LW4641 Chap.2 Copyright Origins, Hong Kong Law and the Treaties
Copyright Origins, Hong Kong Law and the Treaties
From printers' privilege to author's right
Copyright began as a privilege tied to censorship. In 1534 the English Crown granted a publishing monopoly to the Stationers' Company, the London printers and publishers who were the forerunners of the modern publisher.
When the monopoly lapsed in 1694 and renewal failed, the trade lacked a decisive rule, and the Statute of Anne of 1710 gave the sole right of printing books to authors and their assigns.
Because printers and booksellers counted among those assigns, the statute still served the trade that lobbied for it.
Technology keeps widening the right
Since then copyright has followed new technology, adding subject matter such as sculpture and software and new rights such as distribution, performance and broadcasting. Two models developed.
Continental authors' rights systems added moral rights to protect the author's spiritual interests, while the United States focused on economic interests and recognised moral rights only for some visual art.
The lecture traces the split to utilitarian and natural rights reasoning.
How Hong Kong got its law
Until 27 June 1997 the UK Copyright Act 1956 applied in Hong Kong, and through transitional provisions it still decides ownership of older works.
The Copyright Ordinance (Cap 528) took effect on that date and was drawn mainly from the UK Act of 1988. Articles 139 and 140 of the Basic Law direct the Hong Kong government to set its own policies on science and culture and protect the rights of inventors and authors, which is why Hong Kong and the mainland, whose copyright statute took effect on 1 June 1991, are similar in general and different in detail.
The treaty layer
Because rights are territorial, authors pressed for international protection.
The Berne Convention of 1886 introduced national treatment, abolished formalities and set a minimum term of life plus fifty years. The Rome Convention of 1961 covered performers, phonogram producers and broadcasters. TRIPS in 1994 linked intellectual property to trade and made the core of Berne enforceable through the WTO, and the two WIPO treaties of 1996 added the digital agenda.
Hong Kong joined the WTO on 1 January 1995.
What this chapter covers
- 01
The Stationers' Company and the Statute of Anne
- 02
Technology as the driver of new rights
- 03
Authors' rights and the economic model
- 04
The 1956 Act, Cap 528 and 27 June 1997
- 05
Articles 139 and 140 of the Basic Law
- 06
Berne, Rome, TRIPS and the WIPO treaties
Worked example · free
Place a work under the right statute and treaty
- 3Identify the law that decides ownership of a work made before 27 June 1997.
- 3Explain which treaty principle secures protection abroad.
Key terms
- Statute of Anne
- The English copyright act of 1710 that gave authors and their assigns the sole right of printing books, replacing the Stationers' privilege.
- National Treatment
- The Berne principle that a member state must protect works from other member states as it protects its own nationals' works.
- Neighbouring Rights
- Copyright-like rights for performers, phonogram producers and broadcasters, first agreed internationally in the Rome Convention of 1961.
- TRIPS Agreement
- The WTO agreement of 1994 setting minimum intellectual property standards and making most of the Berne Convention enforceable through WTO dispute settlement.
- Digital Agenda
- The additions made by the WIPO Copyright Treaty of 1996: a communication right and protection for technological measures and rights management information.
- Droit D'auteur
- The continental authors' rights model, which puts the author at the centre and adds moral rights to economic ones.
Copyright Origins, Hong Kong Law and the Treaties FAQ
When did Hong Kong's current copyright law come into force?
The Copyright Ordinance, Cap 528, came into effect on 27 June 1997 and is based mainly on the UK's Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988. Before that date the UK Copyright Act 1956 extended to Hong Kong, and it still governs questions such as who first owned a work created earlier.
Why can Hong Kong copyright law differ from the mainland's?
Articles 139 and 140 of the Basic Law direct the Hong Kong government to formulate its own policies on science, technology and culture and to protect inventors' and authors' rights by law. The two systems are similar in outline but differ in their specific rules, so problems set in Hong Kong are answered under Cap 528.
Does Hong Kong belong to the Rome Convention?
The lecture notes that neither Hong Kong nor the mainland has joined the Rome Convention, although performers' and producers' rights still reach Hong Kong through TRIPS and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty, which applies to Hong Kong from 1 October 2008.
Why is TRIPS controversial?
It tied intellectual property to trade for the first time. The lecture points to an account that a few established companies shaped the negotiating agenda and that developing countries' resistance was overcome through trade pressure, and to the effect of high patented drug prices on access to HIV medicines.
Exam move
Draw your own timeline from 1534 to 2008 with one line on who held the right at each point. Then add, beside each treaty, the single principle you would cite from it in an answer. Ten minutes of drawing fixes the sequence better than rereading the history.
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