Directive 1993/98 - Council Directive 93/98/EEC harmonizing the term of protection of copyright and certain related rights - Main contents

official title

 

Legal instrument	Directive
Number legal act	Directive 1993/98
Original proposal	COM(1992)33
CELEX number i	31993L0098

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Council Directive 93/98/EEC of 29 October 1993 harmonizing the term of protection of copyright and certain related rights

Official Journal L 290 , 24/11/1993 P. 0009 - 0013

Finnish special edition: Chapter 13 Volume 25 P. 0075

Swedish special edition: Chapter 13 Volume 25 P. 0075

COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 93/98/EEC of 29 October 1993 harmonizing the term of protection of copyright and certain related rights

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in particular Articles 57 (2), 66 and 100a thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),

In cooperation with the European Parliament (2),

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (3),

• (1) 

  Whereas the Berne Convention for the protection of literary and artistic works and the International Convention for the protection of performers, producers of phonograms and broadcasting organizations (Rome Convention) lay down only minimum terms of protection of the rights they refer to, leaving the Contracting States free to grant longer terms; whereas certain Member States have exercised this entitlement; whereas in addition certain Member States have not become party to the Rome Convention;

• (2) 

  Whereas there are consequently differences between the national laws governing the terms of protection of copyright and related rights, which are liable to impede the free movement of goods and freedom to provide services, and to distort competition in the common market; whereas therefore with a view to the smooth operation of the internal market, the laws of the Member States should be harmonized so as to make terms of protection identical throughout the Community;

• (3) 

  Whereas harmonization must cover not only the terms of protection as such, but also certain implementing arrangements such as the date from which each term of protection is calculated;

• (4) 

  Whereas the provisions of this Directive do not affect the application by the Member States of the provisions of Article 14a (2) (b), (c) and (d) and (3) of the Berne Convention;

• (5) 

  Whereas the minimum term of protection laid down by the Berne Convention, namely the life of the author and 50 years after his death, was intended to provide protection for the author and the first two generations of his descendants; whereas the average lifespan in the Community has grown longer, to the point where this term is no longer sufficient to cover two generations;

• (6) 

  Whereas certain Member States have granted a term longer than 50 years after the death of the author in order to offset the effects of the world wars on the exploitation of authors' works;

• (7) 

  Whereas for the protection of related rights certain Member States have introduced a term of 50 years after lawful publication or lawful communication to the public;

• (8) 

  Whereas under the Community position adopted for the Uruguay Round negotiations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) the term of protection for producers of phonograms should be 50 years after first publication;

• (9) 

  Whereas due regard for established rights is one of the general principles of law protected by the Community legal order; whereas, therefore, a harmonization of the terms of protection of copyright and related rights cannot have the effect of reducing the protection currently enjoyed by rightholders in the Community; whereas in order to keep the effects of transitional measures to a minimum and to allow the internal market to operate in practice, the harmonization of the term of protection should take place on a long term basis;

• (10) 

  Whereas in its communication of 17 January 1991 'Follow-up to the Green Paper - Working programme of the Commission in the field of copyright and neighbouring...

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