Copyrights are protected on an international basis based upon a system of treaties (agreements or contracts between two or more countries). Under these treaties, countries agree to give protection to other countries’ copyrighted works as long as the other countries agree to do the same. The vast majority of the countries in the world are members of one or more copyright treaties which collectively assure a degree of international protection for copyrighted works. Most of the countries of the world have signed one or more treaties dealing with copyright. In essence, the various treaties between countries are like a network of copyright laws.  The Copyright Office's Circular 38a provides a summary of the United States' copyright treaty relations with other countries.

The Berne Convention

The first international copyright convention was held in Berne, Switzerland in 1886 and resulted in an agreement called the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary & Artistic Works (commonly known as the Berne Convention). Most of the major countries in the world are members of the Berne Convention and it is consequently the single most important copyright treaty (a list of all countries who are members of the Berne Convention can be downloaded or viewed here under "Contracting Parties"). The Berne Convention is administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), an agency of the United Nations based in Geneva, Switzerland.

a. The National Treatment Principle

The Berne Convention is based on what is known as the principal of national treatment. This means each Berne member country agrees to give citizens of other member countries at least the same degree of copyright protection that it gives to its own citizens.

b. Minimal Protection

In addition to national treatment, the Berne Convention also imposes certain minimum standards of protection that all member countries must guarantee. Some of the most important of these minimum standards are:

• The duration of copyright protection must be at least for the life of the author plus 50 years.
• Each member country must provide moral rights which can never be transferred by an author.
• Member countries must provide in their law for rights including reproduction, translation, adaptation and public performance (these rights are similar, although not identical to the right provided by section 106 of the U.S. Copyright Act). Berne also requires the recognition of the moral rights of attribution and integrity which the U.S. only recognizes to a limited extent under its copyright law (i.e., certain visual works of art).
• The law of member countries must contain some type of provision for fair quotation from copyrighted works (such as the fair use provision in of section 107 the U.S. Copyright Act) and allows for exemptions for educational uses of copyrighted works.

c. Formalities

One very important provision of the Berne Convention says that member countries cannot condition copyright protection on any formal requirements (formalities) such as copyright registration and copyright notice. For a long time this was a major stumbling block for the United States which had historically required both registration and notice in order to own a copyright. The United States resisted joining the Berne Convention until 1989 even though it had become the primary international treaty dealing with copyright well before then. In order to join the Berne Convention, the United States had to amend its copyright law in several respects, most importantly making registration and notice optional rather than mandatory. However, U.S. law still strongly encourages registration by providing additional benefits to copyright owners who register within specified time frames.

The World Intellectual Property Organization ("WIPO") is an agency of the United Nations which works toward increasing international legal protection for copyright and other intellectual property. In 1998, WIPO drafted two treaties designed to ensure some degree of protection to copyrighted works in the digital environment. The United States ratified the WIPO treaties by passing the Digital Millennium Copyright Act in 1998 (see Unit #11).  The most important provision of the WIPO Copyright Treaty clarifies that the right of reproduction applies in the digital environment by providing that the storage of a work in a digital or electronic medium is a reproduction. The WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty provides protection for sound recordings distributed digitally over computer networks. It requires that member countries provide at least fifty years of protection for recordings (unlike the United States, many foreign countries give a lesser term of copyright protection to sound recordings than other types of works).

There are several other international treaties that also deal with copyright law, but the main goal all of them seek to achieve is a degree of harmony and reciprocity among member countries so that copyrights will be protecible on a worldwide basis. There are a few countries which do not have any copyright relations with the United States and in these countries, American copyrighted works are not given any protection. These countries include Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bhutan, Estonia, Ethiopia, Iran, Iraq, Latvia, Mongolia, Namibia, Nepal, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tonga, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

Use of Economic Pressure to Enforce Copyright

Since industries based on copyrights such as the entertainment industry contribute greatly to the United States' economy, the U.S. has the most to gain from strengthened copyright laws on an international basis.  The U.S. also has the most to lose from piracy of copyrighted goods which tends to occur most frequently in countries with weak copyright laws or weak enforcement of copyright laws. With billions of dollars at stake, the United States sometimes resorts to exerting economic pressure on countries that the U.S. feels to not have adequate copyright laws in place or are not actively enforcing their laws. The main way this is done is by threatening and in some instances imposing trade sanctions. Specifically, the United States puts pressure on other countries to increase intellectual property protection through the use of a watch list (actually two lists - a "regular" watchlist and a priority watchlist).  Each year, through what's known as the Special 301 process, the U.S. government identifies foreign countries which it believes lack sufficient intellectual property protection and/or enforcement.  The U.S. closely monitors countries on the watchlist and makes suggestions to improve their laws and enforcement efforts.  If countries fail to make sufficient progress, the U.S. can impose trade sanctions.