Topic 1.

2: Brief Introduction to related

International Treaties and Conventions

Text Book
Title: Law Relating to Intellectual Property Law,
Lexis Nexis, Third edition (18 July 2017)
Author: V.K. Ahuja
Name of Chapter: International Conventions on IPR
Introduction

The following are some of the important

conventions/treaties/agreement which contributed to the
evolution of the copyright law and other related
concepts:
a. Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and
Artistic Works (Berne Convention)
b. Universal Copyright Convention
c. Paris Convention.
d. Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights
Agreement
e. WIPO Copyright Treaty
f. World Performer’s and Phonograms Treaty
Berne Convention for the Protection of
Literary and Artistic Works

• It is the oldest international treaty in the field of

copyrights.
• The need for a uniform system led to the
formulation and adoption on September 9, 1886 of
the Berne Convention for the protection of literary
and artistic works. This convention is based on three
basic principles
a. The Principle of National Treatment
b. Automatic Protection
c. Independence of Protection
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 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) Protection must not be conditional upon
compliance with any formality (principle of
"automatic" protection).
c) Protection is independent of the existence of
protection in the country of origin of the work
(principle of "independence" of protection).
If, however, a Contracting State provides for a longer
term of protection 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
• The minimum standards of protection relate to the
works and rights to be protected, and to the duration
of protection:
• (a) As to works, protection must include "every
production in the literary, scientific and artistic
domain, whatever the mode or form of its
expression" (Article 2(1) of the Convention).
(b) Subject to certain allowed reservations, limitations
or exceptions, the following are among the rights that
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,
dramatic-musical and musical works,
• the right to recite literary works in public,
• the right to communicate to the public the
performance of such works,
 • the right to broadcast (with the possibility that
a Contracting State may provide for a mere
right to equitable remuneration instead of a
right of authorization),
• the right to make reproductions

• 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
Universal Copyright Convention 1952

• The Universal Copyright Convention came into

force in the year 1952 on September 6 and it was
revised in 1971 at Paris
• Its central object is to secure multilateral copyright
relations between the countries of the Berne Union
and the many countries outside the Union that found
the Berne Convention’s stringent minimum
standards incompatible with their domestic law.
Its main features are as follows:
a. No signatory nation should accord its domestic
authors more favorable copyright treatment than
the authors of other signatory nations, though no
minimum protection for either domestic or foreign
authors is stipulated;
b. A formal copyright notice must appear in all
copies of a work and consist of the symbol (c), the
name of the copyright owner, and the year of first
publication; a signatory nation, however, might
require further formalities, provided such
formalities
do not favour domestic over foreign works;

c. The minimum term of copyright in member nations

must be the life of the author plus 25 years (except
for photographic works and works of applied art,
which have a 10 year term)
d. All adhering nations are required to grant an
exclusive right of translation for a seven-year period,
subject to a compulsory license under certain
circumstances for the balance of the term of copyright
International Convention for the Protection
of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and
Broadcasting Organizations (Rome
Convention)
• The Rome Convention took place in the year 1961
on October 26th but came into force on May
18th,1964.
• It aims to protect neighboring rights. The scope of
the Convention is as below:
a. It deals with rights of performers such as dancers,
magicians, acrobats and jugglers.
b. Producers of phonograms (sound recording)
c. Broadcasting organizations and broadcasters.
• The convention grants protection to performers if
their performance takes place in another contracting
state, if incorporated in a phonogram that is
protected by the convention. If not fixed on a
phonogram, and is carried by a broadcast, the
convention protects such broadcast also.
• Further the performers are protected against the
unauthorized broadcast of their public performances
and enjoy the rights to a first fixation of
their performance.
• Similarly, producers of phonograms enjoy the right to
authorize or prohibit direct or indirect reproduction of
their programs in the form of phonograms. Any user
of such phonogram has a duty to pay single
remuneration equitable in nature to artists or
producers for a public performance of a phonogram.
• Regarding the broadcasting rights the
broadcasting organizations shall enjoy the right to
fixation, reproduction and rebroadcast of
their broadcasts, subject to any limitations imposed
under the domestic law.
• The protection is granted for a 20 year term,
computed from the end of the year when the fixation
was made for phonogram and performances
incorporated therein.
Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights
• This agreement is one of the most important
international trade agreements.
• The pre-TRIPS witnessed the world dividing into
groups of nations, following a wide range of
standards in intellectual property rights. These
variations were impediments for growth of
international trade in goods and services particularly
in the area of legal diffusion of knowledge.
• The nations felt the need for a world-body to regulate
the international trade and an agreement establishing
the World Trade Organization (WTO) was concluded
at Marakkesh on April 15, 1994,and it came into force
on 1st January 1995.
Objectives of TRIPS Agreement

