How do you get international copyright protection?

Answer 1

For all intents and purposes international copyright protection exists at the same moment it is effective in your home country. Between the Berne Copyright Convention, TRIPS and WIPO treaties, Pan-American Copyright Convention and the host of bi and multi lateral copyright agreements most signatories agree to honor each others intellectual porperty laws.

Answer 2

International copyright is governed through a series of international treaties rather than via a law. Moreso, there is no "definitive" treaty, but rather a series of different arrangements, to which different sets of countries are parts. The most important (and the ones most discussed in both scholarly literature and in practice) are:

* The Berne Convention of 1886 (with over 140 signatories), recognizing copyrights registered in one state in all states party to the convention, as well as providing minimum fixed terms for copyrights (50+ years after the death of the author). * The 2 Universal Copyright Conventions (of 1952 and 1974), dealing with subsets of the provisions of the Berne Conventions and targeted at non-signatiories of the above (both are no longer relevant in International Law today). * The TRIPS convention (Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) as part of the WTO framework on dispute resolution (of 1994), provides for more stringent rules in copyright management, deals with new technology (considering computer software as copyrightable in a similar manner to literary works) as well as with patents (with a minimum limit of 20 years+). * The WIPO treaty of 1996, dealing similarly with computer software and copyright durations. For more details, go to the World Intellectual Property Organization website (wipo.int) and to the Word Trade Organization website (wto.org).

Answer 3

Software copyright is addressed in the Berne Convention, but that is less like an international law, and more like a way for countries to make their own national laws interact optimally. Generally, computer code is protected as a literary work, and is protected for the life of the creator plus 50 years (the US and some other countries have extended this to life plus 70 years).

Answer 4

All members of the World Trade Organization are required to base their copyright laws on the Berne Convention, which includes recognizing works of authors of other member states.