IP/Q/NOR/1 |
Norway |
European Union |
1. Is the Norwegian Government of the opinion that the eligibility criteria under Royal Decree of 8 June 1995 No. 524 Section 1 (cfr. the Copyright Act Section 57) and Royal Decree of 22 December 1989 No. 1288, should be amended in order to fulfil the obligations under the TRIPS Agreement for minimum protection, national treatment and most favoured nation treatment (Articles 1.3, 3 and 4 of the TRIPS Agreement)?
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These regulations (Regulation No. 5 of 10 April 1964 and Regulation No. 1288 of 22 December 1989 - both with subsequent amendments), which supplement Chapter 8 on the scope of the Act, are currently under revision. The eligibility criteria will shortly be amended to comply with the national treatment clause and the MFN clause of the TRIPS Agreement.
2. For the purpose of clarification: Has the Norwegian Government made a notification to the TRIPS Council regarding the Norwegian reservation under paragraph 2 of Article 6 of the Rome Convention (Article 1.3 of the TRIPS Agreement)?
Such notification will be made promptly.
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13/09/1996 |
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IP/Q/NOR/1 |
Norway |
European Union |
3. For the purpose of clarification: Will the Norwegian Government apply the 70-year term of protection for authors under Sections 40 and 41 and the rule of revival of rights under Section 60 of the Act to authors who are nationals of Member States of the European Community and the European Economic Area?
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Provided that the eligibility criteria are fulfilled, the 70-year term of protection and the rule of revival of rights (see the commencement and the transitional provisions of the Act) will apply also to nationals of Member States of the European Community and the European Economic Area.
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13/09/1996 |
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IP/Q/NOR/1 |
Norway |
European Union |
4. For the purpose of clarification: Are there any bilateral agreements between Norway and other states which grant any advantage, favour, privilege or immunity which shall be accorded to the nationals of all other Members (Article 4 of the TRIPS Agreement)?
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The question is currently under deliberation in the Norwegian Government, and so far no such provision has been found.
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13/09/1996 |
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IP/Q/NOR/1 |
Norway |
European Union |
5. Under Section 41 of the Copyright Act, the starting point for the protection period for anonymous or pseudonymous works is the expiry of the year in which the work was issued. According to Article 12 of the TRIPS Agreement, the starting point is the end of the calendar year of authorized publication. In the opinion of the Norwegian Government, can this difference in starting points result in a shorter protection period under Norwegian law than the protection period laid down in Article 12 of the TRIPS Agreement?
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The Norwegian Copyright Act, Section 4, which has a similar wording as the corresponding provisions in the Danish, Swedish and Finnish Copyright Acts, is consistent with the TRIPS Agreement, Article 12. The English version of the Norwegian Copyright Act uses the term "issued" which is meant to cover "publish". However, the Norwegian Government will consider whether more adequate English terms should be used in the English version of the Act.
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13/09/1996 |
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IP/Q/NOR/1 |
Norway |
United States of America |
1. Please explain whether and how Norway's law provides protection for works, phonograms and performances from other WTO Members, and whether and how it does so on the basis of national treatment, as required by TRIPS Article 3 (generally, with respect to all copyrights and neighbouring rights) and Article 9.1 (incorporating Berne Article 5(1)). In particular, please explain how national treatment is with respect to the distribution of levies for private copying under the relevant provisions of Norway's copyright law.
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Regulation No. 5 of 10 April 1964 and Regulation No. 1288 of 22 December 1989 (both with subsequent amendments) implement the obligations to foreign rightholders stemming from the various international treaties to which Norway is party, into the Norwegian Copyright law. These regulations are issued pursuant to Section 59 of the Copyright Act. Amendments will currently be made to these regulations to comply with the national treatment clause in the TRIPS Agreement.
As Norway is party to the Berne Convention, Norwegian copyright law is complying with the national treatment clause in Article 5.1 of the Berne Convention. Consequently, only minor adjustments are needed.
The Norwegian Copyright Act has no provisions on levies for private copying.
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13/09/1996 |
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IP/Q/NOR/1 |
Norway |
United States of America |
2. Does Norway apply the "rule of the shorter term" to phonograms and performances from other WTO Members? If so, please explain how you justify such action under TRIPS Article 4.
