ST/AI/189/Add.9/Rev.2
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IV. GENERAL GUIDANCE
20. Members of the Secretariat requiring further guidance on copyright matters in respect of United Nations publications should apply to the Secretary of the Publications Board, who, apart from any other action to be taken, will see that any legal question is at once brought to the notice of the Office of Legal Affairs.
21. This instruction applies, mutatis mutandis, to works such as audio-visual material, charts, maps, computer software, output, microfiches and electronic publications.
Notes
1/ The present instruction supersedes ST/AI/189/Add.9/Rev.1 from 1 October 1987 to 31 December 1989.[effect]
2/ In respect of certain United Nations conferences and of conferences convened by it, other than Official Records, seminars and similar meetings are sui generis. It is customary for the United Nations to publish the proceedings and papers of such meetings, or excerpts therefrom. Any copyright question should be discussed with the Office of Legal Affairs at a very early stage and should include in the preliminary arrangements, such as agreements and correspondence with the participants, and, in the understandings with the co-operating Governments, appropriate references to literary rights and the intention of the United Nations to publish the papers and proceedings. The following considerations should be kept in mind in considering whether or not to secure copyright protection
(a) As a general rule, documents bearing a United Nations symbol or working papers which have been distributed before copyright protection is sought are regarded as being in the public domain, depending on the distribution pattern. Therefore, it is anticipated that the proceedings will include papares issued first as documents or working papares, the decision to copyright should be made before the individual papers are reproduced for distribution, even to participants, in order that the necessary copyright notice may be given on each individual apaper;
(b) The sale of the proceedings of major United Nations conferences is a revenue-producing activity to which the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions attaches considerable importance. There is no evidence to indicate that failure to copyright such proceedings has in the past led to a loss in revenue because of unauthorized use of material by commercial publishers. Such loss could, however, occur in cases where a relatively small number of papers contain the bulk of the most valuble material and where their unauthorized use by a commercial publisher could therefore have a detrimental effect on the sale of the official proceedings.
3/ If an author department wishes to encourage the reproduction of a guide or manual in its entirety, or the free translation and/or adaptation of a text to meet local requirements, or if its wishes to specify in any manner other than that set forth above the conditions of use it wishes to invite, that department may seek the assistance of the Publications Board which, in consultation with the Office of Legal Affairs, will collaborate in working out an appropriate copyright formulation.
