Theatre Without Borders

International Intellectual Property Rights for Dramatic Literature – A Primer (For comprehensive information on international intellectual property rights please visit the World Intellectual Property Organization at www.wipo.int) The attached file is an explanation of all the information listed on this page. 

 

This primer is intended to provide a basic overview of international intellectual property rights as they currently exist (as of September of 2006) as regards dramatic literature.

As “literary or artistic works”, the rights of authors of dramatic literature have been protected since the Berne Convention entered into force in 1886. Its basic tenets call for mutually reciprocal protective treatment of those works included:

“The expression “literary and artistic works” shall include every production in the literary, scientific and artistic domain, whatever may be the mode or form of its expression, such as books, pamphlets and other writings; lectures, addresses, sermons and other works of the same nature; dramatic or dramatico-musical works; choreographic works and entertainments in dumb show; musical compositions with or without words; cinematographic works to which are assimilated works expressed by a process analogous to cinematography; works of drawing, painting, architecture, sculpture, engraving and lithography; photographic works to which are assimilated works expressed by a process analogous to photography; works of applied art; illustrations, maps, plans, sketches and three-dimensional works relative to geography, topography, architecture or science.” In general, works coming from any of the 162 member states (a summary of the provisions of the Berne Convention and a list of the member states are appended) must be provided with the same protection as they would be in their country of origin. Since almost all nations are members of the World Trade Organization, the TRIPs Agreement requires non-members to accept almost all of the conditions of the Berne Convention. Comprehensive information regarding copyright law in the United States can be found at www.copyright.gov. Summary of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (1886) (Drawn from the WIPO website)

The Convention rests on three basic principles and contains a series of provisions determining the minimum protection to be granted, as well as special provisions available to developing countries which want to make use of them.

(1) The three basic principles are the following:

(a) Works originating in one of the contracting States (that is, works the author of which is a national of such a State or works which were first published in such a State) must be given the same protection in each of the other contracting States as the latter grants to the works of its own nationals (principle of “national treatment”).

(b) Such protection must not be conditional upon compliance with any formality (principle of “automatic” protection).

(c) Such protection is independent of the existence of protection in the country of origin of the work (principle of the “independence” of protection). If, however, a contracting State provides for a longer term than the minimum prescribed by the Convention and the work ceases to be protected in the country of origin, protection may be denied once protection in the country of origin ceases.

(2) The minimum standards of protection relate to the works and rights to be protected, and the duration of the protection:

(a) As to works, the protection must include “every production in the literary, scientific and artistic domain, whatever may be the mode or form of its expression” (Article 2(1) of the Convention).

(b) Subject to certain permitted reservations, limitations or exceptions, the following are among the rights which must be recognized as exclusive rights of authorization:

• the right to translate,
• the right to make adaptations and arrangements of the work,
• the right to perform in public dramatic, dramatico-musical and musical works,
• the right to recite in public literary works,
• the right to communicate to the public the performance of such works,
• the right to broadcast (with the possibility of a contracting State to provide for a mere right to equitable remuneration instead of a right of authorization),
• the right to make reproductions in any manner or form (with the possibility of a contracting State to permit, in certain special cases, reproduction without authorization provided that the reproduction does not conflict with the normal exploitation of the work and does not unreasonably prejudice the legitimate interests of the author, and with the possibility of a contracting State to provide, in the case of sound recordings of musical works, for a right to equitable remuneration),
• the right to use the work as a basis for an audiovisual work, and the right to reproduce, distribute, perform in public or communicate to the public that audiovisual work.

The Convention also provides for “moral rights,” that is, the right to claim authorship of the work and the right to object to any mutilation or deformation or other modification of, or other derogatory action in relation to, the work which would be prejudicial to the author’s honor or reputation.

(c) As to the duration of protection, the general rule is that protection must be granted until the expiration of the 50th year after the author’s death. There are, however, exceptions to this general rule. In the case of anonymous or pseudonymous works, the term of protection expires 50 years after the work has been lawfully made available to the public, except if the pseudonym leaves no doubt as to the author’s identity or if the author discloses his identity during that period; in the latter case, the general rule applies. In the case of audiovisual (cinematographic) works, the minimum term of protection is 50 years after the making available of the work to the public (“release”) or—failing such an event—from the creation of the work. In the case of works of applied art and photographic works, the minimum term is 25 years from the creation of such a work.

(3) Countries regarded as developing countries in conformity with the established practice of the General Assembly of the United Nations may, for certain works and under certain conditions, depart from these minimum standards of protection with regard to the right of translation and the right of reproduction.

Member States of the Berne Convention

Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Holy See, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia (Federated States of), Monaco, Mongolia, Morocco, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia and Montenegro, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Thailand, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United Republic of Tanzania, United States of America, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

States That Are Not Members of the Berne Convention

Abkhazia, Afghanistan, Angola, Burundi, Cambodia, China, Republic of (popularly known as Taiwan),Eritrea, Ethiopia, Iran, Iraq,Kiribati, Kuwait, Laos, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Moldova, Montenegro, Myanmar (commonly known as Burma), Nagorno-Karabakh, Nauru, Northern Cyprus, Palau, Palestine, Papua New Guinea, Pridnestrovie (also known as Transnistria), San Marino, São Tomé and Príncipe, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Somaliland, South Ossetia, Timor-Leste (popularly known as East Timor), Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu, Western Sahara, Yemen.