Bilateral copyright agreements of the United States are agreements between the United States and another country which allow U.S. authors to claim copyright protection in the other country and authors from that country to claim protection under United States copyright law.
The agreements can take one of two forms with respect to the United States: An exchange of notes, which is given effect in U.S. law by a presidential proclamation under International Copyright Act of 1891 (March 3, 1891, ) Copyright Act of 1909 (March 4, 1909, ), later Title 17 of the United States Code Act of December 18, 1919 (), which extended the period of time available to complete copyright formalities in the U.S. to take account of World War I Act of September 25, 1941 (), which extended the period of time available to complete copyright formalities in the U.S. to take account of World War II Copyright Act of 1976, which completely restated Title 17, notably 17 U.S.C. 104(b)(6) Uruguay Round Agreements Act (, ), codified as 17 U.S.C. 104A(g), which deals with restored copyrights A treaty ratified by the United States Senate, which has direct effect under Copyright Act of 1909 Copyright Act of 1976 (17 U.S.C. 104(b) and 104A) Treaties which deal only with copyright matters are usually known as "conventions": however, certain other treaties (e.g., peace treaties) also contain provisions concerning copyright.
Countries affected
It is impossible to give a definitive list of countries which are affected by the proclamations listed below. The law of succession of states allows for the de facto continuation of a treaty or agreement when a territory becomes independent, and many of the proclamations had effect in former dependent territories.
The United States Department of State has the responsibility to determine whether an agreement is still in force or not with respect to a given territory: it does not make this determination unless there is an actual case in question. For several former dependent territories, the question has yet to be posed and the status of their copyright relations with the United States is listed as "uncertain" by the U.S. Copyright Office.
If the country concerned has continued to protect U.S. copyrighted works since independence, the agreement may be considered to be still in force: under U.S. law, the decision lies with the Secretary of State. The President also has the option of issuing a proclamation under 17 U.S.C. 104A, which has the effect of recognizing the copyrights of the country concerned but provides safeguards for anyone who has used works in the United States while believing they were in the public domain. This latter option has been used once since it was introduced by the Uruguay Round Agreements Act in 1994, with respect to Vietnam.
Effect of the Copyright Act of 1976 Proclamations issued before January 1, 1978, the effective date of the Copyright Act of 1976, remain in force under section 104 of that Act, which provides that: "All proclamations issued by the President under section 1(e) or 9(b) of title 17 as it existed on December 31, 1977, or under previous copyright statutes of the United States, shall continue in force until terminated, suspended, or revised by the President."
Chronological list , the U.S. State Department lists the following bilateral treaties in force.
Date ofproclamation Effectivedate Country Notes Reference 1891-07-01 1891-07-01 Belgium, France, Great Britain and British possessions, Switzerland 1892-04-15 1892-04-15 Germany 1892-10-31 1892-10-31 Italy Letters between William F. Wharton and Saverio Fava. Based on copyright law 1012/1882 in Italy and 1891 copyright act. Ratified with Italian royal decree 17/1893 after USA presidential proclamation 35/1892; later denounced; restored in 1948. No set expiry. 