The 1886 multinational treaty
on copyright protection signed at Berne, Switzerland; officially
titled The International Union for the Protection of Literary and
Artistic Works. Prior to the 1996 World Intellectual Property
Organization (WIPO) Conference, the Berne Convention was revised
in 1914, 1928, 1948, 1967, and 1971. The convention grants the
moral rights of attribution and integrity, and certain exclusive
economic rights to a work's translation, reproduction,
performance, and adaptation. The United States became a
signatory to the Berne Convention in 1989.
Copyright:
An exclusive right conferred by a
government
on the creator of original literary or artistic works such as
books, articles, drawings, photographs, musical compositions,
recordings, films, and computer programs. International in
scope, copyright grants the creator reproduction, derivation,
distribution, performance, and display rights. The Berne
Convention mandates that the period of copyright protection cover
the life of the author plus 50 years. Current U.S. copyright law
is based on the Copyright Act of 1976 and its amendments.
Domain Names:
The names and words that companies
designate for their registered Internet Web site addresses, such
as the "Forbes" name in the URL http://www.forbes.com. Trademark
disputes arise when more than one company tries to use the same
domain name, or one company appropriates another company's brand
or product name for its URL.
Electronic Copyright Management Systems:
Digital
technology that controls access to electronic information, in
order to protect the intellectual property rights of content
owners. A variety of electronic copyright management systems are
being developed, including marking technologies -- watermarking,
fingerprinting, and data hiding -- that ensure the user's legal
authorization, serial copy management systems embedded in digital
recorders that determine whether a digital audio tape is
copyright protected, and new secure marketing and distribution
strategies.
Fair Use:
Codified in the 1976 U.S. Copyright Law
and
frequently used by scholars, journalists, and librarians, the
fair use provision permits the limited use of copyrighted
scientific and artistic material to supplement or briefly
illustrate oral or written commentary, literary or artistic
criticism, or teaching materials. In determining that a use is
fair, four factors must be considered: (1) the purpose and
character of the use -- whether it is commercial or nonprofit;
(2) the nature of the copyrighted material; (3) the amount of the
total work used; and (4) the effect of the use upon the potential
market -- whether or not the author is deprived of sales.
Intellectual Property:
Creative ideas and
expressions of
the human mind that possess commercial value and receive the
legal protection of a property right. The major legal mechanisms
for protecting intellectual property rights are copyrights,
patents, and trademarks. Intellectual property rights enable
owners to select who may access and use their property, and to
protect it from unauthorized use.
1996 WIPO Diplomatic Conference:
The December
1996,
18-day World Intellectual Property Organization summit held in
Geneva, whose goal was to revise the Berne Convention.
Conference delegates drafted two treaties -- the WIPO Copyright
Treaty, which covers literary and artistic works including films
and computer software, and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms
Treaty, which covers recorded music. Each treaty, if ratified by
the individual member countries, will grant copyright owners
protection for distributing their work in digital form. The
Performances and Phonograms Treaty is the first global agreement
to protect the rights of recording artists and producers against
digital piracy of their works.
Patent:
A legal grant issued by a government
permitting
an inventor to exclude others from making, using, or selling a
claimed invention during the patent's term. The TRIPS Agreement
mandates that the term for patent applications filed after June
7, 1995, runs 20 years from the filing date. To receive patent
protection, an invention must display patentable subject matter
(a process, machine, article of manufacture), originality,
novelty, nonobviousness, and utility. Current U.S. law is based
on the 1952 Patent Code. As a signatory to the 1883 Paris
Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, the United
States belongs to the premier international patent treaty
organization, the Paris Union.
Patent Cooperation Treaty:
A multilateral treaty
among
more than 50 nations that is designed to simplify the process of
an applicant's seeking a patent on the same invention in more
than one nation. Administered by the World Intellectual Property
Organization and effective since 1978, the Patent Cooperation
Treaty enables an inventor to file a single international
application in addition to the main patent application filed in a
treaty-member country.
Trademark:
A name or symbol secured by legal
registration
that identifies a manufacturer's or trader's product or service
and distinguishes it from other products and services. Icons,
company names, brand names, and packaging can all have trademark
protection. Trademark owners have the right to prevent others
from using the same, or a confusingly similar mark, but cannot
prevent others from making or selling the same goods under a
nonconfusing mark. Current U.S. law is based on the Lanham Act
of 1946. This act also incorporates the trademark obligations of
the United States under the Paris Convention.
Trademark Law Treaty:
An international treaty
that
harmonizes and simplifies the requirements and procedures for
filing, registering, and renewing trademarks, and gives service
marks the same legal status as trademarks. Adopted at the 1994
World Intellectual Property Organization Diplomatic Conference in
Geneva, the treaty has entered into force. Currently, the United
States Senate has not yet ratified the Trademark Law Treaty.
TRIPS Agreement:
International rules governing
the
Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS),
formulated at the December 1993 Uruguay Round of GATT. All GATT
member-countries agreed to rewrite their national laws to conform
to internationally agreed norms for protecting patents,
trademarks, copyrights, industrial designs, and trade secrets.
The TRIPS agreement also extended protection to such
technological areas as pharmaceutical products and computer
software, which were previously unprotected in many countries.
The general timetable for implementing the TRIPS agreement, which
entered into force on July 1, 1995, is one year for
industrialized countries; five years for developing
countries and countries shifting from centrally planned
economies; and 11 years for least-developed countries.
WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization):
A
specialized Geneva-based agency of the United Nations, created in
1967 that promotes international cooperation in intellectual
property protection. WIPO administers various "Unions,"
including the Paris Union and the Berne Union, and other treaty
organizations founded on multilateral treaties. The organization
also creates model laws for adoption by developing nations. More
than 160 countries are WIPO members.
