0.2 The scope of copyright law  (Page 8/10)

Copyright duration

The Berne Convention requires a minimum copyright term of the life of the author plus an additional 50 years after her death for all works except photographs and cinematic works. Member countries are free, however, to adopt longer terms, subject to one limitation: 

“In any case, the term shall be governed by the legislation of the country

where protection is claimed; however, unless the legislation of that country otherwise provides, the term shall not exceed the term fixed in the country of origin of the work.”

Many countries have exercised the discretion left to them by the Berne Convention. The result is that the duration of copyright varies substantially by country, creating a complicated international patchwork of copyright duration terms determined by the category of work, the nature of the work's authorship, and the date of creation or publication of the work.

The Czech Republic and the Netherlands, for instance, grant copyright protection for the life of the author plus 70 years for literary works generally, but compute the copyright's duration from the death of the longest living joint author (plus an additional 70 years) for jointly authored works. This construction is deceptively simple, because it applies only to works created on or after April 7, 2000 and December 29, 1995, respectively. Works created before those dates are subject to different and more complicated copyright duration terms.

Similarly, most literary and artistic works are subject to a minimum copyright duration of life of the author plus 50 years under the TRIPS Agreement. In contrast, TRIPS only mandates that the copyright in sound recordings be recognized for a minimum of 50 years after fixaton. Thus, for example, the term of protection for sound recordings in the United States is life of the author plus 70 years for works fixed on or after January 1, 1978. In Australia, copyright protection for sound recordings extends for 70 years after fixation, if fixation occurred after 2004. In Brazil, all sound recordings fixed after 1998 are protected under neighboring rights for 70 years beginning in the year after the work is first fixed. In China, sound recordings are protected under neighboring rights for 50 years beginning at the end of the year in which the work is fixed.

For further reading on the subject, you may consult the  Case of the Canadian Online Repositories of Public Domain  and  Recent Term Extensions Controversies (Eldred v. Ashcroft) .

Extensions of the scope of copyright protection

In recent years copyright law has expanded to encompass more types of works, last for a longer period of time, and to provide greater protections for copyrighted works. As we saw in  Module 2: The International Framework , the Berne Convention, the TRIPS Agreement, and the WIPO Copyright Treaty all set minimum standards of protection that countries must meet, and together expand copyright protection in all countries. For example, copyright law (or the closely related set of neighboring rights) has been extended to cover audio recordings, architectural works, and computer programs. The duration of copyright has expanded over the years, from 14 years under the Statute of Anne to the current minimum of life of the author plus 50 years for most works. Recent treaties have also included provisions prohibiting the circumvention of mechanisms to control reproduction or distribution of copyrighted works.