1893-05-08 1893-05-08 Denmark 1893-07-20 1893-07-20 Portugal 1895-07-10 1895-07-10 Spain 1896-02-27 1896-02-27 Mexico 1896-05-25 1896-05-25 Chile 1898-12-10 1898-12-10 Spanish possessions Treaty ; TS 343 1899-10-19 1899-10-19 Costa Rica 1899-11-20 1899-11-20 The Netherlands and Dutch possessions 1903-10-08 1904-01-13 China Treaty 1903-11-17 1903-11-17 Cuba 1905-07-01 1905-07-01 Norway 1905-11-10 1906-05-10 Japan Conv. 1907-09-20 1907-09-20 Austro-Hungarian Empire 1908-05-19 1908-08-06 Japanese possessions in Korea Conv. 1908-05-19 1908-08-06 Japanese possessions in China Conv. 1910-04-09 1909-07-01 Austro-Hungarian Empire, Belgium, Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain and British possessions, Italy, Mexico, The Netherlands and Dutch possessions, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland 1910-06-29 1910-06-29 Luxembourg 1910-12-08 1910-12-08 Germany m 1911-05-26 1911-06-01 Sweden 1911-06-14 1910-09-09 Norway m 1911-06-14 1909-07-01 Belgium m 1911-06-14 1910-06-29 Luxembourg m 1911-11-27 1911-05-29 Cuba m 1912-01-30 1912-10-16 Hungary Conv., m 1912-10-04 1912-10-04 "the subjects of Tunis" 1915-01-01 1915-01-01 United Kingdom and the British Dominions, Colonies and Possessions with the exception of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Newfoundland m 1915-05-01 1915-05-01 Italy m 1916-08-04 1916-08-04 Danish West Indies Treaty ; TS 629 1917-02-09 1916-12-01 New Zealand m 1918-04-03 1918-03-15 Australia m 1918-05-24 1918-05-24 France m 1920-02-27 1920-02-01 Sweden m 1920-04-10 1920-02-02 United Kingdom and the British Dominions, Colonies and Possessions with the exception of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Newfoundland mx 1920-12-09 1920-12-09 Denmark mx 1920-12-16 1921-09-01 Thailand Treaty ; TS 655 1921-08-24 1921-08-24 Austria Treaty ; TS 659 1921-08-25 1921-08-25 Germany Treaty ; TS 658 1921-08-29 1921-08-29 Hungary Treaty ; TS 660 1922-05-22 1922-05-22 Austria x 1922-05-25 1922-05-25 Germany x 1922-05-25 1922-05-25 New Zealand x 1922-06-03 1922-06-03 Italy x 1922-06-03 1922-06-03 Hungary x 1923-02-26 1922-10-02 The Netherlands and Dutch possessions m 1923-12-27 1924-01-01 Canada m 1924-06-26 1924-07-01 South Africa m 1924-11-22 1923-07-01 Switzerland m 1925-03-11 1920-08-01 Austria m 1925-11-18 1925-07-01 Chile m 1927-02-14 1927-02-16 Poland m 1927-04-27 1927-03-01 Czechoslovakia m 1928-05-14 1928-05-14 Romania m 1928-12-15 1929-01-01 Finland m 1929-09-28 1929-10-01 Irish Free State m 1932-02-23 1932-03-01 Greece m 1933-09-29 1933-10-01 Palestine (excluding Trans-Jordan) m 1934-04-07 1934-04-07 Danzig m 1934-08-23 1934-08-23 Argentina m 1934-10-10 1934-10-10 Spain m 1937-11-13 1938-10-01 Thailand Treaty 1944-03-10 1944-03-10 United Kingdom, certain British Territories and Palestine (excluding Trans-Jordan) xx 1946-11-04 1948-11-30 China Treaty 1947-02-10 1947-09-15 Italy Treaty ; TIAS 1648 1947-02-10 1947-09-15 Romania Treaty ; TIAS 1649 1947-02-10 1947-09-15 Hungary Treaty ; TIAS 1651 1947-03-27 1947-03-27 France xx 1947-04-24 1947-04-24 New Zealand xx 1948-10-21 1948-10-21 Philippines m 1949-12-29 1949-12-29 Australia xx (12 months) 64 Stat. A385 1950-03-26 1950-12-29 United Kingdom, certain British Territories and Palestine (excluding Trans-Jordan) o 64 Stat. A412 1950-05-04 1950-05-15 Israel m 64 Stat. A402 1950-05-26 1950-12-29 France o 64 Stat. A413 1950-05-26 1950-12-29 New Zealand o 64 Stat. A414 1951-09-08 1952-04-28 Japan Treaty 3 UST 3169; TIAS 2490 1951-11-16 1951-11-16 Finland xx 66 Stat. C5 1951-12-12 1951-12-12 Italy xx 66 Stat. C13 1952-02-04 1952-02-04 Denmark xx 66 Stat. C20 1952-10-15 1952-10-15 Monaco m 67 Stat. C16 1953-11-10 1952-04-28 Japan m 5 UST 118 1954-10-21 1947-08-15 India m 5 UST 2529 1957-04-02 1957-04-02 Brazil m 8 UST 424 1960-06-15 1960-06-15 Austria xx 74 Stat. C69 1966-05-29 1968-06-08 Thailand Treaty 19 UST 5843; TIAS 6540 1967-07-12 1967-07-12 Federal Republic of Germany xx 18 UST 2369 1987-05-18 1987-05-18 Singapore 1992-03-17 1992-03-17 People's Republic of China 57 F. Reg. 9647 1998-12-23 1998-12-23 Vietnam r 63 F. Reg. 71571 2000-07-13 2001-12-10 Vietnam Conv. H. Doc. 107-85 2000-10-24 2001-12-17 Jordan Conv. H. Doc. 107-15
See also International copyright agreements List of parties to international copyright agreements List of parties to international related rights treaties
References