RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE IP/Q/NOR/1
13September 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-3559)
Original: English Council forTrade-Related Aspects of
Intellectual Property Rights
REVIEW OFLEGISLATION ONCOPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS
Norway1
Thepresent document reproduces theintroductory statement made bythedelegation ofNorway
inthereview oflegislation oncopyright andrelated rights attheCouncil 'smeeting of22to26July
19962,thequestions puttoitandtheresponses given.
_______________
I. INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT
Before dealing withthequestions puttous,mydelegation would liketostress theimportance
ofthisexercise which gives ustheopportunity tofollow upthespecific copyright partoftheTRIPS
Agreement. Iwould liketothank theUSdelegation andtheEUdelegation forposing thequestions,
andthereby giving usthepossibility toexplain thecurrent stateofaffairs inNorway.
Iwould liketostartbygiving some general comments which arealsosignificant tothemore
detailed questions.
TheNorwegian Copyright Actwasamended on30June1995. Thisamendment wastheresult
ofalongprocess, including closecooperation withourNordic neighbours, Denmark, Iceland, Finland
andSweden. Theamended Norwegian Copyright Actispresented tothisbody indocument
IP/N/1/NOR/C/1, dated 3April 1996.
Theamendments alsoimplemented theconsequences oftheEEAAgreement between theEU
andtheEFTA, consequently theNorwegian legislation hastaken onboard theEUdirectives inthis
field.
Withtherecent alterations oftheCopyright Act,Norway hastaken alongsteptowards afull
revision ofitscopyright legislation.
TheCopyright Actcovers chapters dealing withtheobject andthesubstance ofauthors 'rights,
limitations tothose rights, transfer ofrights, termofprotection, neighbouring rights and,finally,
enforcement provisions.
1Norway 'snotification oflawsandregulations intheareaofcopyright andrelated rights under Article 63.2
oftheAgreement hasbeen circulated indocuments IP/N/1/NOR/1 andIP/N/1/NOR/C/1.
2Theminutes ofthemeeting have been circulated indocument IP/C/M/8.IP/Q/NOR/1
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Substantively wemeetallrequirements oftheTRIPS Agreement andmany points gofurther,
bothconcerning theBerne rights andespecially concerning neighbouring rights.
Thefactthatthisrevision isfairly recent, anEnglish version hasonlybeenavailable fora
short period, explains whysome ofthequestions posed, asindicated inthequestions fromtheUnited
States, arebased onearlier legislation.
Generally speaking, Ithink itisfairtosaythatthecopyright landscape ofNorway isamodern
one,characterized notonlybystrong substantive rights fortherightholders, butalsobywellfunctioning
legal mechanisms toenforce therights, andstrong andwellbuilt outprofessional organizations
representing therightholders.
Thisbeing said,westillneedtohavesome ofourby-laws inplace tofullycomply withour
TRIPS obligations. Thereason forthisregrettable delay islackofmanpower, thisbeing anexplanation
butnotanexcuse.
Thenewregulations, which willcontain revised rulesforeligibility, willbeinplace shortly,
andwewillmake every effort tosecure thattheMembers oftheTRIPS Agreement obtain therights
inherent intheAgreement, andthatthese newregulations willbenotified assoonastheyarepassed.
II. REPLIESTOQUESTIONSPOSEDBYTHEEUROPEANCOMMUNITIESANDTHEIR
MEMBER STATES
1. IstheNorwegian Government oftheopinion thattheeligibility criteria under Royal Decree
of8June1995No.524Section 1(cfr.theCopyright ActSection 57)andRoyal Decree of22December
1989 No.1288, should beamended inorder tofulfiltheobligations under theTRIPS Agreement for
minimum protection, national treatment andmost-favoured-nation treatment (Articles 1.3,3and4of
theTRIPS Agreement)?
These regulations (Regulation No.5of10April 1964 andRegulation No.1288 of
22December 1989 -bothwithsubsequent amendments), which supplement Chapter 8onthescope
oftheAct,arecurrently under revision. Theeligibility criteria willshortly beamended tocomply
withthenational treatment clause andtheMFN clause oftheTRIPS Agreement.
2. Forthepurpose ofclarification: HastheNorwegian Government made anotification tothe
TRIPS Council regarding theNorwegian reservation under paragraph 2ofArticle 6oftheRome
Convention (Article 1.3oftheTRIPS Agreement)?
Such notification willbemade promptly.3
3. Forthepurpose ofclarification: WilltheNorwegian Government apply the70-year termof
protection forauthors under Sections 40and41andtheruleofrevival ofrights under Section 60of
theActtoauthors whoarenationals ofMember States oftheEuropean Community andtheEuropean
Economic Area?
