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RS 0.231.12 Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, revised in Rome June 2, 1928

Original Language Title: RS 0.231.12 Convention de Berne pour la protection des oeuvres littéraires et artistiques, révisée à Rome le 2 juin 1928

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0.231.12

Original text

Berne Convention for the Protection of Revised Literary and Artistic Works in Rome June 2, 1928 1

Conclue in Rome on 2 June 1928
Approved by the Federal Assembly on 18 December 1930 2
Instrument of ratification deposited by Switzerland on 18 March 1931
Entry into force for Switzerland on 1 Er August 1931

(Status on 6 June 2006)

The President of the German Reich; the Federal President of the Republic of Austria; His Majesty the King of the Belgians; the President of the United States of Brazil, His Majesty the King of the Bulgarians, His Majesty the King of Denmark; His Majesty the King of Spain; the President The President of the Republic of Finland; the President of the French Republic; His Majesty the King of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Territories beyond the Mers, Emperor of the Indies; the President of the Hellenic Republic; His Serene Highness the Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary; Her Majesty the King Italian; Her Majesty the Emperor of Japan; His Royal Highness the Great Duchess of Luxembourg; Her Majesty the Sultan of Morocco; His Serene Highness the Prince of Monaco; Her Majesty the King of No R Procession; Her Majesty the Queen in the Netherlands; the President of the Polish Republic on behalf of Poland and the Free City of Danzig; the President of the Portuguese Republic; Her Majesty the King of Romania; Her Majesty the King of Sweden; the Federal Council The Swiss Confederation; the States of Syria and Greater Lebanon; I R's tooth é Czechoslovak public; His Highness the Bey of Tunis,

Also animated by the desire to protect in such an effective and uniform manner the rights of authors in their literary and artistic works,

Resolved to revise and complete the Act signed in Berlin on 13 November 1908 3 .

They have, therefore, appointed for their plenipotentiaries, namely:

(Following are the names of plenipotentiaries)

Art. 1 Er

The Countries to which this Convention applies constitute a union for the protection of the rights of authors in their literary and artistic works.

Art. 2

(1) The terms "literary and artistic works" include all productions of the literary, scientific and artistic domain, regardless of the mode or form of expression, such as: books, pamphlets and other writings, Lectures, speeches, sermons and other works of the same nature; dramatic or dramatico-musical works, choreographic works and pantomimes, the staging of which is fixed in writing or otherwise; musical compositions with or Without words; works of drawing, painting, architecture, sculpture, engraving and Lithography; illustrations, maps; plans, sketches and plastics, relating to geography, topography, architecture or science.

(2) The following shall be protected as original works, without prejudice to the rights of the author of the original work, translations, adaptations, musical arrangements and other transformed reproductions of a literary or artistic work, and Collections of different works.

(3) The countries of the Union shall be obliged to ensure the protection of the works mentioned above.

(4) The works of art applied to the industry are protected as far as possible by the domestic legislation of each country.

Art. 2 Bis

(1) It is reserved for the domestic legislation of each country of the Union to exclude in whole or in part from the protection provided for in the preceding article the political speeches and speeches given in the judicial proceedings.

(2) It is also reserved for the domestic legislation of each country of the Union to rule on the conditions under which lectures, speeches, sermons and other works of the same nature may be reproduced by the press. However, the author alone shall have the right to collect such works in a collection.

Art. 3

This Convention shall apply to photographic works and works obtained by a process analogous to photography. The countries of the Union are obliged to ensure their protection.

Art. 4

(1) Authors who are nationals of one of the countries of the Union shall enjoy, in the countries other than the country of origin of the work, for their works, not published, or published for the first time in a country of the Union, rights that the laws They shall now or subsequently grant to nationals, as well as rights specifically granted by this Convention.

(2) The enjoyment and exercise of such rights shall not be subject to any formality; this enjoyment and exercise shall be independent of the existence of protection in the country of origin of the work. Subsequently, apart from the provisions of this Convention, the scope of protection, as well as the means of redress guaranteed to the author in order to safeguard his rights, shall be governed exclusively by the law of the country where protection is Claimed.

