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It ensures that computer programs are protected as literary works (Article 4) and that the arrangement and selection of material in databases is protected (Article 5). It provides authors of works with control over their rental and distribution (Articles 6-8) which they may not have under the Berne Convention alone. And it prohibits circumvention of technological measures for the protection of works (Article 11) and unauthorised modification of rights management information contained in works (Article 12).

The WIPO Copyright Treaty is implemented in United States law by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). By Decision of 16 March 2000, the European Council approved the treaty, on behalf of the European Community. EU Directives 91/250/EC (copyright protection for software) 96/9/EC (database protection) and 2001/29/EC (protection for anti-circumvention technologies and rights management technologies) largely cover the subject matter of the treaty.

However, although the United States Congress passed both the DMCA and a copyright term extension during the same week and used the same method ( voice vote) to make it less likely that the news media would report on the bills, and the European UnionFor other uses, see EU (disambiguation). The European Union or EU is a supranational organisation of 25 European states. It was established with that name by the Treaty on European Union (commonly known as the Maastricht Treaty) in 1992 but many aspects o adopted its own copyright term extensionThe Directive on harmonising the term of copyright protection was a European Union (EU) copyright directive issued in 1993. The goal was to ensure that there was a single duration for copyright monopolies across the entire EU. The chosen term was that of around the same time, the WIPO Copyright Treaty made no reference to copyright term extension beyond the existing terms of the Berne Convention.

External links and References

• The text of the treaty is available at:
  • http://www.wipo.int/documents/en/diplconf/distrib/94dc.htm
• The United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a state in Western Europe, usually known simply as the United Kingdom the UK Britain or less accurately as Great Britain . The UK was formed by a series of Acts of Union which united the formerly implemented much of Article 11 in 1988:
  • http://www.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts1988/Ukpga_19880048_en_21.htm#mdiv296
• Canadians opposed to the ratification of this treaty in Canada are invited to join the Digital Copyright Canada forum (formally Canada-DMCA-Opponents)
  • http://www.digital-copyright.ca/