RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE IP/Q/DNK/1
24October 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-4454)
Original: English Council forTrade-Related Aspects
ofIntellectual Property Rights
REPLIES OFLEGISLATION ONCOPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS
Denmark1
Thepresent document reproduces thequestions puttothedelegation ofDenmark andthe
responses given inthereview oflegislation oncopyright andrelated rights attheCouncil 'smeeting
of22to25July19962.
_______________
REPLIES TOQUESTIONS POSED BYTHE UNITED STATES
General remarks
Asindicated inthequestions, theyarepartly based onanoutdated version oftheDanish
Copyright Act. Thepresent ActonCopyright (Law No.395of14June1995) came intoforce on
1July1996. ThefulltextinEnglish wasnotified totheTRIPS Council inApril 1995. Theapplication
oftheDanish Copyright Actwith respect toWTO Members isgoverned bySection 17of
Ordinance No.964of12December 1995.3
Replies toquestions
1. Please explain whether andhowDanish lawprovides protection forworks, phonograms and
performances fromother WTO Members, andwhether andhowitdoessoonthebasis ofnational
treatment, asrequired byTRIPS Article 3(generally, withrespect toallcopyrights andneighbouring
rights) andArticle 9.1(incorporating Berne Article 5(1)). Inparticular, please explain hownational
treatment isafforded withrespect tothedistribution ofblank tapelevies under Articles 39to46of
theDanish Copyright Law.
AsregardstheprotectionofworksSection17(1)oftheOrdinanceingeneralappliestheprinciple
ofnational treatment. Asregards theprotection afforded bytheTRIPS Agreement toperforming artists
andproducers ofphonograms Section 17(2) applies theprinciple ofnational treatment.
1Denmark 'snotification oflawsandregulations intheareaofcopyright andrelated rights under Article 63.2
oftheAgreement hasbeen circulated indocuments IP/N/1/DNK/1 andIP/N/1/DNK/C/1 and2.
2Theminutes ofthemeeting have been circulated indocument IP/C/M/8.
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Page2
According toSections 18and19oftheOrdinance blank tapelevy, cf.Sections 39-49 ofthe
DanishCopyrightAct,isaffordedtoworks,performances,photographsetc.,originatingintheEuropean
EconomicAreaandwithrespecttoworks,performances,photographsetc.,originatinginothercountries,
provided thatinthecountry inquestion aremuneration scheme hasbeenimplemented forblank tapes
which provides apossibility forpayment ofremuneration toDanish rightholders.
[Follow-up question]
Please explain howtheconditioning onreciprocity oftheremuneration toforeign rightholders
fromtheblank tapelevyunder Danish lawisconsistent withthenational treatment requirements of
Berne andTRIPS. Inaddition, howarethelevies distributed soastogivetheappropriate share to
rightholders fromother WTO Member countries?
TheDanishlevysystemis-inrelationtoforeignrightowners-implementedinspecialprovisions
inSections 18and19inOrdinance No.964of12December 1995.4Itishereby indicated thatthe
provisions havenolinktotheexisting international copyright conventions.
Inpractice thecriteria usedinSections 18and19forpayment tonon-EU rightowners have
theeffect thatforeign rightowners aretreated inthesame manner asDanish rightowners onthesole
condition thatinthecountry inquestion aremuneration scheme forblank tapes-regardless ofitsscope -
hasbeenimplemented, which provides apossibility forpayment ofremuneration toDanish rightowners.
Thegeneral framework oftheDanish levysystem islaiddown inSections 39and40ofthe
Copyright ActofJune1995 which areworded asfollows:
"Section 39:
(1) Anyone whoforcommercial purposes produces orimports sound tapes orvideotapes
orother devices ontowhich sound orimages canberecorded shallpayremuneration tothe
authors oftheworks mentioned insubsection (2).
(2) Theremuneration shallbepaidfortapes, etc.,which aresuitable forproduction of
copies forprivate use,andonlyforworks which havebeenbroadcast onradio ortelevision,
orwhich havebeenpublished onphonogram, film, videogram, etc.
(3) Administration andcontrol, including collection, shall becarried outbyajoint
organization representing asubstantial number ofDanish authors, performers andother
rightholders, including record producers, etc.,andphotographers, andwhich isapproved by
theMinister forCulture. TheMinister mayrequest toreceive allinformation about collection,
administration anddistribution oftheremuneration.
(4) Theorganization laysdown guidelines forpayment oftheremuneration tothe
beneficiaries sothattothegreatest possible extent distribution willtakeplace inaccordance
withthecopying actually made. Onethirdoftheannual amount forpayment shall, however,
beusedtosupport purposes common totheauthors andothers within thegroups represented
bytheorganization, cf.subsection (3).
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Section 40:
For1993, theremuneration perminute playing timeforsound tapeisDKK 0.045 andfor
videotape DKK 0.0625. Theremuneration shallbeadjusted annually bytherateadjustment
percentage, cf.Actonarateadjustment percentage."