(3) Is considered to be the country of origin of the work: for unpublished works, the one to which the author belongs; for published works, that of the first publication; and for works published simultaneously in several countries of the Union, The one among them whose legislation gives the shortest term of protection. For works published simultaneously in a foreign country to the Union and in a country of the Union, it is the latter country which is considered to be exclusively country of origin.

(4) "Published works" means, within the meaning of this Convention, the works published. 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 a publication.

Art. 5

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

Art. 6

(1) Authors who are not nationals of one of the countries of the Union, which publish their works in one of those countries for the first time, enjoy the same rights in that country as national authors, and in the other countries of the Union, rights Granted by this Convention.

(2) Nevertheless, where a country outside the Union does not sufficiently protect the works of authors who are nationals of one of the countries of the Union, that country may restrict the protection of works of which the authors are, at the time of The first publication of such works, nationals of the other country and not actually domiciled in one of the countries of the Union.

(3) No restriction, established under the preceding paragraph, shall prejudice the rights that an author shall have acquired in a work published in a country of the Union prior to the execution of that restriction.

(4) The Countries of the Union which, under this Article, shall restrict the protection of the rights of authors, shall notify the Government of the Swiss Confederation by a written declaration in which the countries in respect of which protection is to be provided shall be indicated. Is restricted, as are the restrictions to which the rights of authors who are nationals of that country are subject. The Government of the Swiss Confederation will immediately communicate the fact to all the countries of the Union.

Art. 6 Bis

(1) Independently of the economic rights of the author, and even after the assignment of such rights, the author shall retain the right to claim authorship of the work, as well as the right to object to any distortion, mutilation or other modification of That work, which would be prejudicial to his honour or reputation.

(2) It is reserved for the national legislation of the countries of the Union to establish the conditions for the exercise of these rights. The means of redress for safeguarding them shall be governed by the legislation of the country in which protection is sought.

Art. 7

(1) The term of protection granted by this Convention shall include the life of the author and fifty years after his death.

(2) However, in the event that this period is not uniformly adopted by all the countries of the Union, the duration shall be governed by the law of the country in which protection is claimed and shall not exceed the duration fixed in the country of origin of the work. The countries of the Union will therefore only be required to apply the provision of the preceding paragraph in so far as it reconciles with their domestic law.

(3) For photographic works and works obtained by a process analogous to photography, for posthumous works, for anonymous or pseudonymous works, the term of protection shall be governed by the law of the country where protection is Not exceeding the length of time specified in the country of origin of the work.

Art. 7 Bis

(1) The term of copyright belonging in common to employees of a work shall be calculated from the date of the death of the last survivor of the contributors.

(2) Nationals of countries which grant a term of protection less than that provided for in paragraph 1 Er May not claim for longer term protection in other countries of the Union.

(3) In no case shall the term of protection expire before the death of the last survivor of the collaborators.

Art. 8

The authors of unpublished works, a national of one of the countries of the Union, and the authors of works published for the first time in one of those countries shall enjoy, in the other countries of the Union, throughout the duration of the right in the original work, The exclusive right to make or authorize the translation of their works.

Art.

(1) Romansh-serials, news and all other works, either literary or scientific, or artistic, whatever the subject matter, published in newspapers or periodicals of one of the countries of the Union, cannot be reproduced In other countries without the consent of the authors,

(2) Current articles of economic, political or religious discussion may be reproduced by the press if the reproduction is not expressly reserved. However, the source must always be clearly indicated; the sanction of this obligation is determined by the legislation of the country in which protection is sought.

(3) The protection of this Convention shall not apply to news of the day or to a variety of facts which have the character of mere press information.

Art. 10

As regards the ability to lawfully borrow from literary or artistic works for publications intended for teaching or for scientific purposes, or for chrestomathies, is reserved for the effect of the legislation Of the countries of the Union and of the special arrangements existing or to be concluded between them.

Art. 11

(1) The provisions of this Convention apply to the public performance of dramatic or dramatico-musical works, and to the public performance of musical works, whether or not these works are published.