a. Firstly it aims to reduce distortions and

impediments to international trade by taking into
account the need to promote effective and adequate
protection of intellectual property right and to ensure
that measures and procedures to enforce
intellectual property do not themselves become
barriers to legitimate trade.
b. To provide a multilateral framework of principles,
rules and disciplines dealing with international trade
in counterfeit goods.
Objectives of TRIPS Agreement

c. To cater to the special needs of the least developed

countries in respect of maximum flexibility in the
domestic implementation of laws and regulations in
order to enable them to create a sound and viable
technological base.
d. To resolve, disputes on trade related intellectual
property issues through multilateral procedures.
e. To establish a mutually supportive relationship
between the WTO and the WIPO as well as other
relevant organizations.
Objectives of TRIPS Agreement

f. To provide for adequate standards and principles

concerning the availability, scope and use of trade
related intellectual property rights.
g. To provide effective and expeditious procedure for
the multilateral prevention and settlement of disputes
between governments, and to provide effective and
appropriate means for the enforcement of trade –
related intellectual property rights, taking
into consideration differences in national legal
system.
WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT)
• The WIPO Copyright Right Treaty came into
existence because of the new technological
developments that took place like reprography, video
technology, compact cassette systems facilitating
“home taping”, satellite broadcasting, cable
television, the increase of the importance of computer
programmers, computer generated works
and electronic databases etc.
• In these areas, there were no international norms that
would guide the copyright community and it was the
international bodies that guided the governments
to respond to the challenges thrown by these new
technologies in the field of intellectual property.
WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT)
• In the year 1996, on December 20th representatives
of approximately 120 countries participated in a
diplomatic conference held at Geneva to discuss
copyright and neighboring rights questions and
adopted the WIPO Copyright Treaty together with
the WIPO Performance and Phonograms Treaty.
• This diplomatic conference is said to be a result of
series of sessions of a committee of experts on a
possible protocol to the Berne Convention for the
protection of literary and artistic works.
• WIPO Copyright Treaty was adopted and came into
force on 6th April 1996 along with the WIPO
Performers and Phonograms Treaty, that came into
force on 20th May 1996.
WIPO Performances and Phonogram
Treaty, 1996 (WPPT)
• WIPO Performances and Phonogram Treaty, 1996
(WPPT) also came into existence to address several
issues presented by new electronic media for
disseminating creative productions.
• In the instance of WCT the operative concepts were
taken from Berne Convention whereas in case of
WPPT it was taken from Rome Convention, 1961.
As per Article 5 of WPPT 1996 requires the
performers receive the right of attribution and
integrity in their live and oral performances or
performances fixed in phonograms just like Article
6 of the Berne Convention Paris text.
WIPO Performances and Phonogram
Treaty, 1996 (WPPT)
• The WPPT deals with rights applicable storage and
transmission of performances and phonograms in
digital systems.
• The WPPT deals with rights of performers, right
of reproduction of performers, which provides that
performers shall enjoy the exclusive right
of authorizing the direct or indirect reproduction of
their performances fixed in phonograms, in any
manner or form.
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