Re: copyright filing in other countries

On Wed, 23 Feb 2000, Karen Porter <porterk[_at_]cpcuiia.org> wrote:
>
> I work for a nonprofit educational organization that publishes
> textbooks and other material for the insurance and risk management
> business. As we get more and more into translations of our materials
> into other languages in other countries (usually at the behest of
> insurance organizations in those countries), I need to know more
> about copyright considerations for these situations. For example,
> if a translator in another country translates one of our books (and
> we retain the copyright), should we register a copyright in that
> country? I know this might vary from country to country, but I have
> no authority right now to search. Does Berne preclude that filing?
> I need not so much advice from the list, but some pointers toward
> some very good basic publications that my library might order to
> help me figure out what I need to do. We have a general insurance
> library, and I am trying to avoid buying a very expensive treatise
> or looseleaf service. (We do not have a law library.) Any advice?

Copyright is more of an American specificity -- it is not required by the Berne Convention of which the United States is a signatory, but, as far as I understand it, remains important in this country in the event of a copyright infringement followed by a law suit -- Copyright registration is not required by any European country. A work is protected as soon as it has been produced and, in common law countries such as the UK, as soon as it has been "fixed".

Sylvie Fodor
<s.fodor[_at_]akg.de> Received on Thu Feb 24 2000 - 12:25:40 GMT