(2) The authors of dramatic or dramatico-musical works shall, for the duration of their right in the original work, be protected against the unauthorized public representation of the translation of their works.

(3) In order to enjoy the protection of this section, the authors, by publishing their works, are not required to prohibit their representation or public performance.

Art. 11 Bis

(1) Authors of literary and artistic works shall enjoy the exclusive right of authorizing the communication of their works to the public by broadcasting.

(2) It is for the national laws of the countries of the Union to regulate the conditions for the exercise of the right referred to in the preceding paragraph, but these conditions shall have only a strictly limited effect to the country which would have established them. In no case shall they impair neither the moral rights of the author nor the right of the author to obtain equitable remuneration fixed, in the absence of an amicable agreement, by the competent authority.

Art. 12

The non-authorized indirect appropriations of a literary or artistic work, such as adaptations, musical arrangements, transformations, are specifically included among the illicit reproductions to which this Convention applies A novel, a new or a poetry in play and vice versa, etc., when they are only the reproduction of this work, in the same form or in another form, with changes, additions or entrenchments, non-essential, And without presenting the character of a new original work.

Art. 13

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

(2) Reservations and conditions relating to the application of this Article may be determined by the domestic legislation of each country, as far as it is concerned, but all reservations and conditions of that nature shall have only a strictly limited effect Limited to the country that would have established them. 1

(3) The provision of paragraph 1 Er Has no retroactive effect and, as a result, is not applicable in a country of the Union to works which, in that country, have been lawfully adapted to the mechanical instruments prior to the implementation of the Convention signed in Berlin on 13 November 1908 2 And, if it is a country that has acceded to the Union since that date, or would accede to it in the future, before the date of accession.

(4) The adaptations made under paragraphs 2 and 3 of this section and imported without the authorization of interested parties in a country where they are not lawful may be seized.


1 For Switzerland, see the law of October 9. 1992 on copyright (RS 231.1 ).
2 [RS 11 879 893]

Art. 14

(1) Authors of literary, scientific or artistic works shall have the exclusive right to authorize the reproduction, adaptation and public presentation of their works by cinematography.

(2) Cinematographic productions shall be protected as literary or artistic works when the author has given the work an original character. In the absence of such a character, cinematographic production shall enjoy the protection of photographic works.

(3) Without prejudice to the rights of the author of the work reproduced or adapted, the cinematographic work shall be protected as an original work.

(4) The foregoing shall apply to the reproduction or production obtained by any other process analogous to cinematography.

Art. 15

(1) In order for the authors of the works protected by this Convention to be, until proven otherwise, considered as such and accepted, therefore, before the courts of the various countries of the Union, to prosecute Counterfactors, it is sufficient that their name be indicated on the work in the usual manner.

(2) For anonymous or pseudonymous works, the publisher whose name is indicated on the work shall be entitled to safeguard the rights belonging to the author. It is, without further evidence, deemed to have caused the anonymous or pseudonymous author.

Art. 16

(1) Any infringing work may be seized by the competent authorities of the countries of the Union where the original work is entitled to legal protection.

(2) In that country, the seizure may also apply to reproductions originating in a country where the work is not protected or has ceased to be protected.

(3) The seizure shall take place in accordance with the domestic legislation of each country.

Art. 17

The provisions of this Convention shall not prejudice, in any way, the right of the Government of each of the countries of the Union to permit, monitor, prohibit, by means of legislation or police measures Movement, representation, exhibition of any work or production in respect of which the competent authority would have to exercise that right.

Art. 18

(1) This Convention shall apply to all works which, at the time of its entry into force, have not yet fallen into the public domain of their country of origin by the expiry of the term of protection.

(2) However, if a work, by the expiry of the period of protection previously granted to it, has fallen into the public domain of the country where protection is claimed, that work shall not be protected again.

