Legal Definitions - Brussels Act

The Brussels Act is an important international agreement from 1948 that updated the Berne Convention, which governs copyright among participating countries. This revision significantly strengthened copyright protections globally, adapting them to new technologies and expanding the rights of creators.

Key provisions of the Brussels Act include:

• Minimum Copyright Term: It established a minimum copyright term of the creator's life plus 50 years after their death. This means that copyright protection for a work generally lasts for the author's lifetime and an additional five decades.
• Expanded Moral Rights: It extended "moral rights" – specifically the right of attribution (the right to be recognized as the creator) and the right of integrity (the right to prevent unauthorized alteration or distortion of one's work) – to cover the entire duration of the copyright term in most member countries.
• Television Broadcast Rights: It explicitly extended broadcast rights to include television, acknowledging the rise of this new medium.
• Enhanced Protections: It generally strengthened protections for various forms of creative works and also introduced some level of protection for industrial designs.

Here are some examples illustrating the impact of the Brussels Act:

• Example 1: Copyright Duration and Moral Rights for a Novelist

  Imagine a celebrated novelist who published their most famous work in 1955 and passed away in 1995. Under the minimum standard set by the Brussels Act, the copyright for this novel would last until at least 2045 (1995 + 50 years). Furthermore, if a publisher later decided to release an edition of the novel with significant, unauthorized changes to the plot or character development, the novelist's estate could invoke the moral right of integrity (extended by the Brussels Act) to prevent such a distortion, even decades after the author's death, ensuring the work remains true to its original form.

• Example 2: Protecting a Television Series and an Industrial Design

  Consider a groundbreaking children's television series that first aired in a Berne Convention member country in 1962. The Brussels Act ensured that this new form of creative work was explicitly covered by broadcast rights, meaning other broadcasters could not simply re-air the show without permission from the original production company. Separately, if a designer in the same country created a unique, aesthetically distinct pattern for a new line of textiles in the 1960s, the Brussels Act's provisions extending some protection to industrial designs could help prevent others from directly copying that specific pattern for their own products.

• Example 3: Attribution for a Sculptor

  A renowned sculptor completed a significant public art installation in a city that is part of the Berne Convention in 1970. Years later, during a city renovation project, a contractor mistakenly removes the plaque identifying the artist. Thanks to the moral right of attribution, strengthened and extended by the Brussels Act, the sculptor or their legal representatives could demand that their name be reinstated on the artwork, ensuring they receive proper credit for their creation throughout the entire copyright term.