North Korea Submits Application to Join Berne Convention
2003-02-14
The Ministry of Culture and Tourism reported on Thursday (Feb. 13) that North Korea submitted the application to the World Intellectual Property Organization on January 28 to join the Berne Convention.
The Berne Convention is an international copyright treaty signed by 150 countries including South Korea. South Korea joined the convention in August 1996. North Korea's application to join the Berne Convention takes effect on April 28, three months after it submitted the application to WIPO.
The ministry said that North Korea has signaled its intention to participate in the international copyright protection rule as it revised the copyright-related acts in April 2001. By submitting the application to join the convention, it has officially declared its positive willingness to promote international exchanges of intellectual properties.
South Korea protects the copyrights of North Korean intellectual properties in the same way as the locally produced works. But so far, there exists no legal ground for the copyright of South Korean intellectual properties to be protected in North Korea. The ministry said that North Korea's joining the Berne Convention would provide a legal basis for the South Korean intellectual properties to receive due protection in North Korea.
Source : www.korea.net
