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Copyright Center

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International Copyright Terms

International Copyright

International Treaties: Dark purple background with horizontal lines to appear like a television screen, with foreground graphics of various colored 2D neon-style game controllers, arrows, and flags to indicate different countries. The center contains a bright neon-styled purple and blue border, with text inside reading “international treaties” in clear, bright font color. Image created by Jean Turman using CanvaPro.

The concept of copyright is built on the idea of respect: respect for the creator or copyright holder’s ownership of their intellectual property (IP) for the designated term. In the US, that term is the life of the author plus 70 years. Copyrights vary across the globe and are determined by the individual country; but treaties have been adopted to standardize the rules across countries and allow authors to be more globally productive and profitable during their lives. Unless the copyright is renewed, the rights fall into the public domain 70 years after the author’s death.

The respect for a creator’s property extends beyond borders. The worldwide World Trade Organization (WTO) and World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO, an agency of the United Nations) have worked together for more than a hundred years to convene and adopt basic intellectual property rights globally. The Berne Convention and the TRIPS agreement are examples of these cooperative results: they ensure that works that are protected by one government would then also be protected by another.

If I publish an article in a U.S. publication, for example, Germany would acknowledge my copyright and German citizens would need to obtain permission from me or my publisher on translation or printing of the article, or publication in a German journal.
Likewise, “most foreign published works will be protected by copyright laws of the United States” (Benson, 2021, p. 120). This explains how we honor the copyright of Nintendo intellectual properties created originally in Japan and under Japanese copyright protection.

Why is this collaboration and cooperation so vital? “Protecting your ideas keeps innovation moving forward” (WIPO, 2025, 0:45). It protects the space where new ideas can be incubated, proliferated, and marketed in unique versions for others to share and enjoy; it encourages more creativity based upon those earlier ideas. WIPO’s goal is to facilitate this cooperation, and promote fairness, accessibility, and the transformational nature of new creative outcomes based on ideas.   

References

Benson, S. R. (2021). Select international copyright library issues. In Compact copyright: Quick answers to common questions. ALA Editions.

World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). (2025, June 20). Inventing the future: How WIPO is supporting innovators and creators around the world (short film). wipo.int. Retrieved from 

WIPO. (n.d.). WIPO Lex: Access to legal information on intellectual property from around the world. wipo.int.

WIPO. (n.d.). Who is WIPO? About WIPO. wipo.int.

International Treaties image: Dark purple background with horizontal lines to appear like a television screen, with foreground graphics of various colored 2D neon-style game controllers, arrows, and flags to indicate different countries. The center contains a bright neon-styled purple and blue border, with text inside reading “international treaties” in clear, bright font color. Image created by Jean Turman using CanvaPro.