Provided thattheeligibility criteria arefulfilled, the70-year termofprotection andtherule
ofrevival ofrights (seethecommencement andthetransitional provisions oftheAct)willapply also
tonationals ofMember States oftheEuropean Community andtheEuropean Economic Area.
3Thenotification made subsequently hasbeen circulated indocument IP/N/2/NOR/1.IP/Q/NOR/1
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4. Forthepurpose ofclarification: Arethereanybilateral agreements between Norway andother
states which grant anyadvantage, favour, privilege orimmunity which shallbeaccorded tothenationals
ofallother Members (Article 4oftheTRIPS Agreement)?
Thequestion iscurrently under deliberation intheNorwegian Government, andsofarnosuch
provision hasbeenfound.
5. UnderSection41oftheCopyrightAct,thestartingpointfortheprotectionperiodforanonymous
orpseudonymous works istheexpiry oftheyearinwhich theworkwasissued. According toArticle 12
oftheTRIPS Agreement, thestarting point istheendofthecalendar yearofauthorized publication.
Intheopinion oftheNorwegian Government, canthisdifference instarting points result inashorter
protection period under Norwegian lawthantheprotection period laiddown inArticle 12oftheTRIPS
Agreement?
TheNorwegian Copyright Act,Section 4,which hasasimilar wording asthecorresponding
provisions intheDanish, Swedish andFinnish Copyright Acts, isconsistent withtheTRIPS Agreement,
Article 12.TheEnglish version oftheNorwegian Copyright Actusestheterm"issued" which ismeant
tocover "publish". However, theNorwegian Government willconsider whether moreadequate English
terms should beusedintheEnglish version oftheAct.
III. REPLIES TOQUESTIONS POSED BYTHE UNITED STATES
General observation
TheNorwegian Copyright Actwasamended on30June1995. Amendments wererequired
interaliaduetotheEEAAgreement. Duetotherecent amendments totheCopyright Act,regulations
totheActhavenotyetbeenamended. Consequently, minor adjustments arerequired tocomply with
theTRIPS Agreement asregards theformal application oftheActtoWTO Members. Required
adjustments willbemade shortly. Wewould liketostress, however, thattheNorwegian Copyright
Act,insubstance, isconsistent withtheTRIPS Agreement intheareaofcopyright andneighbouring
rights.
Question Nos.7to9arebased onanoutdated version oftheCopyright Act,asindicated by
theUnited States.
Replies toquestions
1. Please explain whether andhowNorway 'slawprovides protection forworks, phonograms
andperformances 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 iswithrespect tothedistribution oflevies forprivate copying under therelevant provisions
ofNorway 'scopyright law.
Regulation No.5of10April 1964andRegulation No.1288of22December 1989(both with
subsequent amendments) implement theobligations toforeign rightholders stemming fromthevarious
international treaties towhich Norway isparty, intotheNorwegian Copyright law.These regulations
areissued pursuant toSection 59oftheCopyright Act. Amendments willcurrently bemade tothese
regulations tocomply withthenational treatment clause intheTRIPS Agreement.IP/Q/NOR/1
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AsNorway isparty totheBerne Convention, Norwegian copyright lawiscomplying with
thenational treatment clause inArticle 5.1oftheBerne Convention. Consequently, onlyminor
adjustments areneeded.
TheNorwegian Copyright Acthasnoprovisions onlevies forprivate copying.
2. DoesNorway apply the"rule oftheshorter term" tophonograms andperformances fromother
WTO Members? Ifso,please explain howyoujustify suchaction under TRIPS Article 4.
Norway doesnotapply the"rule oftheshorter term" tophonograms andperformances.
3. Please explain whether andhowNorway protects against thedirect andindirect reproduction
ofphonograms asrequired byTRIPS Article 14.2, including bydigital transmission inthecontext of
subscription orinteractive services.
According toSection 45oftheNorwegian Copyright Actsound fixations andfilms shallnot,
without theconsent oftheproducer, bemade available tothepublic, norshallcopies bemade ofthe
sound fixation orfilm, until50years haveelapsed since theexpiry oftheyearinwhich thefixation
orfilmwasmade. "Ifthefixation isissued during thisperiod oftime, thetermofprotection shall
subsist for50years aftertheexpiry oftheyearinwhich thefixation wasfirstissued."
