Copyright Duration Directive
| European Union directive | |
| Title | Directive harmonising the term of protection of copyright and certain related rights |
|---|---|
| Made by | Council |
| Made under | Arts. 57(2), 66 & 100a |
| Journal reference | L290, 1993-11-24, pp. 9–13 |
| History | |
| Date made | 29 October 1993 |
| Came into force | 24 November 1993 |
| Implementation date | 1 July 1995 |
| Preparative texts | |
| Commission proposal | C92, 1992-04-11, p. 6 C27, 1993-01-30, p. 7 |
| EESC opinion | C287, 1992-11-04, p. 53 |
| EP opinion | C337, 1992-12-22, p. 205 |
| Reports | |
| Other legislation | |
| Replaces | — |
| Amends | 91/250/EEC, 92/100/EEC |
| Amended by | 2001/29/EC |
| Replaced by | 2006/116/EC |
| Repealed | |
Council Directive 93/98/EEC of 29 October 1993 harmonising the term of protection of copyright and certain related rights is a European Union directive in the field of copyright law, made under the internal market provisions of the Treaty of Rome. It was replaced by Directive 2006/116/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006 on the term of protection of copyright and certain related rights.
The principal goal was to ensure that there was a single duration for copyright and related rights across the entire European Union. The chosen term for a work was 70 years from the death of the author (post mortem auctoris, pma) for authors' rights regardless of when the work was first lawfully published (Art. 1), longer than the 50 year post mortem auctoris term required by the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (Art. 7.1 Berne Convention). In the case that the author is anonymous or pseudonymous the term for a work is 70 years from the date of first lawful publication. The directive notes that the original goal of the Berne Convention was to protect works for two generations after the death of the author, and that fifty years was no longer sufficient for this purpose (para. 5 of the preamble). It is often stated that 70 years pma was the longest copyright term of any Member State at the time: this is not strictly correct, and is not quoted as the reason for the choice in the directive. Where a Member State protected a work for a longer period at the time the directive came into force, the copyright term is not reduced [Art. 10(1)], but other Member States will not respect the longer period.
The duration of protection of related rights (those of performers, phonogram and film producers and broadcasting organisations) was set at fifty years with the following rules for calculating the starting date (Art. 3). This fifty-year period was in reflexion of the negotiating position of the European Community at the negotiations which led to the Marrakech Agreements, including the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).
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