Editing Copyright (section)

=== Fixing ===
The [[Berne Convention]] allows member countries to decide whether creative works must be "fixed" to enjoy copyright. Article 2, Section 2 of the Berne Convention states:

{{quote|"It shall be a matter for legislation in the countries of the Union to prescribe that works in general or any specified categories of works shall not be protected unless they have been fixed in some material form."}}

Some countries do not require that a work be produced in a particular form to obtain copyright protection. For instance, Spain, France, and Australia do not require fixation for copyright protection. The United States and Canada, on the other hand, require that most works must be "fixed in a tangible medium of expression" to obtain copyright protection.<ref name="cyber.law.harvard.edu">See Harvard Law School, [http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/copyrightforlibrarians/Module_3:_The_Scope_of_Copyright_Law#Fixation ''Module 3: The Scope of Copyright Law'']. See also Tyler T. Ochoa, [http://digitalcommons.law.scu.edu/chtlj/vol20/iss4/5 ''Copyright, Derivative Works and Fixation: Is Galoob a Mirage, or Does the Form(GEN) of the Alleged Derivative Work Matter?''], 20 {{smallcaps |Santa Clara High Tech. }} L.J. 991, 999–1002 (2003) ("Thus, both the text of the Act and its legislative history demonstrate that Congress intended that a derivative work does not need to be fixed in order to infringe."). The legislative history of the Copyright Act of 1976 says this difference was intended to address transitory works such as ballets, pantomimes, improvised performances, dumb shows, mime performances, and dancing.</ref> US law requires that the fixation be stable and permanent enough to be "perceived, reproduced or communicated for a period of more than transitory duration". Similarly, Canadian courts consider fixation to require that the work be "expressed to some extent at least in some material form, capable of identification and having a more or less permanent endurance".<ref name="cyber.law.harvard.edu" />

Note this provision of US law:

{{quote|''c) Effect of Berne Convention.—No right or interest in a work eligible for protection under this title may be claimed by virtue of, or in reliance upon, the provisions of the Berne Convention, or the adherence of the United States thereto. Any rights in a work eligible for protection under this title that derive from this title, other Federal or State statutes, or the common law, shall not be expanded or reduced by virtue of, or in reliance upon, the provisions of the Berne Convention, or the adherence of the United States thereto.''<ref>See [https://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html US copyright law]</ref>}}