10 Global Perspective

Although copyright laws differ from country to country, the internet has made global distribution and sharing of copyrightable works possible with the click of a button. What does that mean for you, when you share your works on the internet and use works published by others outside your country? What law applies to a video taken by someone from India during their travels to Kenya and then posted to YouTube? What about when that video is watched or downloaded by someone in Canada?

Copyright law is locally implemented by every country around the world. To minimize complexity, governments have signed international agreements to harmonize some basic elements of how copyright works across the globe. This means there are fundamental international principles local copyright laws need to follow.

Why International Copyright Matters to You

When you publish or reuse something online, have you ever thought about what law applies to you? Does it make sense to you that different people should have different limits to what they can do with your work based on their geographic location? Why or why not?

Copyright laws vary from country to country, yet international agreements on copyright set minimum standards for copyright around the world, to standardize copyright laws.

Introduction to the Global Copyright System (Pt.1)

International Laws

Every country has its own copyright laws, but over the years there has been extensive global harmonization of copyright laws through treaties and multilateral and bilateral trade agreements. These treaties and agreements establish minimum standards for all participating countries. This system leaves room for local variation, as many countries enact laws that grant protections above what is required.

These treaties and agreements are negotiated in various forums such as the World Intellectual Property Organization (known as “WIPO”), the World Trade Organization (known as the WTO), and in private negotiations between select countries on free trade agreements.

Two bedrock principles underlie the international patchwork of laws and agreements.

1. Territoriality is the notion that a government has no power to govern activities that fall outside its borders. Copyright is territorial in nature, which means copyright law is enacted and enforced through national laws. Those laws are supported by national copyright offices, which in turn support copyright holders, allow for registration, and provide interpretative guidance.
2. National treatment is a rule of non-discrimination. Under this rule, a country must grant foreign authors no less favorable treatment than it grants its nationals.

One of the most significant international agreements is the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, concluded in 1886. The Berne Convention has since been revised and amended on several occasions. WIPO serves as administrator of the treaty and its revisions and amendments, and is the depository for official instruments of accession and ratification. Today, more than 181 countries (as of August 1, 2023) have signed the Berne Convention. This treaty (as amended and revised) lays out numerous fundamental principles upon which all participating countries have agreed. One of those principles is national treatment, as described above. That is, all countries must give foreign works the same protection they give works created within their borders, assuming the other country is a signatory. Below is a map showing (in blue) the signatories to the Berne Convention as of 2019.

—The signatories of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, as of October 2009. Map by Goszei on Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 3.0.

Additionally, the Berne Convention sets minimum standards—default rules—for the duration of copyright protection for creative works, though some exceptions exist depending on the subject. The Berne Convention’s standards for copyright protection dictate a minimum term of life of the author plus 50 years. Because the Berne Convention sets minimums only, several countries have established longer terms of copyright for individual creators, such as “life of the author plus 70 years” and “life of the author plus 100 years.” Review the Wikipedia article on copyright term, and view the Wikipedia List of countries’ copyright lengths The map below shows the status of copyright duration around the world as of 2012.

—”World Copyright Terms,” Author: Balfour Smith, Canuckguy, Badseed, Martsniez. Original image by Balfour Smith at Duke University. CC BY 3.0

he Berne Convention also prohibits the use of legal formalities as a condition to copyright protection for foreign works. For example, a country cannot require you to pay for a registration to obtain copyright there. While most countries have eliminated the use of such formalities as a condition to copyright protection, it should be noted that the Berne Convention does not prohibit a work’s country of origin from doing so.

In addition to the Berne Convention, several other international agreements have further harmonized copyright rules around the world.¹ Thanks to these harmonization efforts, the general operation of copyright laws is the same around the world; however, it’s worth noting that there are differences in the way copyright law is enacted and enforced due to national laws.

Introduction to the Global Copyright System (Pt.2)

National Laws

Although an international framework exists because of the Berne Convention and other treaties and agreements, copyright law is enacted and enforced through national laws. Those laws are supported by national copyright offices, which in turn support copyright holders, allow for registration, and provide interpretative guidance. As mentioned, while there has been a major effort to create minimum standards for copyright across the globe, countries still have a significant amount of discretion as to how they meet the requirements imposed by treaties and agreements. That means the details of copyright law still vary quite a bit from country to country.

What law applies to my use of a copyrighted work?

Generally, the rule of territoriality applies: national laws are limited in their reach to activities taking place within the country. This also means that, typically speaking, the law of the country where a work is used applies to that particular use. If you are distributing a book in a particular country, then the law of the country where you are distributing the book largely applies.

As an additional example: if you are a Sri Lankan citizen traveling to Germany and using a copyrighted work in your PowerPoint presentation, then German copyright law normally applies to your use.

The rule of territoriality also applies for public domain rules. A work might be in the public domain in one country, but not in another one.

As shown in the map above, different countries apply different terms of protection. To know which term you should apply for the use of a foreign work in your country, a possible way is to check whether the country where you want to use the work applies the “rule of the shorter term.” This rule is an exception to national treatment. Under the rule, the term that applies to a given work should not exceed the term it receives in its country of origin, even if the country where protection is claimed allows for a longer duration of copyright.²

What law applies when sharing works on the Internet?

So, what happens when the work is being shared on the Internet? How does “territoriality” apply? Can I safely share a work that is in the public domain in my country, but might not be in the public domain elsewhere?

Copyright and public domain determinations are dependent on jurisdiction. When you are working in only one jurisdiction, this is relatively easy. Generally speaking, users of copyrighted or public domain works should obey the law of the country in which they are making the copyright determination. So, if you are part of an institution working in Mexico, then you should respect the law of Mexico to make your copyright determinations. But what happens when you are working on an international, collaborative project?

It can be complicated to determine which law applies in international collaborations. One of the benefits of Creative Commons licenses is that they provide simple instructions on how works can be used everywhere. And since the CC licenses and tools are translated into many languages, it means that the user of the work can easily understand those conditions in their language. The conditions of the CC licenses are also enforceable everywhere.

Final remarks

Even though global copyright treaties and agreements exist, there is no one “international copyright law.” Different countries have different standards for what is protected by copyright, how long copyright lasts and what it restricts, and what penalties apply when it is infringed.

• This chapter appears in the Certificate Resources for the Creative Commons Certificate for Educators and Librarians as: “2.2: Global Aspects of Copyright,” licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
• This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.