[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
Reply to: [list | sender only]
Re: ICSTI
- To: Multiple recipients of list <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: ICSTI
- From: Howard Flack <[email protected]>
- Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1998 10:33:51 GMT
MESSAGE FROM THE SECRETARIAT TO ALL ICSTI MEMBERS
*************************************************
The following information sent by the CENDI secretariat is a variation
of
what was already posted to the CENDI
listserv.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
UPDATE ON U.S. COPYRIGHT RELATED LEGISLATION ACTIVITIES
Forwarded from the CENDI Listserv - CENDI Secretariat
WIPO COPYRIGHT TREATY AND TERM EXTENSION BILLS CLEAR
U.S. CONGRESS WITHOUT DATABASE PROTECTION
The U.S. Congress in two separate voice votes approved the conference
report
on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (H.R. 2281) (Oct. 12) and the
identical versions of the Copyright Term Extension Act (S. 505) (Oct.
7).
President Clinton has indicated that he will sign them.
H.R. 2281's purpose was to update copyright law for the digital
environment
and to enact national legislation in compliance with the Copyright
Treaties
approved by WIPO last year. The conference report (based on compromise
wording
between committees of the House and Senate) excluded the controversial
Collections of Information Antipiracy Act (S. 2291/H.R. 2652).
Inclusion
would have provided legal protection for collections that do not now
warrant
protection under U.S. copyright. The lack of inclusion puts the U.S. at
odds
with the European Directive, which has indicated that protection of
databases
would only be granted in the E.U. for those countries with reciprocal
legislation. Database protection legislation is likely to return in the
next
session.
The Copyright Term Extension extends the term of U.S. copyright
protection by
20 years to "life +70 years" for individual authors and to 95 years from
75
years for corporate creators. It will apply to all future copyrights
and to
those works under copyright when the bill becomes effective. There are
exceptions permitting libraries, archives and nonprofit educational
institutions to treat copyrighted works during their last 20 years as if
they
were in the public domain for non-commercial purposes, with some
additional
restrictions if the work is being exploited for commercial use.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
--
Howard Flack http://www.unige.ch/crystal/ahdf/Howard.Flack.html
Laboratoire de Cristallographie Phone: 41 (22) 702 62 49
24 quai Ernest-Ansermet mailto:[email protected]
CH-1211 Geneva 4, Switzerland Fax: 41 (22) 702 61 08
Reply to: [list | sender only]