Consistency and particularity of copyright protection period

What is the consistency of the copyright protection period? What is the particularity of the copyright protection period? Below, the editor of Legal Savior Network will compile relevant information about the consistency and particularity of the copyright protection period. For everyone to read, I hope it will be helpful to everyone.

1. Consistency of copyright protection periods

In general, copyright protection for general works The term is the life of the author plus a number of years after his death; for works that are not owned by the author, the copyright protection period is a number of years after the work is published. Judging from the provisions of various countries and international copyright conventions, this protection period is also consistent.

The consistency of copyright protection periods is of great significance. It embodies a certain degree of certainty, and its significance is mainly reflected in reducing the transaction costs of copyright of works and facilitating copyright management. Specifically, if different works determine different protection periods based on the specific circumstances of the creation and market of the work, there will be great differences in practice and may hinder market transactions. However, for different categories of works, consistency does not preclude differences in the duration of copyright protection between different categories of works. As long as the copyright protection period for each category of works is consistent, it will not cause inconvenience to users.

From an international perspective, the consistency of copyright protection periods also has some advantages. In the context of the rapid development of copyright internationalization, if different countries grant different protection periods to works flowing in different countries, the parties concerned will have to pay some costs to find out. Of course, international copyright conventions only grant some minimum protection periods. However, this minimum protection period at least ensures that all member states have a unified and minimum protection period. Moreover, in copyright law practice, the copyright protection periods of member states are consistent to a large extent. In addition, related to the situation of inconsistent protection, there may be significant imbalances in the international trade of copyrights. For example, a work may have entered the public domain in one country and can be freely used, but it may still be used in another country. within the protection period. Therefore, at the international level, consistency seems to be a desirable goal, and the development of international norms in this area is a strong theme. It can be seen that consistent copyright protection periods have their own advantages in some environments, such as in the field of international protection.

2. The particularity of the copyright protection period

In worksThere are still some particularities in the protection period of rights. For example, the permanence of moral rights, that is, the protection of personal rights of copyright, is one of them. However, what is discussed here is the copyright protection period of unpublished works and the principle of balancing interests embodied in it.

Unpublished works are different from published works. Before the work is published, the author’s copyright interests cannot be realized, and the public cannot benefit from the use of the work. Because the public has no access to the work. There is consideration in the unpublished work for the benefit of the author and the public interest. However, this is from the perspective that neither of them realizes any benefit from the use of the work. After all, if the copyright interests are not realized after the creation of the work, it is not the realization of the purpose of the copyright law. Especially for those works that have important social value, if the works are always not made public, the value will be submerged as the works become "anonymous", which is also a loss to society. From the perspective of the design of copyright legislation, social interests should be considered more when determining the protection period of works.

The consistency of copyright protection period means that the copyright protection period of each category of works is consistent. I hope to be helpful. If you have any other questions, please feel free to consult online.