Copyright: Its History and Its LawBowker, R. R. (Richard Rogers)
History
Copyright: Its History and Its Law
Bowker, R. R. (Richard Rogers)
Copyright -- History; Copyright -- United States -- History
The Berlin convention included thirty articles, covering the same ground
as those of the Berne convention and the Paris acts, but somewhat
differently arranged, so that comparison is not quite direct. Article 1
reconstitutes the International Copyright Union. The expression
"literary and artistic works" is defined (arts. 2 and 3, covering
previous arts. IV-VI) as including "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; choregraphic works and pantomimes, the stage
directions ('_mise en scene_') 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, 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 fully for these
categories and for photographic works and "works obtained by any process
analogous to photography" and to protect "works of art applied to
industry" so far as domestic legislation allows.
{Sidenote: Authors' rights}
{Sidenote: "Country of origin"}
The convention assures (art. 4, broadening art. II) to authors within
the jurisdiction of a unionist country for their works, whether
unpublished or published for the first time in one of the countries of
the Union, such rights in each other unionist country as domestic laws
accord to natives, as well as the rights accorded by the convention,
"not subject to any formality" and "independent of the existence of
protection in the country of origin," and regulated exclusively
according to the legislation of the country where the protection is
claimed. The "country of origin" is defined as "for unpublished works,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 within the Union (as also in countries without the
Union), the unionist country granting the shortest term of protection.
Published works (_oeuvres publiees_) are again defined as works that
have been issued (_oeuvres editees_). "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."
{Sidenote: Broadened international protection}
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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