Re: Term Extension in Europe

On Wed, 16 Apr 1997, Dennis Karjala <dennis.karjala[_at_]asu.edu> wrote:
>
> I am still trying to understand some of the "harmonization" that was
> effected by the copyright term extension directive in the European Union.
>
> As far as I can tell, two countries (Germany and the UK) did not follow
> the "rule of the shorter term" prior to the Directive. The protection of
> US works in those two countries after the legislative responses to the
> Directive is complex, but it appears that US works will be protected in
> both for at least 50 years after the authors' deaths (and in Germany, in
> many cases, for 70 after death). These terms of protection for works
> already in existence at the time of the extension legislation in Europe
> will apply regardless of whether the US extends its terms by 20 years, as
> currently proposed.
>
> My question concerns the other countries of the EU, specifically, those
> that DID follow the "rule of the shorter term" even prior to the
> Directive, such as France, Italy, and the Netherlands. Most of these
> countries, I believe (but please correct me if I am wrong), adopted the
> term extension retroactively, that is, they resurrected copyrights that
> had previously expired (50 years after the death of the author) to
> continue for the remainder of the new life + 70 term. Did any or all of
> these countries extend the terms for US copyrights that are still in
> force in the US although they had expired under the life + 50 regime?

Within Europe all of those countries certainly had to resurrect copyright protection because under the directive protection had to be extended to life +70 for all works still protected in one member state on July 1, 1995 (and life +70 has been the term in Germany since 1966 and under the German-American Agreement of 1892 Americans get life +70 in Germany). But for your purposes isn't the right question to ask: Did these countries discontinue to apply the rule of the shorter term ? If they still apply it (and I don't believe that the Directive keeps them from doing it with regard to non-European works) then the situation might be no different with regard to U.S. works.

> That could happen, for example, for an author who published a work in
> 1925 and who died in 1945. That work (if properly renewed in the US in
> 1953) is still under copyright in the US (until year 2000, unless further
> extended). The copyright expired in Europe under the rule of the shorter
> term in 1995. Did such US copyrights get resurrected in Europe? It
> seems to me that such resurrection would be demanded by Berne, but I am
> trying to confirm that it was actually effected.

I am not sure if it would be demanded by Berne. Why couldn't countries which previously did use Art. 7 s. 8 Berne continue to do so ?

Or am I totally off..... ?

Alex

Alex Klett
aklett[_at_]blue.weeg.uiowa.edu Received on Fri Apr 25 1997 - 02:38:29 GMT