RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE IP/C/W/97
20April 1998
ORGANIZATION(98-1556)
Original: English Council forTrade-Related Aspects
ofIntellectual Property Rights
REVIEW OFLEGISLATION
Replies from Hungary toQuestions Posed byJapan1
Thefollowingcommunication,dated8April1998,hasbeenreceivedfromthePermanentMission
ofHungary.
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REPLIES TOQUESTIONS POSED BYJAPAN
1. Please explain whether andhowtheCopyright LawofHungary provides protection forworks,
phonogramsandperformancesofotherWTOMembers,andpleasedescribetheprovisionintheCopyright
LawofHungary which provides forthenational treatment (NT)andmost-favoured-nation treatment
(MFN) asrequired byTRIPS Article 3,Article 4,andArticle 9.1incorporating Berne Article 5.1.
TheHungarian Copyright Act(No.IIIof1969) limits itsapplicability with regard to
subject-matters offoreign origin onlyconcerning works .Anywork firstmade available tothepublic
abroad (inthebroadest sense ofpublic availability, notrestricted topublication andincluding, inter
alia,alsopublic performance) shallbecovered bytheActonlyiftheauthor isaHungarian citizen
(itisnotenough tohaveadomicile inthecountry) orisentitled toprotection under anyinternational
treaty oronthebasisofreciprocity (ActArticle 2).Itfollows fromthisrulethatanywork ofaforeign
author firstmade available tothepublic inHungary comes under thecoverage oftheAct.
Itshould benoted thattherestriction explicitly provided forintheActasregards itsapplicability
doesnotextend tosubject-matters other thanworks. According toArticle 8oftheCivil Code, which
applies toquestions notdealtwithintheAct,intheRepublic ofHungary every natural person enjoys
legalcapacity andmayhaverights andobligations. Consequently, theenjoyment ofrights recognized
bytheHungarian lawmayonlyberestricted withregard toforeigners byspecial legislation. Concerning
neighbouring rights, suchlimitations arenotcontained intheAct. Thus, inthisrespect, theActalso
appliestoforeignownersofrightswhetherornotthesubject-matteroftheirrightsoriginatedinHungary.
Under therelevant international conventions, theActapplies tosubject-matters offoreign origin
byvirtue oftherespective rulesproviding national treatment offoreign owners ofrights. Inaddition
tothis,foreigners mayenjoy inHungary asregards theirworks originating outside thecountry the
rights provided forinthesubstantive provisions oftheapplicable conventions. Aninternational treaty
ratified bytheParliament becomes apartofthebodyofHungarian lawandis,sofarasitsprovisions
aresusceptible todirect application, self-executing. TheBerne Convention (Paris textof1971) was
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enacted byLaw-Decree 4of1974, theTRIPS wasratified bytheDecision No.72/1994 (XII.27.) OGY
oftheParliament andpromulgated byActNo.IXof1998. Thisanswers thequestion concerning
MFN aswell.
Therefore, theCopyright LawofHungary complies withArticles 3,4and9.1ofTRIPS.
2. Please explain exceptions orexemptions forNTandMFN, ifany,intheCopyright Lawof
Hungary aspermitted byArticles 3and4oftheTRIPS Agreement.
Theonlyexception fornational treatment intheCopyright LawofHungary isthecomparison
ofthetermofprotection inthecountry ofprotection andthecountry oforigin respectively. Thelegal
source isDecree ofLawNo.4of1974 enacting theBerne Convention Article 7(8).
Therefore, theCopyright LawofHungary complies withArticles 3and4ofTRIPS.
3. Please explain whether "computer programs" inArticle 1(1)ofDecree No.9/1969. (XII.29.)
MMImplementing ActNo.IIIof1969 onCopyright, which provides fortheprotection ofcomputer
programs, include computer programs inbothsource codeandobject codeandplease explain how
theCopyright LawofHungary complies withArticle 10.1oftheTRIPS Agreement inthisrespect.
