European Business Law, the fourth volume in our series, shows how the European authorities simultaneously abolish all restrictions on access to and exercise of economic activities and support the growth of domestic markets, through the harmonization the internal legislation or the enactment of genuinely unified regulations.

European Business Law

According to Article 118 TFEU one of the objectives of the EU is the adoption of measures to provide uniform protection of intellectual property rights. As the second branch of intellectual property, literary and artistic works include copyright, the creator's exclusive right on its work and related rights of the copyright, such as those of artists or performers, phonogram and film producers or br …

International context

According to Article 118 TFEU one of the objectives of the EU is the adoption of measures to provide uniform protection of intellectual property rights. As the second branch of intellectual property, literary and artistic works include copyright, the creator's exclusive right on its work and related rights of the copyright, such as those of artists or performers, phonogram and film producers or broadcasting organizations, which constitute essential rights to intellectual creation. The author must be able to have control over the intellectual and economic exploitation of his work. Copyright was protected very early on at the international level, as the date of the first provision guaranteeing the protection of the rights of authors to exercise control over the use of their works and to receive remuneration was 9 September 1886 - the Berne Convention. The evolution of the methods of determination and transmission of intellectual works has since then made a difference. 

Unlike trade marks and patents, copyright exists independently of any legal formality of registration . It may apply only to an original object which expresses the author's own intellectual creation . The arrival of new technologies, in particular information technology and the internet networks, has made the use of original works difficult to control. In order to adapt international law on literary and artistic works to digital environment, two “internet” treaties of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)  signed on 20 December 1996 , were ratified on 14 December 2009 by the European Union and its Member States and came into force on 14 March 2010, as far as the European Union is concerned . The TRIPS Agreement , to which the Union is a party, also contains substantial provisions relating to copyright and related rights.

The EU authorities interpret copyright in the light of those provisions. The European provisions are mainly organized around two poles: protection and management of copyright. No provision as yet concerns copyright in general. Copyright is multifaceted with a great variety of provisions from protection of databases, computer programs, through the audiovisual sector, to works of art. Only Directive No 2001/29 of 22 May 2001 tends to horizontally harmonize copyright in the “information society” irrelevant of the type of protected object, the category of assignees or the method of exploitation. Following the adoption of a Green Paper in 2008, the Commission issued a communication of 19 October 2009  setting itself several targets in order to adjust copyright to new technologies, particularly regarding the digitalization of works, orphan works or the protection of creator of internet content. According to the Commission, any harmonization of copyright and related rights must be based on a high level of protection since these rights are essential to intellectual creation. In December 2015, the Commission published a communication entitled “Towards a modern, more European copyright  framework”, preamble to a proposal for a directive on copyright in the digital single market, the so-called “Copyright” Directive, published in 2016, which, after a lengthy legislative process, was finally adopted by the European Council on 15 April 2019 .

According to Article 5(2) of the Bern Convention, "the enjoyment and the exercise of these rights shall not be subject to any formality".

Case C-5/08 Infopaq International [2009] ECR I-6569, LawLex201100000245JBJ: "under Articles 1(3) of Directive No 91-250, 3(1) of Directive No 96-9 and 6 of Directive No 2006-116, works such as computer programs, databases or photographs are protected by copyright only if they are original in the sense that they are their author's own intellectual creation".

A specialized agency of the United Nations created in 1967, with headquarters in Geneva, which now manages the Berne Convention.

WIPO Copyright Treaty (88 members with accession of the EU) and WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (86 members with accession of the EU).

Agreement on the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, attached to the Marrakech Convention establishing the WTO concluded on 15 April 1994, Annex 1 C.

Communication from the Commission, Copyright in the Knowledge Economy, 19 October 2009, COM (2009) 532 final, p. 12.

European Business Law

257. International context

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257. International context

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

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