International and European Law

The United Kingdom (UK) is a member of several international conventions in the copyright field.

The main international copyright treaty is the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works. Both this and the Rome Convention (the International Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organisations) are administered by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). (In the case of the Rome Convention, this is jointly with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and UNESCO).

The UK is a party to both of these conventions and the Universal Copyright Convention (UCC), which is administered by UNESCO. The UK is also a member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and, therefore, adheres to the agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), which lays down minimum standards of protection in all areas of intellectual property, including copyright and related rights.

The European Commission have also introduced several directives and regulations relating to copyright. These have been implemented by the UK and can be found in the table below.