2. Does Denmark apply the"rule oftheshorter term" tophonograms andperformances from
other WTO Members? Ifso,please explain howyoujustify suchaction under TRIPS Article 4.
Denmark doesnotapply anycomparison ofterms withrespect totheprotection afforded by
theTRIPS Agreement toperformances andphonograms.
3. Please explain whether andhowDenmark protects against both thedirect andindirect
reproduction ofphonograms asrequired byTRIPS Article 14.2, including bydigital transmission in
thecontext ofsubscription orinteractive services.
AccordingtoSection66(1)oftheDanishCopyrightActsoundrecordingsmaynotbereproduced
without theconsent oftheproducer until50years haveelapsed aftertheendoftheyearinwhich the
recording wasmade. Thisisunderstood toinclude indirect reproduction e.g.made onthebasis of
abroadcast orinteractive transmission. According toSection 86(2)theprotection concerning recording
andcopying applies toallsound recordings regardless oforigin.
[Follow-up question]
Please provide caselaworother authority supporting thestatement inthesecond sentence
oftheanswer, thatthereproduction rightunder Section 66(1) oftheDanish Copyright Actincludes
reproductions made onthebasis ofabroadcast orinteractive transmission.
Asstated intheDanish answer toquestion 3fromtheUnited States, Article 66(1) intheDanish
Copyright Actof14June1995covers bothdirect andindirect reproduction ofphonograms including
reproductions made onthebasis ofabroadcast orinteractive transmission.
Thisisconfirmed inthepreparatory work (lovforslag nL119fremsat den18Januar 1995)
where itisstated, inter alia,thatthelawisimplementing Article 7intheEEC Directive 92/100
concerning rental andlending rights where itisexpressly stated thatproducers ofphonograms shall
enjoy anexclusive righttoauthorize thedirect andindirect reproduction oftheirphonograms.
4. Please explain whether andhowDenmark provides fullretroactive protection toworks,
phonograms andperformances fromother WTO Members, asrequired byTRIPS Articles 9.1,14.6
and70.2, eachofwhich incorporate byreference orrelyuponBerne Article 18.Please givethedate
backtowhich suchprotection extends withrespect toeachcategory ofsubject matter.
According toSection 90(1)theDanish Copyright Actapplies alsotoworks andperformances
andphonograms etc.,made before thecoming intoforce ofthepresent Act.
Thetermofprotection forworks is70years aftertheyearoftheauthor 'sdeath cf.Section 63
oftheCopyright Act. Theprotection oftheworks byauthors whodiedin1926 willconsequently
expire bytheendoftheyear1996. Comparison ofterms isusedaccording toSection 2ofthe
Ordinance.5
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Thetermofprotection forperformances andrecordings is50years aftertheyeartherecording
wasmade cf.Sections 65and66.Theprotection ofrecordings made in1946willconsequently expire
bytheendoftheyear1996.
5. Please explain thecriminal andcivilremedies available forcopyright infringement andthe
extent towhich theyfullyimplement theobligations inTRIPS Articles 41,45,50and61. Inthe
response, please specify, interalia,whether these remedies mayinclude theseizure, forfeiture and
destruction ofinfringing articles andequipment usedtomake theinfringing articles, asrequired by
Articles 46and61,andthemanner inwhich thegrant ofcivilprovisional relief isprovided inaccordance
withTRIPS Article 50.
Denmark isoftheopinion thatanswers tothisquestion should bepostponed tobegiven in
connection withthereview concerning enforcement which isscheduled totakeplace in1997.
6. Article 10ofTRIPS requires thatdatabases based onfactual information thatconstitute
intellectual creations byreason oftheselection orarrangement oftheircontents beprotected. Please
explain whether andhowdatabases areprotected under Denmark ’scopyright lawandhowsuch
protection operates inconjunction withArticle 49ofDenmark ’sCopyright Law, which provides that
“productions inwhich agreat number ofitems ofinformation havebeencompiled ”areprotected for
tenyears.
Adatabase canbeprotected asawork according toSection 1oftheCopyright Actorifit
consists ofprotected works itcanbeprotected asacomposite work according toSection 5oftheAct.
Inbothcases thedatabase isprotected onthecondition, thatthecompilation istheauthors owncreative
effortandexpresseshisindividuality.QuiteadifferentmatteristheprotectionprovidedforinSection71
forcatalogues, tables orother similar productions inwhich alarge number ofinformation items have
beencompiled. Those maynotbereproduced without theauthorization oftheproducer until10years
haveelapsed fromtheyearinwhich theproduction wasmade public. However, theprotection expires
15years aftertheendoftheyearinwhich thework wasproduced. Thisisa"related right", i.e.a
production outside copyright which operates forthebenefit oftheproducer andhasitsmainfunction
incasesuchacompilation (also intheform ofadatabase) doesnotmeet thecriteria forcopyright
protection. However, theprovision alsostates thatifaproduction ofitskind, orapartthereof, is
subject tocopyright, copyright protection mayalsobeclaimed.