Enforcement of Copyrights and TRIPS Agreement
I. Introduction The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) establishes international minimum standards for intellectual property protection both in its substantive and enforcement provisions.1 TRIPS provides extremely important linkage between intellectual property rights protection and the trade portions of the Uruguay Round agreements (establishing the World Trade Organization). In the copyright area, TRIPS sets forth the so called “Berne-plus” minima for substantive protection.2. The Important feature of TRIPS is the obligation it places on WTO members to adequately and effectively enforce intellectual property rights, including copyright (Section III of TRIPS, Articles 41-61). While previous international agreements on harmonizing standards for copyright protection contained provisions on enforcement, it is the strength of the dispute settlement mechanism under the WTO that sets TRIPS apart. Because of these strengthened dispute settlement provisions, countries need to consider what changes may be needed to bring their laws and enforcement systems into compliance with TRIPS. The transition period allowed for developing countries to comply with TRIPS ended on January 1, 2000, while the transition period possible for least-developed countries ends January 1, 2006. |
