19 February 2014Copyright

South Korea to extend copyright by 20 years

South Korea is set to extend its term of copyright protection from 50 to 70 years as part of a trade agreement with Australia.

The final text of the Korea-Australia Free Trade Agreement (KAFTA), released on February 17, contains a chapter on intellectual property.

It says copyright protection must last for at least the creator’s lifetime plus 70 years after death. South Korea will have two years to implement the changes.

Such rules already apply in Australia, as well as other countries including the US and UK.

The document adds that if a copyright term is not calculated using someone’s lifetime, it shall be based on at least 70 years “from the end of the calendar year” of the first authorisation or creation of the work.

Australia and South Korea finished negotiating KAFTA in December 2013. South Korea is Australia’s fourth-largest trading partner, and trade between the countries was worth AU$31.9 billion ($28.8 billion) in 2012.

After KAFTA was released, Andrew Robb, Australia’s minister for trade and investment, said it is a “comprehensive, world-class agreement that will deliver lasting benefits to the Australian economy”.

He added: “KAFTA opens up all sorts of doors across legal, accounting, financial, engineering, telecommunications, education, environmental as well as film and television services.”

The agreement, which is only in English, must be translated into Korean in order for both countries to sign it. This is planned for the first half of 2014.

Later in the year, the countries’ parliaments are expected to ratify the deal and complete the agreement.

Both nations are negotiating the Trans Pacific Partnership, a multi-lateral trade deal, but South Korea has not been part of the drafting process.

Already registered?

Login to your account

To request a FREE 2-week trial subscription, please signup.
NOTE - this can take up to 48hrs to be approved.

Two Weeks Free Trial

For multi-user price options, or to check if your company has an existing subscription that we can add you to for FREE, please email Adrian Tapping at atapping@newtonmedia.co.uk