"Berne Convention" redirects here. For other uses, see Berne Convention (disambiguation).

Berne Convention signatory countries (in blue).

The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, usually known as
the Berne Convention, is an international agreement governing copyright, which was Iirst
accepted in Berne, Switzerland in 1886.
Contents
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O 1 Content
O History
O See also
O ReIerences
O External links
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The Berne Convention requires its signatories to recognize the copyright oI works oI authors
Irom other signatory countries (known as members oI the Berne Union) in the same way as it
recognizes the copyright oI its own nationals. For example, French copyright law applies to
anything published or perIormed in France, regardless oI where it was originally created.
In addition to establishing a system oI equal treatment that internationalised copyright amongst
signatories, the agreement also required member states to provide strong minimum standards Ior
copyright law.
Copyright under the Berne Convention must be automatic; it is prohibited to require Iormal
registration (note however that when the United States joined the Convention in 1988, it
continued to make statutory damages and attorney's Iees only available Ior registered works).
The Berne Convention states that all works except photographic and cinematographic shall be
copyrighted Ior at least years aIter the author's death, but parties are Iree to provide longer
terms, as the European Union did with the 199 Directive on harmonising the term oI copyright
protection. For photography, the Berne Convention sets a minimum term oI years Irom the
year the photograph was created, and Ior cinematography the minimum is years aIter Iirst
showing, or years aIter creation iI it hasn't been shown within years aIter the creation.
Countries under the older revisions oI the treaty may choose to provide their own protection
terms, and certain types oI works (such as phonorecords and motion pictures) may be provided
shorter terms.
Although the Berne Convention states that the copyright law oI the country where copyright is
claimed shall be applied, article 7.8 states that "unless the legislation oI that country otherwise
provides, the term shall not exceed the term Iixed in the country oI origin oI the work", i.e. an
author is normally not entitled a longer copyright abroad than at home, even iI the laws abroad
give a longer term. This is commonly known as "the rule oI the shorter term". Not all countries
have accepted this rule.
The Berne Convention authorizes countries to allow "Iair" uses oI copyrighted works in other
publications or broadcasts.
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The Agreed Statement oI the parties to the WIPO Copyright Treaty
oI 1996 states that: 'It is understood that the mere provision oI physical Iacilities Ior enabling or
making a communication does not in itselI amount to communication within the meaning oI this
Treaty or the Berne Convention.
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This language may mean that Internet service providers are
not liable Ior the inIringing communications oI their users.
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edit] History

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$eptember 2011)
The Berne Convention was developed at the instigation oI Victor Hugo oI the Association
Litteraire et Artistique Internationale. Thus it was inIluenced by the French "right oI the author"
(droit dauteur), which contrasts with the Anglo-Saxon concept oI "copyright" which only dealt
with economic concerns. Under the Convention, copyrights Ior creative works are automatically
in Iorce upon their creation without being asserted or declared. An author need not "register" or
"apply Ior" a copyright in countries adhering to the Convention. As soon as a work is "Iixed",
that is, written or recorded on some physical medium, its author is automatically entitled to all
copyrights in the work and to any derivative works, unless and until the author explicitly
disclaims them or until the copyright expires. Foreign authors are given the same rights and
privileges to copyrighted material as domestic authors in any country that signed the Convention.
BeIore the Berne Convention, national copyright laws usually only applied Ior works created
within each country. Consequently, a work published in United Kingdom (UK) by a British
national would be covered by copyright there, but could be copied and sold by anyone in France.
Likewise, a work published in France by a French national could be copyrighted there, but could
be copied and sold by anyone in the UK. Dutch publisher Albertus Willem SijthoII, who rose to
prominence in the trade oI translated books, wrote to Queen Wilhelmina oI the Netherlands in
1899 in opposition to the convention over concerns that its international restrictions would stiIle
the country's print industry.
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The Berne Convention Iollowed in the Iootsteps oI the Paris Convention Ior the Protection oI
Industrial Property oI 188, which in the same way had created a Iramework Ior international
integration oI the other types oI intellectual property: patents, trademarks and industrial designs.
Like the Paris Convention, the Berne Convention set up a bureau to handle administrative tasks.
In 189, these two small bureaux merged and became the United International Bureaux Ior the
Protection oI Intellectual Property (best known by its French acronym BIRPI), situated in Berne.
In 196, BIRPI moved to Geneva, to be closer to the United Nations and other international
organizations in that city. In 1967, it became the World Intellectual Property Organization
(WIPO), and in 197 became an organization within the United Nations.
The Berne Convention was revised in Paris in 1896 and in Berlin in 198, completed in Berne in
191, revised in Rome in 198, in Brussels in 198, in Stockholm in 1967 and in Paris in 1971,
and was amended in 1979. The UK signed in 1887 but did not implement large parts oI it until
1 years later with the passage oI the opyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.
The United States initially reIused to become a party to the Convention, since that would have
required major changes in its copyright law, particularly with regard to moral rights, removal oI
the general requirement Ior registration oI copyright works and elimination oI mandatory
copyright notice. This led to the Universal Copyright Convention in 19 to accommodate the
wishes oI the United States. But on March 1, 1989, the U.S. Berne Convention Implementation
Act oI 1988 was enacted, and the United States Senate ratiIied the treaty, making the U.S. a party
to the Berne Convention,
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and making the Universal Copyright Convention nearly obsolete.
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The World Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty was adopted in 1996 to address
the issues raised by inIormation technology and the Internet, which were not addressed by the
Berne Convention.
Since almost all nations are members oI the World Trade Organization, the Agreement on Trade-
Related Aspects oI Intellectual Property Rights requires non-members to accept almost all oI the
conditions oI the Berne Convention.
As oI September 8, there are 16 countries that are parties to the Berne Convention