The rule of the shorter term, also called the comparison of terms, is a provision in international copyright treaties. The provision allows that signatory countries can limit the duration of copyright they grant to foreign works under national treatment to not more than the copyright term granted in the country of origin of the work.

Fundamentals International copyright treaties such as the Berne Convention (BC) or the Universal Copyright Convention (UCC) work through national treatment: signatory countries agree to grant copyright to foreign works under their local laws and by the same rules they grant copyright to domestic works. Whether a work is eligible to copyright, and if so, for how long that copyright exists, is governed by the laws of the country where copyright on the work is claimed. The Berne Convention and also the UCC define only the minimum requirements for copyrights that all signatory countries must meet, but any country is free to go beyond this minimal common denominator in its legislation. This is most noticeable in the duration for which copyrights are upheld. The Berne Convention lays down a minimal general copyright term of 50 years beyond the death of an author (50 years p.m.a.). But many countries have a longer term, such as 70 years p.m.a., or even 100 years p.m.a.

One and the same work may thus be copyrighted for different times in different countries (since, per lex loci protectionis, the copyright rules of each country apply within its jurisdiction, regardless of the work's country of origin). Its copyright may have expired already in countries with a minimum term, but at the same time, it may still be copyrighted in other countries that have longer copyright terms. National treatment may thus lead to an imbalance: works originating from countries with minimal copyright terms are copyrighted longer in other countries that have longer copyright terms. In that situation, works from a country that goes beyond the minimum requirements of a treaty may already have entered the public domain in foreign countries with shorter copyright term while still being copyrighted at home.

In such cases, the rule of the shorter term makes allowance for reciprocity in exception to the normal national treatment. Countries with a long copyright term may apply only the shorter foreign term to works from countries that have such a shorter term.

+ Hypothetical case where rule of shorter term applies Protection in Country A (70 years pma) Protection in Country A (70 years pma, rule of shorter term) Protection in Country B (50 years pma) Works from Country A 70 years pma 70 years pma 50 years pma Works from Country B Country B's 50 years pma

Universal Copyright Convention In the Universal Copyright Convention, the comparison of terms is spelled out in article IV(4)(a), which reads:

Addressing concerns of the Japanese delegation, the conference chair clarified that this subsumed the case of classes of works that were not copyrightable at all in their country of origin (as specified), as these would have a copyright term equal to zero. Thus other countries would not be obliged to grant copyright on such foreign works, even if similar domestic works were granted copyright.Patry, W.: Choice of Law and International Copyright, 48 Am. J. Comp. L. 383, American Journal of Comparative Law, 2000. On the Hasbro case and the UCC, see section III.B.1 and footnote 73. Archived URL last accessed 2007-05-20.

The application of article IV(4)(a) is not mandatory: "not being obliged to" is not equivalent to "being obliged not to".

Berne Convention In the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, a similar rule exists, but not for "classes of works" but considering individual works. Article 7(8) of the Berne Convention reads:

Again, application of this rule is not mandatory.Schricker, G.: Urheberrecht: Kommentar, 2nd ed, p. 1021. C. H. Beck, Munich 1999. . Any country may "provide otherwise" in its legislation. To do so, it is not necessary to include an explicit exception in the domestic copyright law,WIPO, Records of the Intellectual property Conference of Stockholm, June 11 to July 14, 1967, p. 109. Geneva 1971. as the example of the United States shows.

The Berne Convention also states in article 5(2) that the enjoyment and exercise of copyright

This specifies national treatment, and also makes the existence of copyright on a work in one country independent from the existence of copyright on the work in other countries (lex loci protectionis).

A WIPO study in 2011 recommended that «The difficulty of the rule of the comparison of terms applicable to the duration for protection, as provided by Article 7(8) of the Berne Convention, should at least be assessed».Dusollier, Severine, Scoping Study on Copyright and Related Rights and the Public Domain (March 1, 2011). World Intellectual Property Organisation Publication, March 2011. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2135208

Bilateral copyright treaties The terms of existing or new bilateral treaties may moreover override these conventions, as long as such bilateral treaties meet the minimum requirements of the conventions. This is defined in article 20 of the Berne Convention and in articles XVIII and XIX of the UCC.Universal Copyright Convention: Articles XVIII and XIX, Paris text of 1971. The Geneva text of 1952 is identical. URLs last accessed 2007-05-20.

