What is protected by Copyright?
According to Article 2 of the Berne Convention, copyright only protects ‘literary and artistic works’ including ‘every production in the literary, scientific and artistic domain, whatever may be the mode or form of its expression, such as books, pamphlets and other writings; lectures, addresses, sermons and other works of the same nature; dramatic or dramatico-musical works; choreographic works and entertainments in dumb show; musical compositions with or without words; cinematographic works to which are assimilated works expressed by a process analogous to cinematography; works of drawing, painting, architecture, sculpture, engraving and lithography; photographic works to which are assimilated works expressed by a process analogous to photography; works of applied art; illustrations, maps, plans, sketches and three-dimensional works relative to geography, topography, architecture or science’, and many other expressions of creative ideas. The copyright protection implies both unpublished and published works.
It is clear that the Berne Convention has adopted an ‘open list’ approach identifying broadly the works that can be included under the copyright protection without defining them. As a result, this approach leaves freedom to the signatory countries to choose different ways to guarantee copyright protection through their national laws.