(3) The application of this principle shall take place in accordance with the provisions contained in the existing special conventions or to be concluded for that purpose between the countries of the Union. In the absence of such stipulations, the respective countries shall, each in so far as it is concerned, settle the terms and conditions relating to that application. 1

(4) The preceding provisions shall also apply in the case of new accessions to the Union and in the case where protection is extended by application of Article 7 or by surrender of reservations.


1 For Switzerland, see art. 80 of the Act of 9 Oct. 1992 on copyright (RS 231.1 ).

Art. 19

The provisions of this Convention shall not prevent the application of wider provisions which would be enacted by the legislation of a country of the Union in favour of foreigners in general.

Art.

The Governments of the countries of the Union reserve the right to make special arrangements among themselves, as such arrangements confer on the authors more extensive rights than those granted by the Union, or that they contain other rights Provisions not contrary to this Convention. The provisions of the existing arrangements which meet the above conditions shall remain applicable.

Art.

(1) The International Office established under the name of " Bureau of the International Union for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works ".

(2) This Office shall be placed under the High Authority of the Government of the Swiss Confederation, which shall, in good standing, organise and supervise the operation of the Office.

(3) The official language of the Bureau is the French language.

Art.

(1) The International Bureau shall centralise information of any kind relating to the protection of the rights of authors in their literary and artistic works. It coordinates and publishes them. It shall carry out studies of common utility of interest to the Union and shall draw up, by means of the documents which are made available to it by the various Administrations, a periodical, in the French language, on questions concerning the subject matter of the Union. The Governments of the countries of the Union reserve the right to authorise, by mutual agreement, the Bureau to publish an edition in one or more other languages, in case the experience proves the need.

(2) The International Bureau shall, at any time, be available to the members of the Union to provide, on matters relating to the protection of literary and artistic works, the special information they may have Need.

(3) The Director of the International Bureau shall make an annual report on his management which shall be communicated to all members of the Union.

Art.

(1) The expenses of the Bureau of the International Union shall be borne in common by the countries of the Union. Until further decision, they may not exceed the sum of one hundred and twenty thousand Swiss francs per year. This amount may be increased if necessary by unanimous decision of one of the Conferences provided for in Article 24.

(2) In order to determine the contribution of each of the countries in this total sum of costs, the countries of the Union and those acceding to the Union at a later date shall be divided into six classes, each contributing to the proportion of a certain number of Member States. Units, which are:

1 Re Class

25 units

2 E Class

20 units

3 E Class

15 units

4 E Class

10 units

5 E Class

5 units

6 E Class

3 units

(3) These coefficients are multiplied by the number of countries in each class, and the sum of the products thus obtained provides the number of units by which the total expenditure must be divided. The quotient gives the amount of the unit of expenditure.

(4) Each country shall declare, at the time of accession, in which the aforementioned classes request to be filed, but it may still later declare that it intends to belong to another class.

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

Art. 24

(1) This Convention may be subject to revision with a view to introducing improvements in the field of the Union's system.

(2) Questions of this nature, as well as those of other points of view for the development of the Union, shall be dealt with in Conferences which will take place successively in the Countries of the Union between the Delegates of the said Countries. The State Administration of a Conference shall, with the assistance of the International Bureau, prepare the work of the Conference. The Director of the Bureau shall attend the meetings of the Conferences and take part in non-voting discussions.

(3) No change to this Convention shall be valid for the Union only with the unanimous consent of the Member Countries.

Art. 25

(1) The foreign countries of the Union and which provide legal protection for the rights under this Convention may accede to them on their request.

(2) This accession shall be notified in writing to the Government of the Swiss Confederation, and by the Government of the Swiss Confederation to all others.

(3) It shall grant full membership to all the clauses and admission to all the benefits stipulated in this Convention and shall have effect one month after the notification by the Government of the Swiss Confederation to the Other unionist countries, unless a later date has been indicated by the acceding country. However, it may contain the indication that the acceding country intends to substitute, provisionally at least, in Article 8 with regard to translations, the provisions of Article 5 of the revised Union Convention of 1886 in Paris in 1896 1 , of course, that these provisions are intended only for translation into the language (s) of the country.