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Norway does not apply the "rule of the shorter term" to phonograms and performances.
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13/09/1996 |
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IP/Q/NOR/1 |
Norway |
United States of America |
3. Please explain whether and how Norway protects against the direct and indirect reproduction of phonograms as required by TRIPS Article 14.2, including by digital transmission in the context of subscription or interactive services.
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According to Section 45 of the Norwegian Copyright Act sound fixations and films shall not, without the consent of the producer, be made available to the public, nor shall copies be made of the sound fixation or film, until 50 years have elapsed since the expiry of the year in which the fixation or film was made. "If the fixation is issued during this period of time, the term of protection shall subsist for 50 years after the expiry of the year in which the fixation was first issued."
The term "making available to the public" is explained in Section 2, third paragraph of the Act; "A work is made available to the public when it is performed outside private premises, or when copies of the work are offered for sale, rental or lending, or otherwise distributed or displayed outside such premises." Consequently, both direct and indirect reproduction are covered by these provisions, including digital transmission in the context of subscription or interactive services.
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13/09/1996 |
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IP/Q/NOR/1 |
Norway |
United States of America |
4. Please explain whether and how Norway provides full retroactive protection to works, phonograms and performances from other WTO Members, as required by TRIPS Articles 9.1, 14.6 and 70.2, each of which incorporate by reference or rely upon Berne Article 18. Please give the date back to which such protection extends with respect to each category of subject matter.
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As Norway is party to the Berne Convention, the Norwegian copyright law is consistent with Article 18 of the Berne Convention. The regulations which implement the obligations according various international treaties, to which Norway is party, into the Copyright law, will shortly be made applicable to all WTO Members. The date of application of the TRIPS Agreement for Norway is 1 January 1996, so this will be the fixed date according to Article 70 of the Agreement.
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13/09/1996 |
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IP/Q/NOR/1 |
Norway |
United States of America |
[Follow-up question]
Will the expected amendment to Norway's copyright regulations to extend full retroactive protection to existing works from all other WTO Member countries also apply to phonograms and performances, as required by TRIPS Article 14.6?
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The questions concerns whether the amendments to the Norwegian regulations implementing the TRIPS Agreement to the full extent, will give retroactive protection that will also apply to phonograms and performances - with reference to Article 14.6 of the TRIPS Agreement. The answer, to the extent one can look into the near future, is yes, and this implies that phonograms and performances originating back to 1946 will be protected.
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13/09/1996 |
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IP/Q/NOR/1 |
Norway |
United States of America |
5. Please explain the criminal and civil remedies available for copyright infringement and the extent to which they fully implement the obligations in TRIPS Articles 41, 45, 50 and 61. In the response, please specify, inter alia, whether these remedies may include the seizure, forfeiture and destruction of infringing articles and equipment used to make the infringing articles, as required by Articles 46 and 61, and the manner in which the grant of civil provisional relief is provided in accordance with TRIPS Article 50. Please also explain how civil damages are measured in the case of computer program infringement, when and how attorney’s fees and court costs are awarded, and how long it takes for a decision to be rendered in the average civil and criminal copyright infringement cases.
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Remedies available for copyright infringement is presented in Norway's notification (of 22 February 1996) under Article 63.2 of the TRIPS Agreement, to the TRIPS Council. Provided that the Copyright Act has no particular provisions, the general provisions in Act No. 6 of 13 August 1915 Relating to Judicial Procedure in Civil Cases, Act. No. 86 of 26 June 1992 Related to the Enforcement of Claims, Act No. 25 of 22 May 1981 Related to Criminal Procedures, apply.
Seizure, forfeiture and destruction of infringing articles and equipment used to make the infringing articles, are covered by Section 56 of the Norwegian Copyright Act. In addition, provisional measures will apply.
Regarding how civil damages are measures in the case of computer program infringement, Section 55 of the Copyright Act applies: "Any damage caused by an infringement mentioned in Section 54, or by an infringement of Section 49, first paragraph, is subject to a claim for compensation according to the rules of compensation generally applicable. If the right of an author or a performing artist has been infringed wilfully or by gross negligence, the court may also award him a sum of money as redress for damage of a non-economic nature. Even if the offender has acted in good faith, the aggrieved party may, irrespective of the extent of the damage, demand payment of the net profit accruing from the unlawful act."
