Attorney Steve® Copyright Law Essentials - International Copyright Law

Introduction

According to Wikipedia:

"The Berne Convention requires its parties to treat the copyright of works of authors from other parties to the convention (known as members of the Berne Union) at least as well as those of its own nationals.

For example, French copyright law applies to anything published or performed in France, regardless of where it was originally created.

In addition to establishing a system of equal treatment that harmonized copyright amongst parties, the agreement also required member states to provide strong minimum standards for copyright law.

Copyright under the Berne Convention must be automatic (copyright work attaches from the moment a tangible work is fixed in a tangible medium of express - no formal registration is required); it is prohibited to require formal registration.

However, when the United States joined the Convention on 1 March 1989, it continued to make statutory damages and attorney's fees only available for registered works.

However, in Moberg v Leygues (a 2009 decision of a Delaware Federal District Court) held that the protections of the Berne Convention are supposed to essentially be "frictionless," meaning no registration requirements can be imposed on a work from a different Berne member country.

This means Berne member countries can require works originating in their own country to be registered and/or deposited, but cannot require these formalities of works from other Berne member countries."

Here is a list of who's IN and who is OUT (not bound)

Included in Bryne Convention

• Afghanistan
• Albania
• Algeria
• Andorra
• Antigua
• Argentina
• Armenia
• Australia
• Austria
• Azerbaijan
• Bahamas
• Bahrain
• Bangladesh
• Barbados
• Barbuda
• Belarus
• Belgium
• Belize
• Benin
• Bhutan
• Bolivia
• Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Botswana
• Brazil
• Brunei
• Bulgaria
• Burkina Faso
• Burundi
• Cameroon
• Canada
• Cape Verde
• Central African Republic
• Chad
• Chile
• China
• Colombia
• Comoros
• Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Republic of the Congo
• Costa Rica
• Cote d'Ivoire
• Croatia
• Cuba
• Cyprus
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• Djibouti
• Dominica
• Dominican Republic
• Ecuador
• Egypt
• El Salvador
• Equatorial Guinea
• Estonia
• Fiji
• Finland
• France
• French Guiana
• French Polynesia
• Gabon
• Gambia
• Georgia
• Germany
• Ghana
• Greece
• Grenada
• Greenland
• Guatemala
• Guinea
• Guinea - Bissau
• Guyana
• Haiti
• Holy See
• Honduras
• Hungary
• Iceland
• India
• Indonesia
• Ireland
• Israel
• Italy
• Jamaica
• Japan
• Jordan
• Kazakhstan
• Kenya
• Kiribati
• North Korea
• South Korea
• Kuwait
• Kyrgyzstan
• Laos
• Latvia
• Lebanon
• Lesotho
• Liberia
• Libya
• Liechtenstein
• Lithuania
• Luxembourg
• Macedonia
• Madagascar
• Malawi
• Malaysia
• Mali
• Malta
• Mauritania
• Mauritius
• Mexico
• Micronesia
• Moldova
• Monaco
• Mongolia
• Montenegro
• Morocco
• Mozambique
• Namibia
• Nepal
• Netherlands
• New Zealand
• Nicaragua
• Niger
• Nigeria
• Niue
• Norway
• Oman
• Pakistan
• Panama
• Paraguay
• Peru
• Philippines
• Poland
• Portugal
• Qatar
• Romania
• Russia
• Rwanda
• Saint Kitts and Nevis
• Saint Lucia
• Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste
• Samoa
• Sao Tome and Principe
• Saudi Arabia
• Senegal
• Serbia
• Singapore
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• South Africa
• Spain
• Sri Lanka
• Sudan
• Suriname
• Svalbard and Jan Mayen
• Swaziland
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Syria
• Tajikistan
• Tanzania
• Thailand
• Togo
• Tonga
• Trinidad and Tobago
• Tunisia
• Turkey
• Turkmenistan
• Tuvalu
• Ukraine
• United Arab Emirates
• United Kingdom
• United States
• United States Virgin Islands
• Uruguay
• Uzbekistan
• Vanuatu
• Venezuela
• Vietnam
• Yemen
• Zambia

Excluded from Byrne Convention

• Angola
• Aruba
• Aland Islands
• British Virgin Islands
• Burma - Myanmar
• Cambodia
• Cayman Islands
• Curacao
• Eritrea
• Ethiopia
• Guadeloupe
• Hong Kong
• Iran
• Iraq
• Kosovo
• Macau
• Maldives
• Marshall Islands
• Martinique
• Montserrat
• Nauru
• Netherlands Antilles
• New Caledonia
• Palau
• Palestinian Territories
• Papua New Guinea
• Puerto Rico
• San Marino
• Seychelles
• Sierra Leone
• Sint Maarten
• Solomon Islands
• Somalia
• Swaziland
• Taiwan
• Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste
• Turks and Caicos Islands
• Uganda
• Wallis and Futuna
• Western Sahara

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