Law Commons^™

Country Of Origin And Internet Publication: Applying The Berne Convention In The Digital Age, Sampsung Xiaoxiang Shi, Brian Fitzgerald, Cheryl Foong, Kylie Pappalardo

Cheryl Foong

In this article, we argue that even if a work first published online can be considered to be simultaneously published all over the world it does not follow that any country can assert itself as the “country of origin” of the work for the purpose of imposing domestic copyright formalities. More specifically, we argue that the meaning of “United States work” under the U.S. Copyright Act should be interpreted in line with the presumption against extraterritorial application of domestic law to limit its application to only those works with a real and substantial connection to the United States. To be …