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Copyright Protection in the European Union

The European Union website (snipped URL)

cites to

Council Directive 93/98/EEC of 29 October 1993 (harmonizing the term of protection of copyright and certain related rights), Official Journal L 290 , 24/11/1993 P. 0009 – 0013) (snipped URL).

This Directive provides as follows:

Article 1

Duration of authors’ rights

1. The rights of an author of a literary or artistic work within the meaning of Article 2 of the Berne Convention shall run for the life of the author and for 70 years after his death, irrespective of the date when the work is lawfully made available to the public.

…

Article 3

Duration of related rights

1. The rights of performers shall expire 50 years after the date of the performance. However, if a fixation of the performance is lawfully published or lawfully communicated to the public within this period, the rights shall expire 50 years from the date of the first such publication or the first such communication to the public, whichever is the earlier.

…

Article 7

Protection vis-à-vis third countries

1. Where the country of origin of a work, within the meaning of the Berne Convention, is a third country, and the author of the work is not a Community national, the term of protection granted by the Member States shall expire on the date of expiry of the protection granted in the country of origin of the work, but may not exceed the term laid down in Article 1.

A good analysis of copyright protection in the European Union is found at the website of Arnoud Engelfriet at IusMentis (snipped URL):

That website brought to my attention the provision in the above cited Directive relating to anonymous and pseudonymous works, as follows:

Article 1

Duration of authors’ rights

…

3. In the case of anonymous or pseudonymous works, the term of protection shall run for seventy years after the work is lawfully made available to the public.