Copyright term, film labeling, and film preservation legislation : hearings before the Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual Property of the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, One Hundred Fourth Congress, first session, on H.R. 989, H.R. 1248, and H.R. 1734 ... June 1 and July 13, 1995 (1996)

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654 existing discrepancies of terms between the EU and the U S The proposed US Copyright Term Extension Act attempts to eliminate, or minimize, this discrepancy. D. Duration Bilateral Treaties When analyzing whether a specific work by an EU or US national (or with EU or US. country of origin) is still protected under the copyright laws of a given country, US. bilateral treaties should be consulted Many such treaties provide for national treatment of the other country's works or nationals '■* The US has entered into bilateral copyright treaties with virtually all EU countries" Additionally, the US has entered into many treaties of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation (FCN) with EU countries, which often contain provisions for national treatment of the intellectual or industrial property rights of nationals of the parties to the treaty The language of these FCN treaties addressing intellectual property law varies,'* and the specific applicability of many of these treaties to copyright law has not been ruled upon. Additionally, the effects of certain of these treaties may have been modified without actually repealing the treaty itself However, because the Berne Convention explicitly permits continued enforceability of bilateral treaties (to the extent such treaties grant more extensive protection than the Berne Convention) these treaties should be investigated when attempting to clear the use of or enforce a copyright in a specific country in. NEW LAWS AND PROPOSED LEGISLATION In the context of the Berne Convention and existing EU and US laws, the impact of the new and proposed laws on international duration of copyright protection can be readily seen. The EC Term Directive significantly increases the term of protection in all EU and EFTA Member States The GATT-TRIPS Agreement influences copyright duration analysis in its signatory countries, which include the United States and all EU countries. Additionally, the U R.A.A revives US. copyrights in eligible foreign-origin works. As ^*See generally. Ricketson. THE Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works: 1886-1986 at 680 [hereinafter Ricketson]: M Nimmer and PE Geller. International Copyright Law AND Practice at EC-18. and Nimmer. supra note 15 '^Austria. Sept 20. 1907: Belgium. July 1, 1891: Denmark. May 8. 1893. Finland. January 1. 1929; France July 1, 1891. Germany. April 16. 1892. Greece. March 1. 19.12: Ireland. October 1, 1929. Italy, Octot>er 31. 1892. Luxembourg. June 29. 1910. ihc Nelhcrlands. November 20. 1899. Portugal. July 20, 1893; Spain. July 10. 189.S. Sucdcn. June 1. 1911. Uniicd Kingdom. July 1. 1891 The US also hasa bilateral treaty with ihe EEA counirv of Norway. July 1. 1905 US. Copyright OfTicc. "International Copyright Relations or Ihc United Slates." Circular .'<8a. No\ ember 1994 ^"Compare, the Taiwan FCN Treaty, which contains specific reference to copyright, to Ihe Netherlands FCN Treaty. 40 Tract.atenulad \ a.v hex Koninkrijk der Nederlanden p 2 (1956) (refers more broadly to "industrial property") 12