Copyright: Its History and Its Law

Article X

Adaptations, etc., considered as infringements

Unauthorized indirect appropriations of a literary or artistic work of various kinds such as adaptations, arrangements of music, etc., are specially included amongst the illicit reproductions to which the present Convention applies, when they are only the reproduction of a particular work, in the same form, or in another form, with non-essential alterations, or abridgements, so made as not to confer the character of a new original work.

Paris Declaration

3. The transformation of a novel into a play, or of a play into a novel, comes under the stipulations of Article X.

[Article X, par. 2]

It is agreed that, in the application of the present article, the tribunals of the various countries of the Union will, if there is occasion, take into account limitations of their respective laws.

Protocol

Adaptation of musical works to mechanical instruments

3. It is understood that the manufacture and sale of instruments for the mechanical reproduction of musical airs which are copyright, shall not be considered as constituting an infringement of musical copyright.

Article XI

Author's name on work as proof of authorship

In order that the authors of works protected by the present Convention shall, in the absence of proof to the contrary, be considered as such, and be consequently admitted to institute proceedings against piracies before the courts of the various countries of the Union, it will be sufficient that their name be indicated on the work in the accustomed manner.

Publisher of anonymous or pseudonymous works considered as representative of author

For anonymous or pseudonymous works, the publisher whose name is indicated on the work is entitled to protect the rights belonging to the author. He is, without other proof, reputed the lawful representative of the anonymous or pseudonymous author.

It is, nevertheless, agreed that the tribunals may, if necessary, require the production of a certificate from the competent authority to the effect that the formalities prescribed by law in the country of origin have been accomplished, as contemplated in Article II.

Article XII

Seizure of pirated copies

Pirated works may be seized [on importation into] by the competent authorities of those countries of the Union where the original work enjoys legal protection.

Seizure to be made according to the laws of each country

The seizure shall take place conformably to the domestic law of each State.

Article XIII

Each government to exercise supervision

It is understood that the provisions of the present Convention cannot in any way derogate from the right belonging to the Government of each country of the Union to permit, to control, or to prohibit, by measures of domestic legislation or police, the circulation, representation, or exhibition of any works or productions in regard to which the competent authority may find it necessary to exercise that right.

Article XIV

Convention to apply to all works not in public domain

Under the reserves and conditions to be determined by common agreement, the present Convention applies to all works which at the moment of its coming into force have not fallen into the public domain in the country of origin.

Protocol

Special conventions and domestic legislation may govern

4. The common agreement alluded to in Article XIV of the Convention is established as follows:

The application of the Convention and of the additional act to works which have not fallen into the public domain in the country of origin at the time when [it comes] these acts came into force, shall operate according to the stipulations on this head which may be contained in special conventions either existing or to be concluded.

In the absence of such stipulations between any countries of the Union, the respective countries shall regulate, each for itself, by its domestic legislation, the manner in which the principle contained in Article XIV is to be applied.

Application to translation

The stipulations of Article XIV of the Convention of Berne and of the present number of the "Protocole de Clôture" apply equally to the exclusive right of translation, as granted by the present additional act.

Provisions to apply to new accessions

The above-mentioned temporary provisions are applicable in case of new accessions to the Union.

Article XV

More extensive rights may be secured by special treaties

It is understood that the Governments of the countries of the Union reserve to themselves respectively the right to enter into separate and particular arrangements between each other, provided always that such arrangements confer upon authors or their lawful representatives more extended rights than those granted by the Union, or embody other stipulations not contrary to the present Convention.

Additional Article

Convention not to affect existing conventions conferring more extended rights

The Convention concluded this day in no wise affects the maintenance of existing conventions between the contracting States, provided always that such conventions confer on authors, or their lawful representatives, rights more extended than those secured by the Union, or contain other stipulations which are not contrary to the said Convention.

Protocol

Protocol integral part of Convention

7. The present Final Protocol, which shall be ratified with the Convention concluded this day, shall be considered as forming an integral part of the said Convention, and shall have the same force, effect, and duration.

Article XVI

Bureau of the International Union

An International Office is established, under the name of "Office of the International Union for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works."

Under control of Switzerland

This Office, of which the expenses will be borne by Administrations of all the countries of the Union, is placed under the high authority of the Superior Administration of the Swiss Confederation, and works under its direction. The functions of this Office are determined by common accord between the countries of the Union.

