From Hard to Soft Law - A Requisite Shift in the International Copyright Regime?

摘要

Copyright protection primarily consists of preventing the unauthorized use of the results of someone else's work. If the fact is taken into consideration that relevant national regulations are, due to their nature, limited in territorial scope, then the development of international cooperation in the field of treaty protection of the rights inherent in copyright ownership is of the utmost importance. International agreements have therefore been a key instrument ensuring protection of authors' rights in international relationships, and the catalogue of entitlements and principles of protection mentioned in these agreements sets the minimum standard of a universal system of copyright and related rights closely associated with it. As a result, such agreements guarantee the homogeneity of the norms of copyright on a global scale and thus enhance significantly the reliability of international turnover of works and their tangible media.~1