RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE IP/Q/LUX/1
24October 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-4462)
Original: English/French*Council forTrade-Related Aspects
ofIntellectual Property Rights
REVIEW OFLEGISLATION ONCOPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS
Luxembourg1
Thepresent document reproduces theintroductory statement made bythedelegation of
Luxembourg inthereview oflegislation oncopyright andrelated rights attheCouncil 'smeeting of
22to25July19962,thequestions puttoitandtheresponses given.
_______________
I. INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT
Thetextscurrently ineffect inLuxembourg arecontained intwolaws: theCopyright Law
of29March 1972 andtheLawontheProtection ofPerformers, Producers ofPhonograms and
Broadcasting Organizations, called Neighbouring Rights, of23September 1975.
Themostimportant amendment tothe1972 Lawwasadopted lastyearwiththeadoption of
theLawof24April 1995 onthelegalprotection ofcomputer programs.
Inaddition, three draftlawsarecurrently intheprocess ofadoption.
The first concerns amendment oftheCopyright Law byincorporating Council
Directive 93/83/EEC of27September 1993onthecoordination ofcertain rulesconcerning copyright
andrights related tocopyright applicable tosatellite broadcasting andcable retransmission.
(This draftwasadopted bytheGovernment intheCouncil ofMinisters three weeks agoand
isontheagenda fordiscussion inParliament when itresumes intheAutumn. Thetwoother drafts
areontheGovernment 'sagenda fortheCouncil meeting of29Julynext.)
Thefirstisadrafttoamend andcomplete theLaws onCopyright andNeighbouring Rights
withregard tothetermofprotection ofcopyright andneighbouring rights. Thisdraftwasdrawn up
onthebasis ofCouncil Directive 93/98/EEC of29October 1993 onthetermofprotection.
*English, except fortheintroductory statement inFrench.
1Luxembourg'snotificationoflawsandregulationsintheareaofcopyrightandrelatedrightsunderArticle63.2
oftheAgreement hasbeen circulated indocuments IP/N/1/LUX/C/1 and2.
2Theminutes ofthemeeting have been circulated indocument IP/C/M/8.IP/Q/LUX/1
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Thesecond draftamends thesame Laws withregard torental rightandlending rightonthe
basis ofCouncil Directive 92/100/EEC of19November 1992.
When preparing itsreplies totheUnited States, theLuxembourg delegation realized thatthe
rights inthelatter twotextsshould beextended notonlytomember States oftheEEC butalsoto
Member States oftheWTO inorder tobring legislation intolinewiththeTRIPS Agreements.
Lastly, itshould beemphasized thattheprovisions oftheBerne andRome Conventions and
theTRIPS Agreement aredirectly applicable under Luxembourg law. Alawof12December 1994
formally ratified theWTO 'sMarrakesh Agreements byannexing them.
II. REPLIES TOQUESTIONS POSED BYTHE UNITED STATES
1. Please explain whether andhowLuxembourg 'slawprovides protection forworks, phonograms
andperformances fromother WTO Members, andwhether andhowitdoessoonbasis 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 oflevies forprivate copying under therelevant
provisions oftheLuxembourg 'scopyright law.
Thedispositions oftheBerne Convention, theRome Convention andtheTRIPS Agreement
areofdirect applicability inLuxembourg law.
Luxembourg hasnoprovisions onlevies forprivate copying.
[Follow-up question]
HastheTRIPS Agreement been self-executing inLuxembourg since 1January 1996? In
particular,canarightholderfromanyotherWTOMembercountrysuetoenforcerightsthatarerequired
tobegranted bytheTRIPS Agreement?
Yes,TRIPS isself-executing inLuxembourg.
Yes,itispossible tosueonthebasis oftheTRIPS Agreement butthere isnocaselawyet.
2. Does Luxembourg apply the"rule oftheshorter term" tophonograms andperformances from
other WTO Members? Ifso,explain howyoujustify suchaction under TRIPS Article 4.
