Legal Definitions - WIPO Copyright Treaty

The WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) is an international agreement adopted in 1996 under the auspices of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

Essentially, the WCT updated global copyright rules to address the challenges and opportunities presented by the rise of the internet and other digital technologies. It clarified how existing international copyright law, particularly the Berne Convention, applies in the digital age. Key aspects of the WCT include:

• Explicitly confirming that computer programs (software) and databases are protected by copyright.
• Reaffirming that copyright protection extends only to the *expression* of ideas, not to the ideas themselves, procedures, methods of operation, or mathematical concepts.
• Establishing new rights for authors in the digital environment, such as the right to control the availability of their works online.

Here are some examples illustrating the application of the WIPO Copyright Treaty:

• Protecting Innovative Software: Imagine a small tech startup in one WCT signatory country develops a groundbreaking new mobile application that uses a unique algorithm to help users manage their personal finances. If a company in another WCT signatory country attempts to copy the app's code or its specific user interface design without permission, the WCT provides a framework for the startup to seek legal protection. This is because the WCT explicitly recognizes computer software as a protected work under copyright, ensuring that the original creators have rights over their digital creations across borders.

• Safeguarding Curated Databases: Consider a scientific research institution that compiles a vast, meticulously organized online database of genetic sequences. While individual genetic sequences are facts and not copyrightable, the institution's specific selection, arrangement, and presentation of these sequences within the database represent a creative effort. The WCT ensures that this structured database, as a compilation, is protected by copyright. This means other entities cannot simply download and replicate the entire database's structure and content without authorization, even if they could access the individual facts elsewhere.

• Distinguishing Idea from Expression in Digital Content: A novelist publishes an e-book about a future society where virtual reality has completely replaced physical interaction. Under the WCT, the *idea* of a virtual reality-dominated future society is not copyrightable; anyone is free to write their own story with a similar premise. However, the novelist's specific plot, characters, dialogue, and unique literary expression within their e-book *are* protected. This means another author cannot copy the exact text or a substantial part of the novel and publish it, even if they change a few words. The WCT upholds the principle that copyright protects the creative expression, not the underlying abstract concept.