Could Bolivia Opt-Out Of Berne And WIPO And Forge A New Path On Copyright?
One of the biggest problems we have with copyright policy today is the simple fact that it’s almost entirely “faith-based,” with no real evidence showing that current copyright laws benefit society. In fact, most specific studies show the opposite — that copyright laws, as they exist today, tend to do more harm than good (except, potentially for middlemen). That’s why international agreements that lock in certain forms of copyright law around the globe are so problematic. They don’t allow countries to experiment with different types of copyright law to see if they work better. That, of course, is one reason why ACTA is so troubling. However, before ACTA there were other such international agreements, such as WIPO and, most famously, the Berne Convention. The Berne Convention rules have massively expanded the scope of copyright law around the globe — for example, it’s the Berne Convention that says copyright should be automatically applied on new works, rather than requiring registrat