Luxembourg doesnotapply the"rule oftheshorter term" tophonograms andperformances.
3. Please explain whether andhowLuxembourg protects against boththedirect andindirect
reproduction ofphonograms asrequired byTRIPS Article 14.2, including bydigital transmission in
thecontext ofsubscription orinteractive services.
Article 3oftheLawof29March 1972andArticle 8oftheLawof23September 1975protects
reproduction ingeneral andnoother textexcludes indirect reproduction expressly.
Thedraftofanewamendment provides tointroduce theterms "direct" and"indirect" inthose
Articles inorder toavoid anycontroversial interpretation.IP/Q/LUX/1
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[Follow-up question]
Does thereproduction right forphonograms under Luxembourg lawinclude initsscope
reproductionsmadefrombroadcasts,aswellasthedigitaltransmissionofbothtemporaryandpermanent
reproductions?
Luxembourg legislation provides forabroad definition ofthereproduction rights. There is
nocaselawabout theinterpretation of"reproduction" inthesense indicated bythequestion.
4. Please explain whether andhowLuxembourg provides fullretroactive protection toworks,
phonograms andperformances fromother WTO Members, asrequired byTRIPS Articles 9.1,14.6
and70.2eachofwhich incorporate byreference orrelyuponBerne Article 18.Please givethedate
backtowhich suchprotection extends withrespect toeachcategory ofsubject matter.
TheLuxembourg Lawapplies toallworks andservices which arenotexpired (épuisés) atthe
dateofitscoming intoforce, which means three months afterthedateofpublication attheOfficial
Journal Memorial.
Theexpression "expired" (épuisés) concerns allprior works andservices, whose period of
protection hasnotcome toanend("non tombés dansledomaine public" according toArticle 18of
theBerne Convention).
Thedatebacktowhich fullretroactive protection isprovided, hastobecalculated inrespect
tothedateofentry oftheTRIPS Agreement, which was1January 1996.
Ouractual legislation onauthors 'rights protects works when thedeath oftheauthor orthe
lastliving co-author islaterthan1January 1946.
Thenewdraftamendment provides anextension until1January 1926 forEUMembers. A
second draftamendment willextend theprotection toallWTO Member States.
Ouractual legislation onneighbouring rights protects works ofperformers andphonogram
producers created orproduced after31December 1975.
Thenewdraftamendment provides anextension until31December 1945 forEUMembers.
Asecond draftamendment willextend theprotection toWTO Member States.
[Follow-up question]
What istheexpected timetable forthesecond draft amendment referred toinparagraphs 5
and7oftheanswer tothisquestion, which would extend afulltermofprotection toexisting works,
phonograms andperformances fromallWTO Members? Willitbesimultaneous withthefirstdraft
amendment alsoreferred to,which would apply onlytoEUmembers? Please provide anyinformation
thatisavailable about thecontents ofthissecond draft amendment.
Allefforts willbemade tohaveasimultaneous timetable forallouramendments. Thenew
lawswillcome intoforce three months afterthedateofpublication.
5. Article 1ofLuxembourg 'scopyright lawliststheworks thatareprotected asliterary andartistic
works under thelaw. Computer programs, however, arenotincluded within thislist.AsArticle 10
ofTRIPS requires thatcomputer programs should beprotected "asliterary works", please explain
howcomputer programs areprotected under Luxembourg 'slaw.IP/Q/LUX/1
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On24April 1996, anewlawadded theprotection of"computer programs" expressly tothe
listofArticle 1.
6. Article 1ofLuxembourg 'scopyright lawgrants protection tocertain collections ofworks.
However, because thisarticle doesnotexplicitly refertodatabases offactual information (forwhich
thereisnounderlying work) asprotected subject matter, itisclearwhether suchdatabases areprotected.
Article10TRIPSrequiresthatdatabasesbasedonfactualinformationthatconstituteintellectualcreations
byreason oftheselection orarrangement oftheircontents beprotected. Please explain whether and
howthese databases offactual information areprotected under Luxembourg Law.
