of North Macedonia
- Intellectual property treaties of Malawi
- Intellectual property treaties of Malta
- Intellectual property treaties of Mauritius
- Intellectual property treaties of Mexico
- Intellectual property treaties of Monaco
- Intellectual property treaties of Montenegro
- Intellectual property treaties of Morocco
- Intellectual property treaties of the Netherlands
- Intellectual property treaties of New Zealand
- Intellectual property treaties of Nicaragua
- Intellectual property treaties of Niger
- Intellectual property treaties of Nigeria
- Intellectual property treaties of Norway
- Intellectual property treaties of the Dominion of Pakistan
- Intellectual property treaties of Panama
- Intellectual property treaties of Paraguay
- Intellectual property treaties of Peru
- Intellectual property treaties of the Philippines
- Intellectual property treaties of the Polish People's Republic
- Intellectual property treaties of the Estado Novo (Portugal)
- Intellectual property treaties of the Soviet Union
- Intellectual property treaties of Rwanda
- Intellectual property treaties of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- Intellectual property treaties of Saudi Arabia
- Intellectual property treaties of Senegal
- Intellectual property treaties of Serbia and Montenegro
- Intellectual property treaties of Slovakia
- Intellectual property treaties of Slovenia
- Intellectual property treaties of Francoist Spain
- Intellectual property treaties of Sri Lanka
- Intellectual property treaties of Sweden
- Intellectual property treaties of Switzerland
- Intellectual property treaties of Trinidad and Tobago
- Intellectual property treaties of Tunisia
- Intellectual property treaties of the United Kingdom
- Intellectual property treaties of the United States
- Intellectual property treaties of Uruguay
- Intellectual property treaties of the Holy See
- Intellectual property treaties of Venezuela
- Intellectual property treaties of Yugoslavia
- Intellectual property treaties of Zambia
- Intellectual property treaties of Russia
- Treaties extended to Portuguese Macau
- Treaties extended to British Hong Kong
- Treaties extended to the British Virgin Islands
- Treaties extended to Gibraltar
- Treaties extended to the Isle of Man
- Treaties extended to Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
- Treaties extended to British Saint Lucia
- Treaties extended to British Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- Treaties extended to the Crown Colony of Seychelles
- Treaties extended to Guam
- Treaties extended to the Panama Canal Zone
- Treaties extended to Puerto Rico
- Treaties extended to the United States Virgin Islands
- Treaties extended to Greenland
- Treaties extended to the Faroe Islands