Title: Berne and TRIPS Agreements

Learning objectives for this module
Credits: by krisj (Author); licence CC BY 4.0

- Contrast the relationship between the Berne Convention and the TRIPS Agreement
- Discuss the connection between these agreements, the World Intellectual Property Organization, and the World Trade Organization
- Infer how agreements like the Berne Convention and the TRIPS agreement might impact global economic development and trade.

A caveat here...!
The United States Copyright Act was amended in 1989 to include moral rights for visual works, but this is a much more narrow version of moral rights than are used in most jursidictions.

Some more critique of TRIPS
Some other criticisms of the TRIPS Agreement can be found here:

- The Electronic Frontier Foundation comments on copyright term limits as a "floor"
- SciDev discusses its impact on developing countries
- A paper by Junaid Subhan discusses how TRIPS blocks access to medications in developing countries

Q: How is the World Trade Organization (WTO) connected to the TRIPS Agreement?
- TRIPS is administered by the WTO (correct)
- The WTO is an outspoken critic of TRIPS
- The Berne Convention was created by the WTO but TRIPS was not
- The WTO created TRIPS at the 1883 Paris Convention

Q: A country can join the World Trade Organization without having to abide by the TRIPS Agreement
A: false

Q: Which of these statements is correct?
- The TRIPS Agreement incorporates all of the Berne Convention except its article on moral rights (correct)
- The Berne Convention was created as a response to shortcomings in the TRIPS Agreement
- Victor Hugo wrote Hunchback as an allegory for intellectual property issues
- The Berne Convention serves as the historical basis for modern patent law

Q: Berne and TRIPS set the minimum standard for copyright terms as:
- Life of the author plus 50 years (correct)
- Life of the author
- Life of the author plus 30 years
- Life of the author plus 70 years

Q: The TRIPS Agreement provides a central dispute settlement mechanism but the Berne Convention does not.
A: true

Q: Which of the following is NOT a criticism of the TRIPS agreement?
- The agreement does not apply to literary or artistic works (correct)
- Its permanent link between intellectual property rights and access to world trade markets harms developing nations
- It tends to concentrate wealth in the hands of developed countries
- When minimum copyright and patent terms are enforced internationally, innovation in developing countries is stifled

Choose the correct statement.

Credits: Berne and TRIPS Agreements; by University of Alberta; 2019; licence CC BY 4.0