Thecopyright Actrefers toliterary, scientific andartistic creations ingeneral rather than
providing foradefinition ofthenotion of"work" (Article 1/1). TheImplementing Decree No.9/1969
(XII.29.) MM contains, however, anillustrative, non-exhaustive enumeration ofwhat hastobe
considered as"work" under theAct. Itprovides explicitly thatworks havetobeprotected whether
ornotspecified intheActandoffers thereafter alonglistofcategories ofcreations which haveto
berecognized asthesubject-matter ofauthor 'srights. Over andabove thetraditional kinds ofwork
suchasliterary works, speeches, musical compositions, dramatic works, radio andtelevision plays,
cinematographicworksitalsomentionsbuildingsandtechnicalconstructions(e.g.bridges,waterenergy
plants), plans ofarchitecture (including compounds ofbuildings) aswellastown planning projects,
plans fortechnical constructions and"software", thelatter "being understood ascomprising computer
programs withrelated documentation" (Decree Article 1/1). "Related documentation" clearly covers
source codeandobject codeaswell.
TheHungarian court practice wentevenfurther: itstrengthened thespecial work category
character ofsoftware byacknowledging authors 'rights protection ofthefirstsoftware development
phase (such asproblem analysis schemes) assoftware, evenwhen thispreliminary stageofdevelopment
doesnotresult inafinished program.
InHungary, itwould beillogical toterm"computer software" as"literary works" inthepresent,
non-exhaustive enumeration ofwork categories oftheImplementing Decree. TheDecree enumerates
literary (scientific, artistic) works, speeches, radio plays, theatre plays etc.They areallliterary works
inawide sense. Itwasverylogical toaddcomputer programs tothese examples. Literary works
(inarestricted sense) areworks communicated tothepublic inwriting. Thisisnotcharacteristic of
computer programs.
Therefore, theCopyright LawofHungary isincompliance withArticle 10.1ofTRIPS.
4. Please explain whether "collected works" inArticle 5(3)oftheCopyright LawofHungary,
which provides fortheprotection ofcollected works, include compilations ofdatainmachine readable
formandplease explain howtheCopyright LawofHungary complies withArticle 10.2oftheTRIPS
Agreement inthisrespect.IP/C/W/97
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Anoriginal collection (compilation) ofworks ofoneandthesame author orofseveral ones,
may, asanentity, alsoconstitute awork (Copyright Act,Article 5/3). These provisions similarly
apply todatabases operated bymeans ofcomputer technology, asitisexplicitly stated inArticle 3B
oftheImplementing Decree. Itshould benoted inthiscontext thatanoriginal selection andcompilation
ofmaterials other than works may likewise beprotected under thelawonauthor 'srights.
"Eye-readability" isnotaprecondition oftheeligibility forprotection foranywork category (seealso
Answer 3).
Therefore, theCopyright ActofHungary complies withArticle 10.2ofTRIPS.
5. Please explain which Article oftheCopyright LawofHungary provides forrental rights of
computer programs andcinematographic works andplease explain howtheCopyright LawofHungary
complies withArticle 11oftheTRIPS Agreement inthisrespect.
Article 13oftheActNo.IIIof1969ensures totheauthor "exploitation" asaneconomic right
bymeans ofageneral clause stating without anyparticulars: Anyexploitation ofthework issubject
tothelicence oftheauthor, unless otherwise provided forbylaw. Theunderlying reasons isthatit
would havebeenrather difficult todefine exactly themodes ofexploitation infulldetail andthatin
thiswayanynewmodeofexploitationthatmayemergewiththedevelopmentoftechnologyautomatically
fallswithin thescope ofthelaw.
Thegeneral concept oftheexploitation ofcopyright isfurther defined byArticle 10,
paragraph (1),ofImplementing Decree No.9/1969 (XII.29.) MMasfollows: "Pursuant totheAct,
exploitation shallbetaken tomean theprocess whereby thework orpartofitiscommunicated tothe
public". Public distribution andrental clearly fitinwiththenotion of"exploitation". Theauthor 's
rights, under theCopyright Act,donotexhaust withthesaleofcopies inrespect ofeither computer
programs, thevideo versions offilms orother work categories.
TheCopyright LawofHungary, therefore, isincompliance withArticle 11oftheTRIPS
Agreement.
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