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WIPO Copyright Treaty ("Copyright Treaty")
The Copyright Treaty supplements the Berne Convention and provides minimum protection for certain copyright works, by introducing new international standards and clarifying the "interpretation of certain existing rules in order to provide adequate solutions to the questions raised by new economic, social, cultural and technological developments." The Copyright Treaty further recognizes "the profound impact of the development and convergence of information and communication technologies on the creation and use of literary and artistic works." The treaty specifically sets out the scope of protection by stating that it "extends to expressions and not to ideas, procedures, methods of operation or mathematical concepts as such."
Protection of New Works
The Copyright Treaty extends protection to two types of copyright works not explicitly covered by the Berne Convention, namely computer programs and compilations of data (databases.) However, these provisions are of a declaratory nature and merely codify current interpretations of Berne. The Copyright Treaty protects computer programs "whatever may be the mode or form of their expression" including source code and object code. And it protects databases "which by reason of the selection or arrangement of their contents constitute intellectual creations"; however this protection "does not extend to the data or the material itself and is without prejudice to any copyright subsisting in the data or material contained in the compilation."
Photographs
The Copyright Treaty increases the duration of protection for photographic works from 25 years to 50 years (after the death of the photographer.)
Rights
Rights of distribution, rental and communication to the public are set out in the Copyright Treaty.
Right of distribution: A general right of distribution has not previously been granted under any existing international agreements to authors of literary and artistic works. The distribution right in the Berne Convention only applies with respect to cinematographic works.
The right of distribution in the Copyright Treaty provides authors of literary and artistic works the exclusive...