Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works

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

The expression “literary and artistic works” shall include every production in the literary, scientific and artistic domain, whatever may be the mode…

It shall be a matter for legislation in the countries of the Union to exclude, wholly or in part, from the protection provided by the preceding…

The protection of this Convention shall apply to:

The protection of this Convention shall apply, even if the conditions of Article 3 are not fulfilled, to:

Authors shall enjoy, in respect of works for which they are protected under this Convention, in countries of the Union other than the country of…

Where any country outside the Union fails to protect in an adequate manner the works of authors who are nationals of one of the countries of the…

Independently of the author's economic rights, and even after the transfer of the said rights, the author shall have the right to claim authorship of…

The term of protection granted by this Convention shall be the life of the author and fifty years after his death.

The provisions of the preceding Article shall also apply in the case of a work of joint authorship, provided that the terms measured from the death…

Authors of literary and artistic works protected by this Convention shall enjoy the exclusive right of making and of authorizing the translation of…

Authors of literary and artistic works protected by this Convention shall have the exclusive right of authorizing the reproduction of these works, in…

It shall be permissible to make quotations from a work which has already been lawfully made available to the public, provided that their making is…

It shall be a matter for legislation in the countries of the Union to permit the reproduction by the press, the broadcasting or the communication to…

Authors of dramatic, dramatico-musical and musical works shall enjoy the exclusive right of authorizing:

Authors of literary and artistic works shall enjoy the exclusive right of authorizing:

Authors of literary works shall enjoy the exclusive right of authorizing:

Authors of literary or artistic works shall enjoy the exclusive right of authorizing adaptations, arrangements and other alterations of their works.

Each country of the Union may impose for itself reservations and conditions on the exclusive right granted to the author of a musical work and to the…

Authors of literary or artistic works shall have the exclusive right of authorizing:

Without prejudice to the copyright in any work which may have been adapted or reproduced, a cinematographic work shall be protected as an original…

The author, or after his death the persons or institutions authorized by national legislation, shall, with respect to original works of art and…

In order that the author of a literary or artistic work protected by this Convention shall, in the absence of proof to the contrary, be regarded as…

Infringing copies of a work shall be liable to seizure in any country of the Union where the work enjoys legal protection.

The provisions of this Convention cannot in any way affect the right of the Government of each country of the Union to permit, to control, or to…

This Convention shall apply to all works which, at the moment of its coming into force, have not yet fallen into the public domain in the country of…

The provisions of this Convention shall not preclude the making of a claim to the benefit of any greater protection which may be granted by…

The Governments of the countries of the Union reserve the right to enter into special agreements among themselves, in so far as such agreements grant…

Special provisions regarding developing countries are included in the Appendix.

The Union shall have an Assembly consisting of those countries of the Union which are bound by Articles 22 to 26.

The Assembly shall have an Executive Committee.

The administrative tasks with respect to the Union shall be performed by the International Bureau, which is a continuation of the Bureau of the Union…

The Union shall have a budget.

Proposals for the amendment of Articles 22, 23, 24, 25, and the present Article, may be initiated by any country member of the Assembly, by the…

This Convention shall be submitted to revision with a view to the introduction of amendments designed to improve the system of the Union.

Any country of the Union which has signed this Act may ratify it, and, if it has not signed it, may accede to it. Instruments of ratification or…

Any country outside the Union may accede to this Act and thereby become party to this Convention and a member of the Union. Instruments of accession…

Ratification of or accession to this Act by any country not bound by Articles 22 to 38 of the Stockholm Act of this Convention shall, for the sole…

Subject to the exceptions permitted by paragraph (2) of this Article, by Article 28 (1) (b), by Article 33 (2), and by the Appendix, ratification or…

Any country may declare in its instrument of ratification or accession, or may inform the Director General by written notification at any time…

This Act shall, as regards the relations between the countries of the Union, and to the extent that it applies, replace the Berne Convention of…

Any dispute between two or more countries of the Union concerning the interpretation or application of this Convention, not settled by negotiation…

Subject to Article 29bis, no country may ratify or accede to earlier Acts of this Convention once Articles 1 to 21 and the Appendix have entered into…

This Convention shall remain in force without limitation as to time.

Any country party to this Convention undertakes to adopt, in accordance with its constitution, the measures necessary to ensure the application of…

This Act shall be signed in a single copy in the French and English languages and, subject to paragraph (2), shall be deposited with the Director…

Countries of the Union which have not ratified or acceded to this Act and which are not bound by Articles 22 to 26 of the Stockholm Act of this…