A party to a civil proceeding may be granted compensation for expenses incurred during the proceedings, including appropriate attorney's fees, pursuant to Chapter 13 of the Act Relating to Judicial Procedure in Civil Cases. The general rule is that a party who loses a case before the court, shall be ordered to compensate the other party's expenses in full (section 172). If a case is partly won and partly lost, the main rule is that the parties have to cover their own expenses (section 174).
The Act Relating to Criminal Procedure (Chapters 9 and 30) stipulates as a main rule that the cost related to criminal proceedings is paid by the Government.
There are no provisions particularly governing the length or cost of proceedings. We have no available data on the actual duration of proceedings or their cost.
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13/09/1996 |
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IP/Q/NOR/1 |
Norway |
United States of America |
[Follow-up question]
Please describe the "provisional measures" referred to in the second paragraph of the answer, the procedures for invoking them, and the criminal penalties imposed with respect to the piracy of copyrighted works. What provisions of Norwegian law make these measures and penalties available?
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The questions contains two different parts. Firstly, a description of provisional measures, referred to in the Norwegian answer, and the procedures for invoking them, is asked for. As I stated, a more full description is presented in the Norwegian notification document. I understand this has not yet been distributed to delegations, but will be so shortly. It has been made available to the US delegation. Information on invoking such provisional measures is also presented in the notification document.
At this stage, I restrict myself to referring to that document. If need by, my delegation will be happy to provide further information.
The last part of the question concerns criminal penalty imposed with respect to piracy of copyrighted works. The legislation concerning this is to be found in Chapter 7 of the Norwegian Copyright Act. In general, Section 54 states that persons who wilfully or negligently contravene the Copyright Act shall be liable to fines or imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months. However, if the infringement is wilful, and has been committed under particularly aggravating circumstances, the penalty shall be fines or imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years. Such infringement is subject to public prosecution.
Any damage caused by an infringement is subject to a claim for compensation and, as mentioned in our first reply, also confiscation and destruction of infringing articles are covered.
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13/09/1996 |
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IP/Q/NOR/1 |
Norway |
United States of America |
6. Article 10 of TRIPS requires that databases based on factual information that constitute intellectual creations by reason of the selection or arrangement of their contents be protected. Please explain how databases are protected under Norway’s copyright law and how such protection operates in conjunction with Article 43 of the Copyright Law, which provides that “works by which a considerable amount of information has been compiled” are protected for 10 years.
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Databases which constitute an intellectual creation are protected as literary works under the Norwegian Copyright Act. The "catalogue rule" in Section 43 applies to "Formularies, catalogues, tables and similar works in which a large number of items of information have been compiled", and will apply also on databases. The second paragraph of Section 43 states that if the content of a database is wholly or partly subject to copyright, such may also be applied.
The catalogue right differs form the copyright protection of data bases in many respects; there are no criterion of creativity, only "reproduction" is protected unlike copyright protection which protects against "producing copies", the term of protection is only ten years for catalogues, and finally the catalogue rule applies only to works that are published in Norway.
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13/09/1996 |
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IP/Q/NOR/1 |
Norway |
United States of America |
7. Article 1 of Norway’s Copyright Law lists the works that are protected as literary and artistic works under the Law. Computer programs, however, are not included within this list. As Article 10 of TRIPS requires that computer programs be protected “as literary works,” please explain how computer programs are protected under Norway’s law.
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Computer programs are protected as literary works in Section 1, second paragraph number 12. Section 1 was amended in 1990 (Act No. 26 of 15 June 1990).
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13/09/1996 |
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IP/Q/NOR/1 |
Norway |
United States of America |
8. Please explain how Norway’s copyright law complies with TRIPS Articles 11 and 14, which require that the rightholders of computer programs and phonograms be granted the right to control the rental of their work. It does not appear that Norway’s copyright law grants a rental right in these works.
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Section 19, second paragraph of the Norwegian Copyright Act stipulates that the rightholder of a computer program is granted the right to control the rental of their work. The rightholder of a phonogram is given this right in Section 42, third paragraph (performing artists) and section 45, second paragraph (producers). The Copyright Act was amended in this respect in 1990 (Act No. 26 of 15 June 1990) as regards the rental of computer programs, whereas Sections 42 and 45 were amended in 1995 (Act No. 27 of 2 June 1995).