Protocol

Organization

5. The organization of the International Office, established in virtue of Article XVI of the Convention, shall be fixed by a regulation which shall be drawn up by the Government of the Swiss Confederation.

Language of Office to be French

The official language of the International Office will be French.

Duties of International Office

The International Office will collect all kinds of information relative to the protection of the rights of authors over their literary and artistic works. It will arrange and publish such information. It will study questions of general utility likely to be of interest to the Union, and, by the aid of documents placed at its disposal by the different administrations, will edit a periodical publication in the French language treating questions which concern the Union. The governments of the countries of the Union reserve to themselves the faculty of authorizing, by common accord, the publication by the Office of an edition in one or more other languages, if experience should show this to be requisite.

Will furnish information as to copyright

The International Office will always hold itself at the disposal of members of the Union, with the view to furnish them with any special information they may require relative to the protection of literary and artistic works.

Annual report of Director of International Bureau

The Director of the International Bureau … will make an annual report on his administration, which shall be communicated to all the members of the Union.

Expenses of the International Office to be shared by contracting States

The expenses of the Office of the International Union shall be shared by the contracting States. Unless a fresh arrangement be made, they cannot exceed a sum of sixty thousand francs a year. This sum may be increased by the decision of one of the Conferences provided for in Article XVII.

Method of sharing expenses

The share of the total expense to be paid by each country shall be determined by the division of the contracting and acceding States into six classes, each of which shall contribute in the proportion of a certain number of units, viz.:

These coefficients will be multiplied by the number of States of each class, and the total product thus obtained will give the number of units by which the total expense is to be divided. The quotient will give the amount of the unity of expense.

Each State will declare, at the time of its accession, in which of the said classes it desires to be placed.

Swiss Administration to prepare the budget of the International Office, etc.

The Swiss Administration will prepare the budget of the Office, superintend its expenditure, make the necessary advances, and draw up the annual account, which shall be communicated to all the other Administrations.

Article XVII

Revision of Convention

The present Convention may be submitted to revisions in order to introduce therein amendments calculated to perfect the system of the Union.

Future conferences

Questions of this kind, as well as those which are of interest to the Union in other respects, will be considered in Conferences to be held successively in the countries of the Union by delegates of the said countries.

Protocol

Country where a conference is to be held to prepare programme

(5.) The Administration of the country where a Conference is about to be held, will prepare the programme of the Conference with the assistance of the International Office.

Director of the International Office to participate

The Director of the International Office will attend the sittings of the Conferences, and will take part in the discussion without a deliberative voice.

[Art. XVII, par. 3]

Alterations of Convention must be by unanimous consent

It is understood that no alteration in the present Convention shall be binding on the Union except by the unanimous consent of the countries comprising it.

Protocol

Next Conference to be held at Paris

6. The next Conference shall be held at Paris between four and six years from the date of the coming into force of the Convention.

The French Government will fix the date within these limits after having consulted the International Office.

Article XVIII

Accession of other countries

Countries which have not become parties to the present Convention, and which grant by their domestic law the protection of rights secured by this Convention, shall be admitted to accede thereto on request to that effect.

Such accession shall be notified in writing to the Government of the Swiss Confederation, who will communicate it to all the other countries of the Union.

Such accession shall imply full adhesion to all the clauses and admission to all the advantages provided by the present Convention.

Article XIX

Accession for colonies or foreign possessions

Countries acceding to the present Convention shall also have the right to accede thereto at any time for their colonies of foreign possessions.

They may do this either by a general declaration comprehending all their colonies or possessions within the accession, or by specially naming those comprised therein, or by simply indicating those which are excluded.

Article XXI

Convention to be ratified

The present Convention shall be ratified, and the ratifications exchanged at Berne, within the space of one year at the latest.

Protocol

Exchange of ratifications

7. It is agreed that, as regards the exchange of ratifications contemplated in Article XXI, each contracting party shall give a single instrument, which shall be deposited, with those of the other States, in the Government archives of the Swiss Confederation. Each party shall receive in exchange a copy of the procès-verbal of the exchange of ratifications, signed by the plenipotentiaries present.

