The Universal Copyright Convention (UCC), first adopted in 1952 and administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), remains one of the primary international treaties that address copyright.
The UCC provides two main forms of copyright protection:
1. Copyright protection in countries that are parties to the Convention (known as member countries or contracting states); and 2. Protection for works published outside its bounds (known as unpublished works).
The University of California Press defines “work” as any literary, scientific, or artistic creation produced in any medium – published or unpublished.
The Convention requires member countries to provide copyright protection for works originating in other member countries, provided automatically without the author registering their work or meeting any formalities.
The Convention requires member countries to offer copyright protection for unpublished works such as manuscripts and letters written for personal use but have yet to be published. Unfortunately, such protection does not automatically take place – the author must fulfill specific formalities before their work can be protected.
The UCC is of great significance to publishers as its member countries must automatically provide copyright protection for works created within other member countries – no registration or other formalities are needed! Furthermore, the agreement enumerates reproduction and distribution rights that publishers need in an increasingly digital environment.
Libraries and archives benefit tremendously from the UCC. Under its provisions, libraries and archives may make copies of copyrighted works to preserve them or make them available to the public.
The UCC is essential to authors and publishers because it establishes a set of copyright rules recognized across all signatory countries, meaning an author’s work is protected in all UCC states without fear of infringing upon others. Furthermore, its enforcement helps safeguard against piracy.