WIPO Copyright Treaty

Domain Name Disputes, IPR Intellectual Property Rights

WIPO Copyright Treaty, was adopted by the member states of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in 1996.

WIPO Copyright Treaty provides additional protections for copyright due to advances in information technology.

Ccriticism of this treaty, like its prohibition of circumvention of technical protection measures, even where such circumvention is used in the pursuit of legal and fair use rights, and the ccriticism that it applies a 'one size fits all' standard to all signatory countries.

WIPO Copyright Treaty ensures that computer programs are protected as literary works and that the arrangement and selection of material in databases.

WIPO Copyright Treaty provides authors of works with control over their rental and distribution which they may not have under the Berne Convention alone.

WIPO Copyright Treaty also prohibits circumvention of technological measures for the protection of works and unauthorised modification of rights management information.

WIPO Copyright Treaty is implemented in United States law through the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

The European Council approved the treaty on behalf of the European Community. European Union Directives cover the subject matter of the treaty. Directive 91/250/EC creates copyright protection for software, Directive 96/9/EC on copyright protection for databases and Directive 2001/29/EC prohibits devices for circumventing "technical protection measures" such as digital rights management.

The WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center offers clauses, rules and neutrals for the following Alternative Dispute Resolution Procedures:

Mediation: a non-binding procedure in which a neutral intermediary, the mediator, assists the parties in reaching a settlement of the dispute. WIPO Mediation Rules