WIPO Copyright Treaty

The WIPO Copyright Treaty, often shortened to the WCT, was adopted at Geneva on December 20, 1996, and is administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization. It is a special agreement under the Berne Convention, which means it builds on the older convention rather than replacing it. Its subject is the protection of works and the rights of their authors in the digital environment. Beyond the rights already recognized by the Berne Convention, the treaty grants authors certain additional economic rights. It also names two subject matters that copyright must protect: computer programs, whatever the mode or form of their expression, and compilations of data or other material, commonly called databases. The treaty text is accompanied by agreed statements concerning its provisions, and the organization keeps lists of its contracting parties, its preparatory documents and its notifications.