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13/09/1996 |
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IP/Q/NOR/1 |
Norway |
United States of America |
9. Article 14 of TRIPS requires that performances be protected for a term of 50 years from when the performance took place and phonograms be protected for a term of 50 years from fixation. Articles 42 and 45 of Norway’s Copyright Law, however, appear to protect phonograms and performances for a term of protection equal to only 25 years. How do these Articles comply with the requirements of TRIPS Article 14?
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The Norwegian Copyright Act Section 42, second paragraph stipulates that the term of protection as regards performances is 50 years from the expiry of the year in which the performance took place. 50 years term of protection also applies to sound fixations pursuant to Section 45. The term of protection was extended from 25 years to 50 years in 1988 (Act No. 101 of 23 December 1988).
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13/09/1996 |
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IP/Q/ZAF/1 |
South Africa |
European Union |
1. Are all signatory countries’ works afforded protection on a national treatment basis (Article 3 of the TRIPS Agreement)? More particularly:
1.1 Have all signatory countries been listed in Schedule 1 to General Notice No. 126/1999?
1.2 Is national treatment afforded to all Members in respect of sound recordings?
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The works eligible for protection under the Copyright Act 1978 are literary works, musical works, artistic works, cinematograph films, sound recordings (phonograms), broadcasts, programme-carrying signals, published editions and computer programs.
In terms of Sections 3(1) and 4(1) of the Copyright Act, works first published in South Africa or works made available by qualified persons (being persons who are citizens of, or are domiciled or resident in South Africa, in the case of individuals, or bodies corporate organised and existing under the laws of South Africa, in the case of juristic persons) enjoy copyright.
In terms of Section 37 of the Act, the relevant Minister has made regulations in terms of which the Act applies also to works originating from scheduled countries (being countries listed in Schedule 1 to the regulations, which are contained in General Notice No. 136 of 1989). More particularly, the Minister has provided the following:
-in relation to literary, musical or artistic works, cinematograph films, sound recordings, published editions and computer programs first published in scheduled countries, the act will apply in the same way as it applies to those types of works first published in South Africa;
-the Act will apply to persons who are citizens of or are domiciled or resident in a scheduled country in the same way as it applies to persons who are citizens of or domiciled or resident in South Africa;
-the Act will apply also to bodies incorporated under the laws of a scheduled country as it applies in relation to bodies incorporated under the laws of South Africa.
The list of scheduled countries was last revised in Government Notice 1290 in the Government Gazette 16867 of 15 December 1995. The list is reproduced in the Annex.
The list has again recently been revised and is now awaiting publication in the Government Gazette. The list will be revised from time to time to ensure that all new WTO Members who may not be listed are included.
Subject to what follows, this effectively means that works emanating from scheduled countries are protected in exactly the same way under the Copyright Act as are works emanating from South Africa. Exceptions apply in the case of broadcasts, sound recordings and published editions.
The protection granted in terms of the regulations to foreign sound recordings and published editions is subject to the qualification that works of this nature originating from a foreign country will only enjoy protection in South Africa to the extent that protection in the nature of, or related to, copyright is granted in that country to such works first published in South Africa or made by a South African qualified person, and such works do not enjoy any wider protection in South Africa than is enjoyed by South African works in their country of origin. By consequence the right to enforce a particular restricted act only exists to the extent that the law of the country of origin provides for that restricted act in its own law.
In order to qualify for protection under the Performers' Protection Act, a performance must take place, be broadcast live, or be first recorded in South Africa or a country which is a party to the Rome Convention and which grants reciprocal rights to performers in respect of their performances in South Africa (Section 4 of the Act). Steps have been undertaken to extend the scope of Section 4 of the Act to include all WTO Members not parties to the Rome Convention.
