The United States of America has long been known as a world power. According to common acknowledgment, the reason the US is so powerful is that it possesses a strong and powerful military force, stretching across 5 continents and 4 seas. However, is that all? In this article, we will take a brief look at how the USA developed their superstructure with copyright.
What really makes the US such a big voice on the international stage is its strong economy, not its military might. This is reflected clearly in the saying: “The pen is stronger than the sword”.
But why is the US economy so strong? Is it because of the way this country establishes diplomatic relations with other countries? Or is it because the surface and underground of this country are filled with rich mineral resources and they knew how to utilize them? All of the above are true!
However, one of the biggest reasons why this country is so powerful is because they know how to respect talented people, protect the interests of talents who have served the country through intellectual property laws, in particular copyright law.
Below is the timeline regarding keynotes of the USA copyright system development:
1787: Constitution of the United States of America
Although officially established in 1776, it was not until 1787 that the US government apparatus was stable and put into operation, commemorated by the establishment of the US Constitution on September 17, 1787, which took effect on March 4, 1789.
From the very beginning, the US constitution included many comprehensive provisions to serve the development of the country. Although not quite a comprehensive intellectual property law, the US Constitution of 1787 also mentioned and established provisions for an aspect of copyright.
Thereby, pursuant to Section 8, Article 1 of the United States Constitution, Congress shall have the power to promote the advancement of science and the useful arts by securing the property rights of authors and inventors for works and inventions for a limited time.
1790: Copyright Act of 1790
The First Congress of the United States expanded and strengthened the copyright provisions of the United States Constitution through the copyright act of 1790. Thereby, the law encouraged learning by keeping copies of Maps, Charts and Books by the authors and owners of copies. It is known that this law has most of its content based on the Statute of Anne (1710) of the United Kingdom – the predecessor of the United States.
This copyright law grants American authors the right to print, reprint or publish their work for a period of 14 years and to renew it for another 14 years. This law is intended to create incentives for authors, artists, and scientists to create original works by providing creators with exclusive rights.
At the same time, however, exclusive rights are restricted in order to stimulate the creativity and advancement of “science and the useful arts” by giving the public wide access to works in the “public domain”. Major amendments to the act were made in 1831, 1870, 1909, and 1976.
1831: 1st Amendment to Copyright Law
In 1831, Copyright Law received its first major amendment.
Accordingly, the term of protection of copyrighted works has been extended to 28 years with the possibility of an extension of 14 years. The US Congress declared that this extension of the term of protection is intended to provide American authors with the same protections as those in Europe.
The extension applies to both future works as of 1831 and works that have not yet expired.
1870: 2nd Amendment to Copyright Law
The biggest change of this 2nd Amendment is that the management of copyright registration is transferred from individual district courts to the Copyright Office of the Library of Congress.
It is worth noting that the term of protection is not extended in this amendment.
1909: 3rd Amendment to Copyright Law
In response to the need to expand the protection of works, the third major amendment to the US Copyright Act was signed by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1909.
Accordingly, the amendment expanded the scope of protected works to include all copyrighted works and extended the term of protection to 28 years with the possibility of extension for another 28 years. Thereby, at this time, a work will have a maximum protection period of 56 years.
Not only that, but the amendment also provides that the copyright of published works is protected from the date of first publication with proper notice.
1914: The United States officially accedes to the first International Copyright Convention
In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson announced that the United States officially acceded to the Buenos Aires Convention – America’s first International Copyright Convention (although the signing was done in 1911).
1952: Universal Copyright Convention
The Universal Copyright Convention (UCC) was developed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as an alternative to the Berne Convention for those countries that do not agree with some of the aspects of the Berne Convention but still want to participate in some form of multilateral copyright protection.
1976: Amendment to the Copyright Act 1976
The 1976 US Copyright Act Amendment is one of the most important revisions in history, forming the foundation of copyright law in the USA today. The amendment went into effect on January 1, 1978, and made substantial and far-reaching changes in many aspects of copyright law.
1988: Berne Convention
The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, also known for short as the Berne Convention, was signed in Bern (Switzerland) in 1886. The Berne Convention was the first establishment and protection of copyright between sovereign states, and was formed after the advocacy efforts of Victor Hugo, a famous romanticist, poet, and writer of France.
Before the Berne Convention, countries often denied the copyright of foreign works. Thereby, a work published in a country is protected by copyright in that country, but up to 1886 such works can be copied and published freely without permission in other countries that are part of the Berne Convention.
Countries that comply with the Berne Convention will recognize the copyright of works published in other countries that also comply with this convention. Although the protection of the Berne Convention is not yet a worldwide protection, not even in every country, only ‘sovereign’ countries, this has been considered a big step forward, marking a major milestone in the field of intellectual property worldwide.
Realizing the fact that it is not true copyright protection if the author’s rights are only protected within the US territory, the United States know that they must join the Berne Convention as well as other international treaties on copyright and IP.
However, due to many complicated matters to attend to, the United States only officially signed and acceded to the Berne Convention on November 16, 1988, over 100 years after the date the Convention was signed. After joining the Berne Convention, the US copyright law system has had many significant changes, especially the protection of intellectual property rights of rights owners.
1998: Digital Millennium Copyright Act
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is understood as the law that protects copyrights.
President Clinton signed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act into law on October 28, 1998. The act establishes a safe harbor for online service providers, protecting the copyrights of all technology products. At the same time, the law also clearly stipulates how to handle acts of copyright infringement, including cracking and trading in illegal technology products.
2010: Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a multilateral economic institution initiated by the United States (The agreement before the moment the USA joined is called TPSEP or P4 signed by Brunei, Chile, New Zealand and Singapore). TPP is considered one of the most important achievements of the US administration during the Obama presidency.
In 2010, 9 countries with vast differences in economic as well as other fields such as military, healthcare, etc. joined hands to cooperate to negotiate a comprehensive regional trade agreement. It is known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership is a comprehensive agreement that includes more than 20 proposed chapters including one on intellectual property rights.
The TPP’s intellectual property chapter includes substantive copyright, trademark and patent provisions as well as detailed enforcement provisions covering civil, criminal measures and legal liability of the parties involved, etc.
The TPP Agreement was signed in February 2016 by 12 countries including the US, Japan, Canada, Australia, and Vietnam. However, President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the TPP in 2017.
Thereby, the remaining 11 countries including Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam must negotiate and sign a new agreement called the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) which was signed on March 8, 2018 in the city of Santiago, Chile.
In essence, the CPTPP is a copy of the TPP. The CPTPP is only missing 20 articles directly related to the US, which is “suspended” and will be restarted if the USA continues to participate into the new agreement.
The CPTPP Agreement officially took effect on December 30, 2018, for the first group of six countries to complete the procedures for ratifying the Agreement, including Mexico, Japan, Singapore, New Zealand, Canada and Australia. For Vietnam, the Agreement took effect from January 14, 2019.
You can see a list of the United States IP firms here.