International sources of Copyright law

On the international level, the most important sources of copyright law are:

• Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) 1994, Annex 1C to the Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

Most countries in the world are parties to these agreements.

European sources of Copyright law

The most important EU directives concerning copyright law are (in chronological order):

• Directive 93/98/EEC of 29 October 1993 harmonizing the term of protection of copyright and certain related rights (Copyright Term Directive 1993),
• Directive 96/9/EC of 11 March 1996 on the legal protection of databases (Databases Directive 1996),
• Directive 2001/29/EC of 22 May 2001 on the harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the information society (Copyright Directive 2001),
• Directive 2009/24/EC of 23 April 2009 on the legal protection of computer programs (Software Directive), which amended the Software Directive 1991,
• Directive 2012/28/EU of 25 October 2012 on certain permitted uses of orphan works, aka Orphan Works Directive 2012.

National sources of Copyright law

In Germany, the main source of copyright law is Gesetz über Urheberrecht und verwandte Schutzrechte (UrhG).
In other countries:

• United States: Copyright Act 1976 (17 USC)
• UK: Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988
• France: Code de la propriété intellectuelle, Livre I (Intellectual Property Code, Book 1)

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