6.2 Nationality Requirements

Patents / Computer Related Inventions / US Copyright Protection for Software

One further point to be borne in mind in connection with United States copyright law is that if a work has been published (i.e. copies have been distributed to the public or offered for further distribution or for public performance or display) copyright protection is subject to nationality requirements. Thus, there is no copyright protection for a work that was first published outside the United States unless:

(a) one or more of the authors is a national or domiciliary of the United States or of a country having a copyright treaty with the United States or is stateless,

(b) the work was first published in a country that is a member of the Berne or Universal Copyright Conventions,

(c) the work was first published by the United Nations, one of its agencies or the Organization of America States, or

(d) copyright protection has been conferred by means of Presidential Proclamation relating to works of nationals or domiciles of a particular country or works first published in such a country.

As a practical matter, most major countries are parties to the Berne and Universal Copyright Conventions. A notable exception is Taiwan (which is apparently covered by an old treaty between China and the United States). [93]

[93] See New York Chinese TV Programs Inc. v. U. E. Enterprises Inc., 21 USPQ2d 1673 (2nd Cir. 1992).

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