1 [RO 10 202, 16 586]

Art. 26

(1) Each of the Countries of the Union may, at any time, notify the Government of the Swiss Confederation in writing that this Convention is applicable to all or part of its colonies, protectorates, territories under warrant or any other territory Subject to its sovereignty or authority, or any territory under suzerainty, and the Convention shall then apply to all the territories designated in the notification. In the absence of such notification, the Convention shall not apply to those Territories.

(2) Each of the Countries of the Union may, at any time, notify the Government of the Swiss Confederation in writing that this Convention shall cease to be applicable to all or part of the territories which have been the subject of the notification provided for in the paragraph The Convention shall cease to apply in the territories designated in that notification twelve months after receipt of the notification addressed to the Government of the Swiss Confederation.

(3) All notifications made to the Government of the Swiss Confederation, in accordance with the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article, shall be communicated by that Government to all the countries of the Union.

Art. 27

(1) This Convention shall replace in the relations between the countries of the Union the Berne Convention of 9 September 1886 and the acts which successively revised it 1 The acts previously in force will retain their application in relations with those countries which do not ratify this Convention.

(2) The countries on whose behalf this Convention is signed may still retain the benefit of the reservations which they have previously made, provided that they make the declaration at the time of the deposit of ratifications.

(3) Countries which are currently part of the Union, on whose behalf this Convention has not been signed, may at any time accede to it. They may benefit in this case from the provisions of the preceding paragraph.


1 [RO 10 202, 16 586; 11 879 893]

Art. 28

(1) This Convention shall be ratified and the ratifications shall be deposited in Rome no later than 1 Er July 1931.

(2) It shall enter into force between the countries of the Union which have ratified it one month after that date. However, if, before that date, it was ratified by at least six Union countries, it would enter into force between those countries of the Union one month after the deposit of the sixth ratification was notified to them by the Government of the Swiss Confederation and, for the countries of the Union which would then ratify, one month after the notification of each of these ratifications.

(3) Countries outside the Union may, until the first of August 1931, accede to the Union, by accession, or to the Convention signed in Berlin on 13 November 1908 1 , or to this Convention. From the first of August 1931, they can no longer accede only to this Convention.


1 [RS 11 879 893]

Art.

(1) This Convention shall remain in force for an indefinite period of time until the expiration of one year from the day on which the denunciation has been made.

(2) This denunciation shall be addressed to the Government of the Swiss Confederation. It will only have effect in respect of the country which has made it, the Convention remaining enforceable for the other countries of the Union.

Art. Scope of application 5 May 2006

(1) Countries which introduce into their legislation the term of protection of fifty years provided for in Article 7, paragraph 1 Er , of this Convention, shall make it known to the Government of the Swiss Confederation by a written notification which shall be communicated immediately by that Government to all other Countries of the Union.

(2) The same shall apply to those countries which renounce or maintain reservations made or maintained by them under Articles 25 and 27.

In witness whereof, The respective Plenipotentiaries have signed this Convention.

Done at Rome, on 2 June 1928, in a single copy, which shall be deposited in the archives of the Royal Government of Italy. A certified copy will be provided by diplomatic channels to each country of the Union.

(Suivent signatures)

Scope of application 5 May 2006

Under s. 27, para. 1, of the Berne Convention revised in 1948 in Brussels (RS 0.231.13 ), Switzerland shall remain bound by this Convention in relations with the following States:

States Parties

Ratification Accession (A) Declaration of succession (S)

Entry into force

Lebanon

19 December

1946

September 30

1947

Malta

May 31

1968 S

21 September

1964

New Zealand

21 October

1947 A

4 December

1947

Pakistan

2 June

1948 A

July 5

1948

Zimbabwe

29 September

1981 S

18 April

1980


RS 11 896; FF 1930 II 113


1 This Convention shall remain applicable to Switzerland only in relations with the Contracting States which are not party to the Berne Convention revised in 1948 in Brussels (RS 0.231.13 Art. 27 al. 1).
2 RO 47 465
3 [RS 11 879 893]


State 11. July 2006