Worldwide situation

+Worldwide Status of the Rule of the Shorter Term Countries and areas Rule of the shorter term? Afghanistan Art. 16, Law Supporting the Rights of Authors, Composers, Artists and Researchers (Copyright Law) Albania Art. 24, Law No. 9380 of May 28, 2005 Algeria The rule of the shorter term is not explicitly mentioned in the law but as the law protects only works that are to be protected by international treaties, the Berne Convention's or TRIPS's provisions so the rule of the shorter term apply.Art. 162, Ordinance No. 03-05 OF 19 Joumada el Oula 1424 Corresponding to July 19, 2003, on Copyright and Related Rights Andorra , unless public domain in the country of origin on the date the transitional provision entered into forceTransitional Provision, Law on Copyright and Related Rights of 1999 Angola Art. 34, Law No. 15/14 of July 31, 2014, on Copyright and Related Rights Antigua and Barbuda s. 153(3), Copyright Act, 2002 Argentina Art. 15, Law No. 11.723 of September 28, 1933 - Legal Intellectual Property Regime Armenia , unless public domain in the country of origin on the date article 45 entered into forceArt. 71, Copyright, Law, 2006 Australia , except for "Published Editions"Item 4, Item 5, Copyright (International Protection), Regulations, as consolidated 2005 Bangladesh Art. 69, Copyright Act, 2000 Belarus , while party to Berne ConventionArt. 3, Copyright (Adjacent Rights), Law No. 370-XІІІ, consolidated 2008 Berne Convention signatories , unless specified by signatory's legislationArt. 7(8), Berne Convention Bhutan Art. 32, Copyright Act of the Kingdom of Bhutan Brazil Title 1 Art. 2 Copyright, Law, 19/02/1998, No. 9.610 Canada .2022, c. 10, s. 279, Copyright Act, R.S., c. C-42 Before 2022, it was implemented for works of joint authorship with an exception for countries party to the Canada–United States–Mexico Agreement, i.e. U.S. and Mexico.s. 9(2), Copyright Act, R.S., c. C-42 China (People's Republic, Mainland only) , unless public domain in the country of origin on the date of commencement of the ActArt. 2, second and fourth paragraphs, Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China as consolidated in 2010 Colombia Art. 11, Ley 23 de 1982 Democratic Republic of the Congo Art. 3, Ordinance-Law No. 86-033 of April 5, 1986 on the Protection of Copyright and Neighboring Rights Dominican Republic Art. 21 Párrafo, Law No. 65-00 on Copyright of August 21, 2000 European Union members (to the extent that uniform) (with exceptions; only towards non-European Union members)Art. 7(1), Guatemala Art. 43, Law on Copyright and Related Rights, as amended on November 1, 2000 Guinea-Bissau Art. 26, Copyright Code (approved by Decree-Law No. 46.980) Honduras Article 44 of Decreto 4 99 E: Ley del derecho de autor y de los derechos conexos Hong Kong s. 198(3)(b), 229(8)(b), 229A(6)(b), Cap. 528 COPYRIGHT ORDINANCE Iceland Art. 61a, Copyright, Act, as consolidated in 2008 India Art 7, The Copyright Act, 1957, India, Act No. 14 of 1957, amended up to Act No. 18 of 2023 Indonesia Art. 76c, Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 19 Year 2002 Regarding Copyright, as entered into force in July 2003 Israel Art. 44, Copyright, Act, 2007 Ivory Coast Art. 4, Loi No. 96-564 du 25 juillet 1996 Jamaica s. 8, The Copyright Act Japan , unless the author is a Japanese nationalArt. 58, Law No. 48 of 6 May 1970, as amended in 2006 Korea, Republic of (South) Art. 3(4), Korean Copyright Act No. 11110 Lebanon Chap. 4, Copyright, Law, 03/04/1999, n° 75 Libya , since foreign works can only be protected if they are protected in their source countryArt. 50, Libyan Law No. (9) for 1968 Macau Art. 51, Decree-Law 43/99/M of August 16, 1999 Malaysia s. 59A, Copyright Act 1987 Mexico Art. 29, Ley Federal del Derecho de Autor (1996), unchanged in Ley Federal del Derecho de Autor (2003) Mozambique Art. 54, Lei n.º 9/2022 de 29 de junho 2022 dos Direitos do Autor e Direitos Conexos e revoga a Lei n.º 4/2001 de 27 de fevereiro 2001 Nepal , also only protects works of WTO membersArticle 13, The Copyright Act, 2059 (2002) New Zealand , unless public domain in the country of origin on the date of commencement of the Act (15 Dec 1994)Pt. 11 Sec. 230.3(b), Copyright Act 1994 No 143 (as at 07 July 2010) Nigeria Arts. 4A and 33, Copyright, Act (Consolidation Ch. 68), 1988 (1999), No. 47 (No. 42), superseded by Copyright Act (Chapter C.28, as codified 2004) Norway Art. 6, Regulations concerning the Application of the Copyright Act to Works connected with Other Countries Oman Art. 24, Royal Decree No. 37/2000 promulgating the Law on the Protection of Copyrights and Neighboring Rights Pakistan for countries designated in official scheduleChapter XI Item 54(iii), The Copyright Ordinance, 1962 (Act No. XXXIV) and Schedule section (pg 43), International Copyright Order, 1968 (18 June 2000) Paraguay Art. 180, Copyright, Law, 27/08/1998, No. 1328 Philippines , though "Reverse Reciprocity" of section 231 may applySec. 221.2 and 224.2, Republic Act No. 8293 Russia Part 4 of Article 1256 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Art. 6(b), Copyright Act, 2003 Singapore s. 4, Copyright (International Protection) Regulations Suriname Article 43 of the Surinamese Copyright Act Switzerland Chap. 6, Federal Law on Copyright and Neighboring Rights Taiwan Art. 106bis, Copyright Act Tanzania Art. 6, Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act, 1999 Thailand Art. 61, Copyright Act of B.E. 2537 (1994) Timor-Leste Art. 125, Code of Copyright and Related Rights Turkey , unless public domain in the country of origin on the date the amendment to article 88 entered into forceArt. 88, Copyright Act per additional Art. 2 United Kingdom , unless simultaneously published in the United Kingdom United States , unless public domain in the "source country" on the "date of restoration"(c) and Venezuela This country implements a reciprocity rule rather than a true "Rule of the Shorter Term". A foreign work is protected to the extent this country's work is protected in the foreign country.Art. 126, Ley sobre el Dercho de Autor as modified by the Decreto del 14 de agosto de 1993 Vietnam Art. 2, Law No. 50/2005/QH11 of November 29, 2005, on Intellectual Property

Situation in the United States