Regarding the question (by the US) regarding national treatment with respect to the distribution of levies for private copying, the following: Section 12(1) of the Copyright Act read with Sections 15(4), 16, 17, 18, 19A and 19B exempts from infringement any "fair dealing" with a work for purposes of private study, personal private use, criticism or review of a work or reporting current events. This is subject to the proviso that no dealing for purposes of research or private study or use with a cinematograph film, sound recording or computer program is exempted. Further exemptions from infringement in the case of private copying are contained in Chapter 1 of the Copyright Regulations 1978, read together with Section 13 of the Copyright Act. Where private copying does not fall within any of the aforementioned exemptions and is unauthorized, infringement of copyright occurs. A licence is therefore required for private copying in these instances. There is no organized licensing scheme for private copying in place nor are there any collecting agencies operating in this field in South Africa. Accordingly no levies (other than negotiated licence fees) are collected or distributed for private copying in South Africa at the present time. The question of national treatment in respect of such levies does therefore not arise.
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04/10/1996 |
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IP/Q/ZAF/1 |
South Africa |
European Union |
2. Are computer programs protected “as literary works” (Article 10 of the TRIPS Agreement)? If not, how are they protected and is the scope of protection the same?
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Computer programs, which prior to the amendment of the Copyright Act in 1992 were a species of literary work, currently enjoy protection under the Copyright Act 1978, in the same way as literary works but constitute a separate category of works. In terms of Section 43(a)(ii) of the Copyright Act, this principle does not apply however to any computer programs made prior to September 1965.
The term "computer program" is defined to mean: "a set of instructions fixed or stored in any manner and which, when used directly or indirectly in a computer, direct its operation to bring about a result". A "computer program" is by definition excluded from being a "literary work". This means that once a work falls within the definition of "computer program" it ceases to be (insofar as it may have been) a literary work.
At present the following acts are comprised in the copyright in a computer program:
(a)reproducing the computer program in any manner or form;
(b)publishing the computer program if it was hitherto unpublished;
(c)making an adaptation of the computer program;
(d)reproducing or publishing an adaptation of the program;
(e)letting or offering or exposing for hire by way of trade, directly or indirectly, a copy of the computer program.
A Bill to amend the Copyright Act presently pending before the legislature will add the following restricted acts to the above mentioned list:
(a)broadcasting the computer program;
(b)causing the computer program to be transmitted in a diffusion service, unless such service transmits a lawful broadcast including the computer program, and is operated by the original broadcaster;
(c)doing, in relation to an adaptation of a computer program, any of the other restricted acts.
Once the aforegoing amendment is made to the Copyright Act, the protection enjoyed by computer programs will be broader than that enjoyed by a literary work and will incorporate all the restricted acts applicable to a literary work.
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04/10/1996 |
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IP/Q/ZAF/1 |
South Africa |
European Union |
3. To what extent are computer data bases protected as compilations (Article 10 of the TRIPS Agreement)?
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Literary works are capable of protection under the Copyright Act. The definition of a "literary work" includes "tables and compilations". Provided they meet all the requirements for the subsistence of copyright, databases are capable of protection as literary works by virtue of their being compilations.
One of the requirements for the subsistence of copyright in a literary work is that the work is written down, recorded or otherwise reduced to material form (Section 2(2) of the Copyright Act). A database stored in a computer would satisfy this requirement and is therefore protected.
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04/10/1996 |
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IP/Q/ZAF/1 |
South Africa |
European Union |
4. Do all works for which the terms are not calculated with reference to the life of a natural person enjoy protection for the term required by Article 12 of the TRIPS Agreement?
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Yes. Sections 3(2)(b) - (f) of the Copyright Act provide for 50 years of protection from the end of the year in which:
-cinematograph films, photographs and computer programs are made available to the public with the consent of the owner of the copyright or, failing such an event within 50 years from the making of the work, 50 years from the end of the year in which the works are made;
-sound recordings are first published;
-broadcasts first take place;
-programme-carrying signals are first emitted to a satellite;
-published editions are first published
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04/10/1996 |
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IP/Q/ZAF/1 |
South Africa |
European Union |
5. Does reproducing a broadcast as contemplated in Section 10(a) of the Copyright Act, 1978, cover all forms of making fixations of a broadcast (Article 14(3) of the TRIPS Agreement)?
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Yes. Section 10(a) of the Copyright Act grants to the owner of the copyright in a broadcast the exclusive right to reproduce, directly or indirectly, the broadcast in any manner or form, including, in the case of a television broadcast, making a still photograph from the broadcast. This includes the making of a cinematograph film, a sound recording or other material fixation of a broadcast.
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04/10/1996 |
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