Article XX

Convention to take effect three months after exchange of ratifications

The present Convention shall be put in force three months after the exchange of the ratifications, and shall remain in effect for an indefinite period until the termination of a year from the day on which it may have been denounced.

Denunciation of Convention

[Such denunciation shall be made to the Government authorized to receive accessions, and shall only be effective as regards the country making it, the Convention remaining in full force and effect for the other countries of the Union.]

This denunciation shall be addressed to the Government of the Swiss Confederation. It shall only take effect in respect of the country which shall have made it, the Convention remaining operative for the other countries of the Union.

Paris III

Accession of other countries to Paris Acts

The countries of the Union which have not become parties to the present Additional Act and Declaration shall be allowed to accede thereto at any time, on their request to that effect. The same rule shall apply to the countries which may eventually accede either to the Convention of the 9th September, 1886, or to the Convention or to the Additional Act or to the Declaration of the 4th May, 1896. It shall be sufficient for the purpose if a notification is addressed in writing to the Swiss Federal Council, who will, in turn, notify this accession to the other Governments.

Paris IV

Paris Acts to be ratified

The present Additional Act and Declaration shall have the same force and duration as the Convention of the 9th September, 1886.

These shall be ratified, and the ratification shall be exchanged at Paris in the form adopted for that Convention, as soon as possible, and within a year at the latest.

Either shall come into force between the countries who have ratified it three months after this exchange.

10. BERLIN CONVENTION, 1908,

with references to parallel articles of Berne-Paris ConventionArticle 1

Union to protect literary and artistic works

The contracting States are constituted into an Union for the protection of the rights of authors over their literary and artistic works.

Article 2

Definition of "literary and artistic works"

The expression "literary and artistic works" includes all productions in the literary, scientific or artistic domain, whatever the mode or form of reproduction, such as: books, pamphlets and other writings; dramatic or dramatico-musical works; choreographic works and pantomimes, the stage directions ("mise en scène") of which are fixed in writing or otherwise; musical compositions with or without words; drawings, paintings, works of architecture and sculpture; engravings and lithographs; illustrations; geographical charts; plans, sketches and plastic works relating to geography, topography, architecture, or the sciences.

Translations, arrangements, and adaptations protected

Translations, adaptations, arrangements of music and other reproductions transformed from a literary or artistic work, as well as compilations from different works, are protected as original works without prejudice to the rights of the author of the original work.

The contracting countries are pledged to secure protection in the case of the works mentioned above.

Works of art applied to industry

Works of art applied to industry are protected so far as the domestic legislation of each country allows.

Article 3

Photographic works protected

The present Convention applies to photographic works and to works obtained by any process analogous to photography. The contracting countries are pledged to guarantee protection to such works.

Article 4

Authors to enjoy in countries of the Union the rights granted to natives

Authors within the jurisdiction of one of the countries of the Union enjoy for their works, whether unpublished or published for the first time in one of the countries of the Union, such rights, in the countries other than the country of origin of the work, as the respective laws now accord or shall hereafter accord to natives, as well as the rights specially accorded by the present Convention.

No formalities required

[Conditions and formalities of country of origin]

The enjoyment and the exercise of such rights are not subject to any formality; such enjoyment and such exercise are independent of the existence of protection in the country of origin of the work. Consequently, apart from the stipulations of the present Convention, the extent of the protection, as well as the means of redress guaranteed to the author to safeguard his rights, are regulated exclusively according to the legislation of the country where the protection is claimed.

Definition of country of origin

The following is considered as the country of origin of the work: for unpublished works, the country to which the author belongs; for published works, the country of first publication, and for works published simultaneously in several countries of the Union, the country among them whose legislation grants the shortest term of protection. For works published simultaneously ina country outside of the Union and in a country within the Union, it is the latter country which is exclusively considered as the country of origin.

Published works

By published works ("œuvres publiées") must be understood, according to the present Convention, works which have been issued ("œuvres editées"). The representation of a dramatic or dramatico-musical work, the performance of a musical work, the exhibition of a work of art and the construction of a work of architecture do not constitute publication.

Article 5

Authors of countries of the Union first published in another country

Authors within the jurisdiction of one of the countries of the Union who publish their works for the first time in another country of the Union, have in this latter country the same rights as national authors.

