Does a U.S. copyright license cover other countries?

Creators and companies in Georgia license to foreign publishers, distributors, platforms and brands every day, and foreign companies license U.S. works in. Our page on IP licensing and assignments lists territory as one of the four variables in every grant. This page explains the international rules underneath that variable: what protection a U.S. work has abroad, what a U.S. license can and cannot do there, and how trademarks differ.

How cross-border licensing works, step by step

1. Confirm protection in each country. The United States has been party to the Berne Convention since March 1, 1989 (WIPO, Berne contracting parties). In Berne countries, works originating in another member must get the same protection as local works.
2. Define the territory in the grant. Name the countries or regions, and reserve the rest.
3. Match the media and term to each market. Rights that are valuable in one country may be worth licensing separately in another.
4. Choose the governing law and forum. The contract can choose which law governs the contract itself; the copyright in each country is still that country's.
5. Sign it properly. Under U.S. law an exclusive license is a transfer that must be in a signed writing (17 U.S.C. 204(a)); a foreign-signed transfer can carry a U.S. consular acknowledgment as evidence (204(b)).
6. Record in the United States if the work is registered. A transfer signed abroad has two months, not one, to be recorded for priority (17 U.S.C. 205(d)).

What does the Berne Convention give a U.S. work abroad?

The World Intellectual Property Organization summarizes the Convention's three basic principles (WIPO, Summary of the Berne Convention):

• National treatment. Works originating in one member (by a national of that country, or first published there) "must be given the same protection in each of the other Contracting States as the latter grants to the works of its own nationals."
• Automatic protection. "Protection must not be conditional upon compliance with any formality." No foreign registration is needed for copyright to exist.
• Independence. Protection does not depend on protection in the country of origin, with one exception: if a country grants a longer term than the Convention's minimum, it may deny protection once the work's protection ends in its country of origin.

The Convention sets minimums, including a general term of life plus 50 years. WIPO adds that under the TRIPS Agreement, World Trade Organization members that are not party to Berne are also bound by these three principles. The U.S. term for most works by individual authors is life plus 70 years, so terms can differ by country; our page on how long a song's copyright lasts covers the U.S. side.

What can a U.S. license do abroad, and what can it not?

A license is a contract plus a grant of rights. The grant can cover any country where the licensor holds rights, which for copyright usually means every Berne and WTO country. But the license cannot create rights that local law does not recognize, and it cannot stop local exceptions from applying. That is why worldwide licenses for new technologies get complicated: the Copyright Office's Part 3 report notes, for example, that European Union law conditions a text and data mining exception on owners' opt-outs, a rule with no U.S. equivalent. Our page on licensing your work for AI training covers that example.

U.S. statutory features stay at home. Termination under section 203 "in no way affects rights arising under any other Federal, State, or foreign laws" (17 U.S.C. 203(b)(5)), so an author who terminates a grant after 35 years recovers U.S. rights while the grantee may keep foreign rights; our page on getting rights back after 35 years explains this. And the Copyright Act states that no right may be claimed "by virtue of, or in reliance upon, the provisions of the Berne Convention" itself (17 U.S.C. 104(c)): in the U.S., rights come from the U.S. statute.

What about trademarks in a cross-border license?

A trademark license is only as wide as the licensor's trademark rights. A U.S. registration is a registration in the United States; to register a brand in Canada, Mexico or Europe, the owner applies there, either directly with each country or through the Madrid Protocol, which the USPTO describes as a way for trademark owners "to file one application to register their trademark in multiple countries" (USPTO, Madrid Protocol). Our page on protecting a U.S. trademark in other countries covers the routes. A foreign brand licensing into the United States should read our page on whether a foreign company needs a U.S. trademark attorney.

What should a cross-border license include?

• Territory and language, separately. Name the countries and the languages, and say what happens to sales that cross borders online.
• Media and term per market. A streaming right in one region and a print right in another can each be priced.
• Reversion of unused territories. If the licensee does not exploit a country within a set period, it comes back.
• Collection abroad. Who registers works with foreign collecting bodies, who receives the money, and how it is reported. Our page on collective rights management and music publishing explains why registrations in each territory matter for music income.
• Currency, taxes and withholding. Which currency royalties are paid in, who bears conversion costs, and how foreign withholding is documented.
• Governing law, forum and language of the contract. Where disputes are heard and which version of a translated contract controls.
• U.S. formalities. A signed writing for any exclusive grant and prompt recording of transfers of registered U.S. works, covered on our page on recording a copyright assignment or license.

What changes the answer

• The type of right. Copyright crosses borders automatically in most countries; trademarks do not; royalties for recordings depend on each country's neighbouring rights and treaty position, as our page on collecting performance royalties from other countries explains.
• Where the work originated. Berne protection attaches to works by nationals of a member or first published there, and the U.S. protects published foreign works on similar terms (17 U.S.C. 104(b)).
• Registration for U.S. lawsuits. A "United States work" must be registered before an infringement suit; a foreign work need not be (411(a)). Foreign licensors suing in the U.S. may therefore skip that step, though registration still affects remedies.
• Duration differences. Under the independence principle's exception, a country with a longer term may stop protecting a work once protection ends in its country of origin.
• What the contract says about territory. Silence, "worldwide," "the universe," and named regions all mean different things to the parties later. For a foreign edition of a book, our page on who owns the translation of your book covers the translator's rights as well as the territory.

A worked example

Common mistakes

• Granting "worldwide" by default. As our licensing page says, worldwide is easy to sign and expensive to reclaim.
• Assuming a U.S. trademark registration travels. It does not.
• Forgetting translation rights. Language is a separate variable from territory, and publishers often ask for both; our page on literary and author publishing deals covers subsidiary rights.
• No clause on foreign collection. Who registers works with foreign collecting bodies and who keeps the money should be stated.
• Unsigned exclusives. Under U.S. law, an exclusive license needs the owner's signed writing, as our page on whether a license must be in writing explains.
• Ignoring U.S. recording. A foreign buyer of U.S. rights should record within two months to protect priority.

What to do this week

1. List the countries where your work is actually sold, streamed, performed or published.
2. Check each current license's territory, language and media clauses.
3. For new deals, name the territories and reserve the rest in writing.
4. For brands, confirm where your marks are registered and file before licensing abroad.
5. Decide the governing law and forum for each cross-border contract.
6. Record exclusive grants of registered U.S. works with the Copyright Office within the deadline.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to register my copyright in other countries?

Generally no. Berne requires protection without formalities, and WTO members not in Berne are bound by the same principle under TRIPS, according to WIPO's summary.

Which country's law applies if my work is copied abroad?

Under national treatment, the country where protection is claimed gives your work the same protection as its own nationals' works, so its law sets the scope. A contract can choose the law for disputes between the parties to it.

Does "worldwide" include online streaming everywhere?

It includes whatever the contract's media and territory clauses cover. If online availability crosses borders the parties did not intend, the contract should say how geoblocking or regional restrictions apply.

Can a foreign company register its work with the U.S. Copyright Office?

Yes. Registration is not required for a foreign work to be protected or for its owner to sue in the U.S., but it affects statutory damages and fees.

Does terminating a U.S. grant end the foreign rights too?

No. Section 203(b)(5) says termination affects only rights under the U.S. Copyright Act.

What about recordings played abroad?

Performance income for recordings depends on each country's neighbouring rights and treaty membership; see our page on collecting performance royalties from other countries, linked above.

Zala IP Law drafts and reviews cross-border licenses for creators and companies, and Shreepal J. Zala practices federal intellectual property law nationally. If a foreign deal is on the table, request a consultation or call 404-313-1701.