RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE IP/Q/SVN/1
29October 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-4518)
Original: English Council forTrade-Related Aspects
ofIntellectual Property Rights
REVIEW OFLEGISLATION ONCOPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS
Slovenia1
Thepresent document reproduces theintroductory statement made bythedelegation of
Switzerland inthereview oflegislation oncopyright andrelated rights attheCouncil 'smeeting of
22to25July19962,thequestions puttoitandtheresponses given.
_______________
I. INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT
TheSlovenian Copyright andRelated Rights Actentered intoforce on29April 1995. The
Actwasnotified totheTRIPS Council, along withsome other intellectual property lawson25July
1995, thatisexactly ayearago.
During theperiod ofdrafting theAct,Slovenia made every effort toincorporate thelatest "state
oftheart"intoit,i.e.thelatest developments ontheinternational andsupranational level. Inthis
regard, extensive consultations were carried outatthattime, forexample withWIPO, European
Commission, USCopyright Office andMaxPlanck Institute inMunich, toname justsome ofthemost
outstanding contacted addresses.
Slovenia isaparty totheParis andBerne Conventions since itsindependence, i.e.from
25June1991. AsfarastheRome Convention isconcerned, Slovenia acceded toitveryrecently,
inJune1996, along withthePhonograms Convention. Instruments ofaccession were deposited in
NewYork on5July1996, (i.e.three weeks ago). AsaWTO Member, Slovenia isthusparty toall
those international agreements which areincorporated intotheTRIPS Agreement.
Inaiming tofacilitate communication, weprepared asmall booklet, which contains ourmain
intellectual property lawsinEnglish, andwhich ishereavailable toourdistinguished colleagues.
II. REPLIES TOQUESTIONS POSED BYTHE UNITED STATES
1. Please explain whether andhowSlovenian lawprovides protection forworks, phonograms
andperformances fromother WTO Members, andwhether andhowitdoessoonthebasis ofnational
1Slovenia 'snotification oflawsandregulations intheareaofcopyright andrelated rights under Article 63.2
oftheAgreement hasbeen circulated indocument IP/N/1/SVN/1/Add.2.
2Theminutes ofthemeeting have been circulated indocument IP/C/M/8.IP/Q/SVN/1
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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 ofSlovenian law.
Under theSlovenian 1995 Copyright andRelated Rights Act(hereinafter referred toasthe
"Copyright Act"), foreign rightholders ofcopyright andrelated rights enjoy thesame protection as
Slovenian citizens orlegalentities, ifaninternational agreement soprovides orifother legalgrounds
exist(seeArticle 176(2)). Itshould alsobenoted thatArticle 8oftheConstitution oftheRepublic
ofSlovenia provides fordirect applicability ofratified andpublished international agreements. These
provisions obviously cover theTRIPS Agreement, theBerne Convention (1971) andtheRome
Convention, towhich Slovenia isaparty. Consequently, theprotection ofworks, performances and
phonograms from other WTO Members, based ontheprinciple ofnational treatment, isfully
implemented inSlovenian law.
While provisions onlevies forprivate copying willbecome applicable intwoyears afterthe
coming intoforce oftheCopyright Act(i.e.29April 1997, seeArticle 187(1)), national treatment
willbeafforded torightholders from WTO Members onthebasis ofTRIPS.
2. DoesSlovenia apply the"rule oftheshorter term" tophonograms andperformances fromother
WTO Members? Ifso,please explain howyoujustify suchaction under TRIPS Article 4.
Inconformity withTRIPS Article 14.5thetermofprotection under theSlovenian Copyright
Actis50years forbothperformers andproducers ofphonograms, computed asdefined inArticles 127
and132oftheCopyright Act.
The"rule oftheshorter term", asprovided forinArticle 181oftheCopyright Act,doesnot
apply toWTO Members. Infact,thisruleseems tobeirrelevant whenever therequirements ofTRIPS
Article 14.5aremet.
3. Please explain whether andhowSlovenia protects against both thedirect andindirect
reproduction ofphonograms asrequired byTRIPS Article 14.2, including bydigital transmission in
thecontext ofinteractive services.
TheSlovenian Copyright Actprovides anexclusive rightfortheproducer ofphonograms to
reproduce hisphonograms (seeArticle 129.1). Thisrightcovers bothdirect andindirect reproductions,
including those made from abroadcast.
TheCopyright Acthasabroad definition oftherightofreproduction, which expressly includes
alsothesaving inelectronic form (seeArticle 23(2)). Thisdefinition applies alsotorelated rights
(seeArticle 4(2)). Theprotection ofphonograms inthecontext ofdigital transmission andinteractive
services ispresently under discussion intheframework ofapossible newInstrument ofprotection
within WIPO.
4. Please explain whether andhowSlovenia 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.
Inaccordance withArticle 18oftheBerne Convention, the1995Copyright Actprovides full
retroactive protection forworks, performances andphonograms from other WTO Members (see
Article 193(1) and(2)).IP/Q/SVN/1
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Works:
The70yeartermofprotection extends toworks thatwereenjoying protection under
theformer copyright legislation. Thusthepresent retroactive protection applies toworks, the
author ofwhich hasdiedin1925orlater, provided thattheyhavenotfallen inthepublic domain
before 1995 (theyearoftheentry intoforce oftheCopyright Act)under theformer 50year
term.
Performances:
The50yeartermofprotection extends toperformances thatwereenjoying protection
under theformer copyright legislation. Thus, thepresent retroactive protection applies to
performances, which were fixed, performed orbroadcast in1990 orlater.
Phonograms:
The50yeartermofprotection extends tophonograms, which werefirstfixed in1975
orlater.