Theterm"making available tothepublic" isexplained inSection 2,third paragraph ofthe
Act; "Awork ismade available tothepublic when itisperformed outside private premises, orwhen
copies ofthework areoffered forsale,rental orlending, orotherwise distributed ordisplayed outside
suchpremises." Consequently, bothdirect andindirect reproduction arecovered bythese provisions,
including digital transmission inthecontext ofsubscription orinteractive services.
4. PleaseexplainwhetherandhowNorwayprovidesfullretroactiveprotectiontoworks,phonograms
andperformances fromother WTO Members, asrequired byTRIPS Articles 9.1,14.6and70.2, each
ofwhich incorporate byreference orrelyupon Berne Article 18.Please givethedatebacktowhich
suchprotection extends withrespect toeachcategory ofsubject matter.
AsNorway isparty totheBerne Convention, theNorwegian copyright lawisconsistent with
Article 18oftheBerne Convention. Theregulations which implement theobligations according various
international treaties, towhich Norway isparty, intotheCopyright law,willshortly bemade applicable
toallWTO Members. Thedateofapplication oftheTRIPS Agreement forNorway is1January 1996,
sothiswillbethefixed dateaccording toArticle 70oftheAgreement.
[Follow-up question]
Willtheexpected amendment toNorway 'scopyright regulations toextend fullretroactive
protection toexisting works fromallother WTO Member countries alsoapply tophonograms and
performances, asrequired byTRIPS Article 14.6?
Thequestions concerns whether theamendments totheNorwegian regulations implementing
theTRIPS Agreement tothefullextent, willgiveretroactive protection thatwillalsoapply to
phonograms andperformances -withreference toArticle 14.6oftheTRIPS Agreement. Theanswer,
totheextent onecanlookintothenearfuture, isyes,andthisimplies thatphonograms andperformances
originating backto1946 willbeprotected.IP/Q/NOR/1
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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.Please alsoexplain howcivildamages aremeasured inthecaseofcomputer
program infringement, when andhowattorney ’sfeesandcourt costs areawarded, andhowlongit
takes foradecision toberendered intheaverage civilandcriminal copyright infringement cases.
Remedies available forcopyright infringement ispresented inNorway 'snotification (of
22February 1996) under Article 63.2oftheTRIPS Agreement, totheTRIPS Council. Provided that
theCopyright Acthasnoparticular provisions, thegeneral provisions inActNo.6of13August 1915
Relating toJudicial Procedure inCivilCases, Act.No.86of26June1992Related totheEnforcement
ofClaims, ActNo.25of22May1981 Related toCriminal Procedures, apply.
Seizure, forfeiture anddestruction ofinfringing articles andequipment usedtomake the
infringing articles, arecovered bySection 56oftheNorwegian Copyright Act.Inaddition, provisional
measures willapply.
Regarding howcivildamages aremeasures inthecaseofcomputer program infringement,
Section 55oftheCopyright Actapplies: "Any damage caused byaninfringement mentioned in
Section 54,orbyaninfringement ofSection 49,firstparagraph, issubject toaclaim forcompensation
according totherulesofcompensation generally applicable. Iftherightofanauthor oraperforming
artisthasbeeninfringed wilfully orbygross negligence, thecourt mayalsoaward himasumofmoney
asredress fordamage ofanon-economic nature. Even iftheoffender hasacted ingood faith, the
aggrieved partymay,irrespective oftheextent ofthedamage, demand payment ofthenetprofit accruing
from theunlawful act."
Aparty toacivilproceeding maybegranted compensation forexpenses incurred during the
proceedings, including appropriate attorney 'sfees,pursuant toChapter 13oftheActRelating toJudicial
Procedure inCivil Cases. Thegeneral ruleisthataparty wholoses acasebefore thecourt, shall
beordered tocompensate theother party'sexpenses infull(section 172). Ifacaseispartly wonand
partly lost,themain ruleisthattheparties havetocover theirownexpenses (section 174).
TheActRelating toCriminal Procedure (Chapters 9and30)stipulates asamainrulethatthe
costrelated tocriminal proceedings ispaidbytheGovernment.
There arenoprovisions particularly governing thelength orcostofproceedings. Wehave
noavailable dataontheactual duration ofproceedings ortheircost.
[Follow-up question]
Please describe the"provisional measures" referred tointhesecond paragraph oftheanswer,
theprocedures forinvoking them, andthecriminal penalties imposed withrespect tothepiracy of
copyrighted works. What provisions ofNorwegian lawmake these measures andpenalties available?
