Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (1886)
Extracts From: http://www.wipo.org/eng/general/copyrght/bern.htm

The Convention, concluded in 1886, was revised at Paris in 1896 and at Berlin in
1908, completed at Berne in 1914, revised at Rome in 1928, at Brussels in 1948,
at Stockholm in 1967 and at Paris in 1971, and was amended in 1979. 

The Convention rests on three basic principles and contains a series of
provisions determining the minimum protection to be granted, as well as special
provisions available to developing countries which want to make use of them. 

(1) The three basic principles are the following: 

  (a) Works originating in one of the contracting States (that is, works the
author of which is a national of such a State or works which were first
published in such a State) must be given the same protection in each of the
other contracting States as the latter grants to the works of its own nationals
(principle of "national treatment"). [3]

  (b) Such protection must not be conditional upon compliance with any formality
(principle of "automatic" protection). [3]

  (c) Such protection is independent of the existence of protection in the
country of origin of the work (principle of the "independence" of protection).
If, however, a contracting State provides for a longer term than the minimum
prescribed by the Convention and the work ceases to be protected in the country
of origin, protection may be denied once protection in the country of origin
ceases. [3] 

(2) The minimum standards of protection relate to the works and rights to be
protected, and the duration of the protection: 

  (a) As to works, the protection must include "every production in the
literary, scientific and artistic domain, whatever may be the mode or form of
its expression" (Article 2(1) of the Convention). 

  (b) Subject to certain permitted reservations, limitations or exceptions, the
following are among the rights which must be recognized as exclusive rights of
authorization: 

  * the right to translate, 

  * the right to make adaptations and arrangements of the work, 

  * the right to perform in public dramatic, dramatico-musical and musical
works, 

  * the right to recite in public literary works, 

  * the right to communicate to the public the performance of such works, 

  * the right to broadcast (with the possibility of a contracting State to
provide for a mere right to equitable remuneration instead of a right of
authorization), 

  * the right to make reproduction in any manner or form (with the possibility
of a contracting State to permit, in certain special cases, reproduction without
authorization provided that the reproduction does not conflict with the normal
exploitation of the work and does not unreasonably prejudice the legitimate
interests of the author, and with the possibility of a contracting State to
provide, in the case of sound recordings of musical works, for a right to
equitable remuneration),  

  * the right to use the work as a basis for an audiovisual work, and the right
to reproduce, distribute, perform in public or communicate to the public that
audiovisual work. [4]

  * The Convention also provides for "moral rights," that is, the right to claim
authorship of the work and the right to object to any mutilation or deformation
or other modification of, or other derogatory action in relation to, the work
which would be prejudicial to the author's honor or reputation. 

  (c) As to the duration of protection, the general rule is that protection must
be granted until the expiration of the 50th year after the author's death. There
are, however, exceptions to this general rule. In the case of anonymous or
pseudonymous works, the term of protection expires 50 years after the work has
been lawfully made available to the public, except if the pseudonym leaves no
doubt as to the author's identity or if the author discloses his identity during
that period; in the latter case, the general rule applies. In the case of
audiovisual (cinematographic) works, the minimum term of protection is 50 years
after the making available of the work to the public ("release") or-failing such
an event-from the creation of the work. In the case of works of applied art and
photographic works, the minimum term is 25 years from the creation of such a
work. [5] 

(3) Countries regarded as developing countries in conformity with the
established practice of the General Assembly of the United Nations may, for
certain works and under certain conditions, depart from these minimum standards
of protection with regard to the right of translation and the right of
reproduction. 

The Berne Union has an Assembly and an Executive Committee. Every country member
of the Union which has adhered to at least the administrative and final
provisions of the Stockholm Act is a member of the Assembly. The members of the
Executive Committee are elected from among the members of the Union, except for
Switzerland, which is a member ex officio. On January 1, 1997, the Executive
Committee had 30 members. 

The establishment of the biennial program and budget of the International Bureau
- as far as the Berne Union is concerned - is the task of its Assembly. 
_______________________

[1] It is to be noted that WTO Members, even if they are not party to the Berne
Convention (e.g., Indonesia), must comply with the substantive law provisions of
the Berne Convention, except that WTO Members not party to the Berne Convention
are not bound by the moral rights provisions of the Berne Convention.

[2] It is to be noted that developing and "transition" countries may, at least
until 2000, delay the application of most of the obligations provided for in the
TRIPS Agreement (Article 65). Naturally, States party to the Berne Convention
cannot delay the application of their obligations provided for in the Berne
Convention. 

[3] Under the TRIPS Agreement, the principles of national treatment, automatic
protection and independence of protection also bind those WTO Members which are
not party to the Berne Convention. In addition, the TRIPS Agreement imposes an
obligation of "most-favored-nation treatment," under which advantages accorded
by a WTO Member to the nationals of any other country must also be accorded to
the nationals of all WTO Members. It is to be noted that the possibility of
delayed application of the TRIPS Agreement mentioned above does not apply to
national treatment and most-favored-treatment obligations. 

[4] Under the TRIPS Agreement, an exclusive right of rental must be recognized
in respect of computer programs and, under certain conditions, audiovisual
works.

[5] Under the TRIPS Agreement, any term of protection which is calculated on a
basis other than the life of a natural person, must be at least 50 years from
the first authorized publication of the work, or - failing such an event - 50
years from the making of the work. However, this rule does not apply to
photographic works, or works of applied art.

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