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510
RESOLUTION AND REPORT
OF THE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION
SECTION OP INTELLfCTUAL PROPERTY LAW
APPROVED BY THE SECTION AT THE SECTION'S JUNE. 1995 CONFERENCE
COPYRIGHT TERM EXTENSION
RESOLVED, that the Section of Intellectual Property Law favors, in principle, legislation to extend copyright duration by twenty years, which would prevent United States creators and copyright owners from losing twenty years of protection for works of United States origin in, and the concomitant trade surplus in copyright works from, the European Union: and Specifically favors H.R. 989, 104th Cong., 1st Sess. (Mooriiead) and S. 483, 104th Cong.. 1st Sess. (Hatch).
Discussion:
H.R. 989 and S. 483 would extend copyright duratton under United States copyright law to life of the author plus 70 years for post-January 1 , 1 978 works, and to 95 years from publication for pre-1978 works. Such an extensron is necessary: (1) to protect fully United States works internationally, because doing so will enhance our nation's economy; (2) because developments since the enactment of the 1976 Copyright Act warrant it; and, most importantly, (3) because our country shouk] do all it can to encourage creativity generally and American creatrvity specifically.
As a general matter, lor works first created or copyrighted after January 1, 1978, the current term of copyright protection in the United States equals the life of the author plus 50 years. 17 U.S.C. § 302(a). In October, 1993, the European Unton (*EU') adopted a directive to harmonize the copyright term in aH its member countries for a duratnn equal to the lite of the author plus 70 years. That action has slgnifk»nt ramifk^tions for works of United States ortgin, as foHows:
One of the most signifk»nt economic devetopments of recent years has been the establishment of a single market in the European Union. The EU established a single intemal market effective January 1 , 1 993. Among the bamers to that single maricet were the different substantive provisions of each member state's copyright laws.
The most fundamental difference among those nattonal copyright laws was the variation in copyright term. All EU members are also members of the Berne Convention, and so adhere to Berne's minimum required term of life of the author plus 50 years. But that term Is only a minimum Berne members are free to adopt longer ternis, and certain, but not all, EU members dU so.