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Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works


 

The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, sometimes called the Berne Union or Berne Convention, adopted at Berne in 1886, first established the recognition of copyrights between sovereign nations. It was developed at the instigation of Victor Hugo. Prior to the adoption of the Berne Convention, nations would often refuse to recognize the works of foreign nationals as copyrighted. Thus, for instance, a work published in London by a British national would be protected by copyright in the United Kingdom, but freely reproducible by France; likewise, a work published in Paris by a French national would be protected by copyright in France, but freely reproducible in the United Kingdom.

Related Topics:
Berne - 1886 - Copyrights - Victor Hugo - London - United Kingdom - France - Paris

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The Berne Convention provided that each contracting state would recognize as copyrighted works created by nationals of other contracting states. Copyright under the Berne Convention is automatic: no registration is required, nor is the inclusion of a copyright notice. Additionally, signatories to The Berne Convention were prohibited from requiring any such registration-type formality on foreign authors that would interfere with the "enjoyment and exercise" of copyright. (Signatories are still free to impose registration or publication requirements on domestic authors or those from non-signatory nations, but in practice this is rarely if ever done except that the United States requires registration as a prerequisite to filing suit for infringement.)

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The Berne Convention provided for a minimum term of copyright protection of the life of the author plus fifty years, but parties were free to provide longer terms of copyright protection, as the European Union did with the 1993 Directive on harmonising the term of copyright protection. The United States has for many years extending its copyright terms, most recently with the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998.

Related Topics:
European Union - 1993 - Directive on harmonising the term of copyright protection - Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act - 1998

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Countries under the older revisions of the treaty may choose to provide, and certain types of works (such as phonorecords and motion pictures) may be provided shorter terms, otherwise the current length of copyright in general is life of the author of the work (or last surviving author if there is more than one), plus 70 years, or, in the case of a work for hire or otherwise created by an entity other than an individual, 95 years from first publication.

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The United States refused initially to become a party to the Convention, since it would have required major changes in its copyright law (particularly with regard to moral rights, removal of general requirement for registration of copyright works as well as elimination of mandatory copyright notice). Thus the Universal Copyright Convention was adopted in 1952, to cater to its objections. In 1989, the United States became a party to the Berne Convention. In accordance with the Convention, inclusion of a copyright notice is no longer a requirement for copyright protection.

Related Topics:
United States - Its copyright law - Moral rights - Universal Copyright Convention - 1952 - 1989

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The Berne Convention has been revised a few times: Berlin (1908), Rome (1928), Brussels (1948), Stockholm (1967) and Paris (1971). Since 1967, the Berne Convention has been administered by WIPO, the World Intellectual Property Organization.

Related Topics:
1967 - World Intellectual Property Organization

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Since almost all nations are members of the World Trade Organization, the TRIPs Agreement requires non-members to accept almost all of the conditions of the Berne Convention.

Related Topics:
World Trade Organization - TRIPs Agreement

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According to a publication of the U.S. Copyright Office, as of January, 2003 the following countries are signatories to the Berne Convention:

Related Topics:
January - 2003

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~ Table of Content ~

►Introduction
►See also
►External links

 

 

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