Thequestions contains twodifferent parts. Firstly, adescription ofprovisional measures,
referred tointheNorwegian answer, andtheprocedures forinvoking them, isasked for.AsIstated,
amore fulldescription ispresented intheNorwegian notification document. Iunderstand thishasIP/Q/NOR/1
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notyetbeendistributed todelegations, butwillbesoshortly.4Ithasbeenmade available totheUS
delegation. Information oninvoking suchprovisional measures isalsopresented inthenotification
document.
Atthisstage, Irestrict myself toreferring tothatdocument. Ifneedby,mydelegation will
behappy toprovide further information.
Thelastpartofthequestion concerns criminal penalty imposed withrespect topiracy of
copyrighted works. Thelegislation concerning thisistobefound inChapter 7oftheNorwegian
Copyright Act. Ingeneral, Section 54states thatpersons whowilfully ornegligently contravene the
Copyright Actshallbeliable tofinesorimprisonment foratermnotexceeding threemonths. However,
iftheinfringement iswilful, andhasbeencommitted under particularly aggravating circumstances,
thepenalty shallbefinesorimprisonment foratermnotexceeding three years. Such infringement
issubject topublic prosecution.
Anydamage caused byaninfringement issubject toaclaim forcompensation and,asmentioned
inourfirstreply, alsoconfiscation anddestruction ofinfringing articles arecovered.
6. Article 10ofTRIPS requires thatdatabases based onfactual information thatconstitute
intellectual creations byreason oftheselection orarrangement oftheircontents beprotected. Please
explain howdatabases areprotected under Norway ’scopyright lawandhowsuchprotection operates
inconjunction withArticle 43oftheCopyright Law,which provides that“works bywhich aconsiderable
amount ofinformation hasbeencompiled ”areprotected for10years.
Databases which constitute anintellectual creation areprotected asliterary works under the
Norwegian Copyright Act. The"catalogue rule" inSection 43applies to"Formularies, catalogues,
tables andsimilar works inwhich alarge number ofitems ofinformation havebeencompiled", and
willapply alsoondatabases. Thesecond paragraph ofSection 43states thatifthecontent ofadatabase
iswholly orpartly subject tocopyright, suchmayalsobeapplied.
Thecatalogue rightdiffers formthecopyright protection ofdatabases inmany respects; there
arenocriterion ofcreativity, only"reproduction" isprotected unlike copyright protection which protects
against "producing copies", thetermofprotection isonlytenyears forcatalogues, andfinally the
catalogue ruleapplies onlytoworks thatarepublished inNorway.
7. Article 1ofNorway ’sCopyright Lawliststheworks thatareprotected asliterary andartistic
works under theLaw. Computer programs, however, arenotincluded within thislist.AsArticle 10
ofTRIPSrequiresthatcomputerprogramsbeprotected“asliteraryworks,”pleaseexplainhowcomputer
programs areprotected under Norway ’slaw.
Computer programs areprotected asliterary works inSection 1,second paragraph number 12.
Section 1wasamended in1990 (ActNo.26of15June1990).
8. Please explain howNorway ’scopyright lawcomplies withTRIPS Articles 11and14,which
require thattherightholders ofcomputer programs andphonograms begranted therighttocontrol
therental oftheirwork. Itdoesnotappear thatNorway ’scopyright lawgrants arental rightinthese
works.
4Subsequently circulated indocument IP/N/6/NOR/1.IP/Q/NOR/1
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Section 19,second paragraph oftheNorwegian Copyright Actstipulates thattherightholder
ofacomputer program isgranted therighttocontrol therental oftheirwork. Therightholder ofa
phonogram isgiven thisrightinSection 42,thirdparagraph (performing artists) andsection 45,second
paragraph (producers). TheCopyright Actwasamended inthisrespect in1990 (ActNo.26of
15June1990) asregards therental ofcomputer programs, whereas Sections 42and45wereamended
in1995 (ActNo.27of2June1995).
9. Article 14ofTRIPS requires thatperformances beprotected foratermof50years fromwhen
theperformance tookplace andphonograms beprotected foraterm of50years from fixation.
Articles42and45ofNorway’sCopyrightLaw,however,appeartoprotectphonogramsandperformances
foratermofprotection equal toonly25years. Howdothese Articles comply withtherequirements
ofTRIPS Article 14?
TheNorwegianCopyrightActSection42,secondparagraphstipulatesthatthetermofprotection
asregards performances is50years fromtheexpiry oftheyearinwhich theperformance tookplace.
50years termofprotection alsoapplies tosound fixations pursuant toSection 45.Thetermofprotection
wasextended from 25years to50years in1988 (ActNo.101of23December 1988).