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publication, or a term of 100 years from creation, whichever expires first/'''
4. Works of foreign origin.
Unpublished works of foreign origin currently receive copyright protection in the U.S. for the same length of time and under the same conditions as works created by U.S. authors, regardless of the nationality or domicile of the author ■" Similarly, published works of eligible countries, which in effect includes all EU country works, are provided the same protection as US origin works As discussed previously,''* the US does not adopt the rule of the shorter term permissible under the Berne Convention. Notably, when the U.S. joined the Beme Convention, the Copyright Act was amended to provide that
[n]o right or interest in a work eligible for protection under this title may be claimed by virtue of, or in reliance upon, the provisions of the Beme Convention, or the adherence of the United States thereto. Any rights in a work eligible for protection under this title that derive from this title, other Federal or State statutes, or the common law, shall not be expanded or reduced by virtue of, or in reliance upon, the provisions of the Beme Convention, or the adherence of the United States thereto ''''
This language is significant, insofar as the United States falls short of its Beme Convention obligations—particularly in regard to copyright duration of pre1978 works."' This provision makes it clear that Congress intended to retain the power to make any changes to U.S. law to remedy these deficiencies
5. Summary: Deficiencies in Current US Law
Current U.S. law is deficient in its copyright terms in two respects First, as a result of calculation from publication for pre-1978 works, US copyright duration for some works will be shorter than the 50 years p m a minimum required by Beme Articles 18(1) and
**17U.S.C.§ 302(c).
^'Under 17 U.S.C. § 104. unpublished works are subject to proleclion under Title 17 without regard to the nationality or domicile of the author Published works are subject to protection under Title 17 if: (1) on thedateof first publication, one or more of the authors is a national or domiciliary' of the United States, or is a national, domiciliar>. or sovereign authoril>' of a foreign nation that is a part>' to a copyright treaty to which the United States is also part>'. or is a stateless person, wherever that person may be domiciled; or (2) the works if first published in the United States or in a foreign nation that, on the date of first publication, is a party to the Universal Copyright Convention; or (3) the work is published by the United Nations or any of its specialized agencies, or by the Organization of American States; or (4) the work is a Beme Convention work; or (5) the work comes within the scope of a Presidential proclamation. *"Se« supra Sec. II. A. 1 . *''l7U.S.C. § 104(c) *^See "Nation" supra note 9.
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