Article 6

Authors not belonging to countries of the Union also protected if they first publish in a Union country

Authors not within the jurisdiction of any one of the countries of the Union, who publish for the first time their works in one of these countries, enjoy in that country the same rights as national authors, and in the other countries of the Union the rights accorded by the present Convention.

Article 7

Term of protection life and 50 years

The term of protection granted by the present Convention comprises the life of the author and fifty years after his death.

If not adopted, laws of country to govern term

In case this term, however, should not be adopted uniformly by all the countries of the Union, the duration of the protection shall be regulated by the law of the country where protection is claimed, and can not exceed the term granted in the country of origin of the work. The contracting countries will consequently be required to apply the provision of the preceding paragraph only to the extent to which it agrees with their domestic law.

Term for photographic, posthumous, anonymous or pseudonymous works

For photographic works and works obtained by a process analogous to photography, for posthumous works, or anonymous or pseudonymous works, the term of protection is regulated by the law of the country where protection is claimed, but this term may not exceed the term fixed in the country of origin of the work.

Article 8

Exclusive right of translation

Authors of unpublished works within the jurisdiction of one of the countries of the Union, and authors of works published for the first time in one of these countries enjoy in the other countries of the Union during the whole term of the right in the original work the exclusive right to make or to authorize the translation of their works.

Article 9

Serials and other works in newspapers or periodicals protected

Serial stories (romans-feuilletons), novels and all other works, whether literary, scientific or artistic, whatever may be their subject, published in newspapers or periodicals of one of the countries of the Union, may not be reproduced in the other countries without the consent of the authors.

Reproduction of newspaper articles

With the exception of serial stories and of novels ("des romans-feuilletons et des nouvelles") any newspaper article may be reproduced by another newspaper if reproduction has not been expressly forbidden. The source, however, must be indicated. The confirmation of this obligation shall be determined by the legislation of the country where protection is claimed.

News matter not protected

The protection of the present Convention does not apply to news of the day or to miscellaneous news having the character merely of press information.

Article 10

Extracts from literary or artistic works

As regards the liberty of extracting portions from literary or artistic works for use in publications destined for educational or scientific purposes or for chrestomathies, the matter is to be decided by the legislation of the different countries of the Union, or by special arrangements existing or to be concluded between them.

Article 11

Representation of dramatic or dramatico-musical works

The stipulations of the present Convention apply to the public representation of dramatic or dramatico-musical works and to the public performance of musical works, whether these works are published or not.

Representation of translations

Authors of dramatic or dramatico-musical works are protected, during the term of their copyright in the original work, against the unauthorized public representation of a translation of their works.

Notice of prohibition of performance not required

In order to enjoy the protection of this article, authors, in publishing their works, are not obliged to prohibit the public representation or public performance of them.

Article 12

Adaptations, etc., considered as infringements

Unauthorized indirect appropriations of a literary or artistic work of various kinds such as adaptations, arrangements of music, transformations of a romance or novel or of a poem into a theatrical piece and vice versa, etc., are specially included amongst the illicit reproductions to which the present Convention applies, when they are only the reproduction of such work in the same form or in another form with non-essential alterations, or abridgements, so made as not to confer the character of a new original work.

Article 13

Adaptation of musical works to mechanical instruments

Authors of musical works have the exclusive right to authorize: (1) the adaptation of these works to instruments serving to reproduce them mechanically; (2) the public performance of the same works by means of these instruments.

Each country to regulate for itself the manner in which Convention shall apply

The limitations and conditions relative to the application of this article shall be determined by the domestic legislation of each country in its own case; but all limitations and conditions of this nature shall have an effect strictly limited to the country which shall have adopted them.

Provision not retroactive

The provisions of paragraph 1 have no retroactive effect, and therefore are not applicable in a country of the Union to works which, in that country, shall have been lawfully adapted to mechanical instruments before the going into force of the present Convention.

Importation of mechanical musical appliances

The adaptations made by virtue of paragraphs 2 and 3 of this article and imported without the authorization of the parties interested into a country where they are not lawful, may be seized there.

Article 14

Right of reproduction by cinematograph protected

Authors of literary, scientific or artistic works have the exclusive right to authorize the reproduction and the public representation of their works by means of the cinematograph.

Cinematographic productions protected

Cinematographic productions are protected as literary or artistic works when by the arrangement of the stage effects or by the combination of incidents represented, the author shall have given to the work a personal and original character.