Databases which constitute anintellectual creation according totheconditions ofparagraph 5,
Article 1,areprotected asliterary works (collections). Indeed thelistofArticle 1,paragraph 1is
notexhaustive.
[Follow-up question]
Please indicate whether Luxembourg 'scopyright lawhasbeenimplemented soastoprovide
protectionfordatabases,andprovideanyrelevantcaselaw,administrativedecisions,orotherauthority.
There isnocaselawonthisissue.
7. Itdoesnotappear thatLuxembourg 'scopyright orneighbouring rights grant arental right
inthese works. Inviewofthis,please explain howLuxembourg complies withTRIPS Articles 11and
14,which require thattherightholders ofcomputer programs andphonograms begranted theright
tocontrol therental oftheirwork.
Therental rightisnotexpressly excluded bytheLuxembourgish law.
However, thenewdraftamendments submitted toParliament, inaccordance withtheEEC
Directive No.92/100 from 19November 1992, provides expressly therental right forauthors and
rightholders ofneighbouring rights.
[Follow-up question]
Please indicate whether Luxembourg 'scopyright lawhasbeenimplemented soastoprovide
arental rightincomputer programs andphonograms, andprovide anyrelevant caselaw,administrative
decisions, orother authority.
Itisconsidered thatonthebasisofLuxembourg copyright lawarental rightisgranted asregards
computer programs andphonograms. There isnocaselawonthisissue yet.
Thisissue willbeclarified inthedraftamendment concerning rental rights.
8. Please explain whatcriminal andcivilremedies forcopyright infringement areavailable and
whytheyaresufficient under TRIPS Articles 41,45and61.Intheresponse, please address, inter
alia,whether infringers maybeliable forattorney 'sfeesandcourt costs; whether Article 29ofthe
LuxembourgcopyrightlawandArticle15ofLuxembourgneighbouringrightlawrequirethataninfringer
haveknowledgeandintentinordertobeliableforinfringement,therebyprecludinganinnocentinfringer
frombeing liable under thecopyright law; andwhether Article 34oftheLuxembourg copyright law
andArticle 16oftheLuxembourg 'sneighbouring rights lawprevent theLuxembourg government from
initiating criminal proceedings against suspected pirates.IP/Q/LUX/1
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Luxembourg reserves itsanswer untilthesecond semester 1997, because ofthescheduled
enforcement review intheWTO Council.
9. Article 12oftheLuxembourg neighbouring rights lawgrants atermofprotection tophonogram
producers andperformers equal totwenty years fromfixation ofthephonogram ortwenty years from
when theperformance tookplace. Article 14ofTRIPS requires thatthetermofprotection befifty
years fromthefixation ofthephonogram andfiftyyears fromwhen theperformance tookplace. Please
explain howArticle 12complies withtherequirements ofTRIPS Article 14.
Thenewdraftamendment provides actually aprotection offiftyyears, according totheEC
Directive 93/98/EEC of29October 1993.
10. Article 7ofLuxembourg neighbouring rightlawgrants protection onlytoLuxembourg nationals
andtothose works originally fixedinLuxembourg. Please explain howthisprotection complies with
thenationaltreatmentrequirementinArticle3ofTRIPS,whichrequiresthatthephonogramsofnationals
ofMember States betreated nolessfavourably thanthephonograms ofLuxembourg nationals.
According totheECDirective 93/98 EECandthenewdraftamendment, theduration ofthe
protection isgranted toworks created intheEuropean Union.
Thenewdraftofanamendment willextend thegrant toworks created inaWTO Member
State.
Article17oftheneighbouringrightslawprovideshoweverclearlythattheeffectsofinternational
conventions, suchastheTRIPS Agreement, areprevailing.
[General follow-up question]
Luxembourg hasstated thatthree draft amendments havebeensubmitted toitsParliament,
dealing withthetransposition intonational lawofthree European directives andtheimplementation
ofTRIPS obligations. Please confirm thataction isexpected inParliament onthese amendments this
Autumn.
Yes.