Copyright protection is provided by law. This is carried out in accordance with the laws of each country. This means that copyright may not be the same in all countries. However, there are international agreements and treaties that make the differences in rights less significant, and this facilitates copyright’s protection.
We suggest to consider three most important legislative sources for protecting intellectual property.

Berne Convention

The first is the Berne Convention, which was adopted in 1886 and protects copyright in all countries that are members of the Berne Convention. In accordance with this convention, copyright arises from the moment of its creation. According to the Convention, both published and unpublished versions of literary works are protected.

The Convention applies when:

• The author is a citizen of the country that has adopted the Convention
• The author is not a citizen but has a permanent residence in one of the Member States

Madrid Agreement

This is a trademark’s registering agreement, signed in 1891. In accordance with the Madrid Agreement, trademarks are protected from use by another person. This allows trademark to be protected also in other participating States.

World Intellectual Property Organization

This is a special agreement for protection of literary and artistic works. It is associated with the Berne Convention and refers to the countries of the Union established by this Convention.

These are the most important intellectual property protection tools that are international and have a wide geographical coverage. By the way, Armenia is also considered a member state of these unions.

For more information on these and other issues, you can contact us. Arag.am’s professional attorneys will help to protect your copyrights.