If I Download A Foreign Film Is It Protected By The Copyright Law Of The Uk Or The Country Of Origin?
Posted by Copyright Law Enquirer on July 10th, 2009 at 04:24pm
If, for example, I wanted to download an Afghan film (as it’s easier to demonstrate the point as no copyright law exists there), would that be legal in the UK where the copyright length is 70 years after death. Or are there other factors involved such as distribution rights?
Tags: Copyright, Country, Download, Film, Foreign, Origin, Protected
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2 Comments for If I Download A Foreign Film Is It Protected By The Copyright Law Of The Uk Or The Country Of Origin?
1. JZD | July 10th, 2009 at 8:36 pm
If you are downloading a film, which (let’s assume) is in breach of copyright, the following factors apply:
1. Where copyright is asserted – it may not be in the country of origin, but may be in the country where the director or distributor is located. I’d be surprised in Afgabisatn has any copyright laws.
2. US films, for example, are copyrighted worldwide.
3. It then depends on whether the country in which you are in has reciprocal enforcement arrangements with the country in which copyright is asserted – e.g. US & Britain yes, UK and North Korea, no.
4. any signatories to the Brussels Convention and the Luguano convention automatically have reciprocal enforcement rights.
5. Lastly, you need to be stupid enough to get caught.
2. lare | July 10th, 2009 at 9:19 pm
besids all the points the lawyer made, the US allows anyone including foreign nationals to file for a US registration. Every member of the WTO (World Trade Organization) has to honor the copyrights of the authors home country (or US if US registration) this is why China has to come into compliance even though Communist governments do not recognize copyright for their own citizens.
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