The Berne Convention 1886: The Union and Its Acts

In one line

The Berne Convention creates a Union of States that protect each other's authors automatically, without registration, and it has been revised seven times since 1886.

In exam wording: the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works of 9 September 1886, last revised at Paris on 24 July 1971 and amended on 28 September 1979, constitutes the countries to which it applies into a Union for the protection of the rights of authors in their literary and artistic works, Article 1 establishing the Union and Articles 27 to 38 governing revision, acceptance of Acts, denunciation, disputes and transitional matters.

Article 1 and the shape of the Convention

Article 1: the countries to which this Convention applies constitute a Union for the protection of the rights of authors in their literary and artistic works.

Note what is different from Paris. Paris Article 1(1) speaks of the protection of industrial property; Berne Article 1 speaks of the protection of the rights of authors. The subject of the Berne Union is a person, not a category of property, and that difference runs through the whole instrument and produces moral rights.

The seven Acts, and why they matter

Berne 1886, the original.

Paris Additional Act 1896.

Berlin 1908, which introduced the rule against formalities and the term of life plus fifty.

Berne Additional Protocol 1914.

Rome 1928, which introduced moral rights in Article 6bis. India was bound from this Act.

Brussels 1948.

Stockholm 1967, whose substantive provisions never came into force, its Protocol Regarding Developing Countries having been rejected.

Paris 1971, the Act now in force, which replaced the Stockholm Protocol with the Appendix.

Amended 28 September 1979.

Why the Stockholm failure matters. The Protocol Regarding Developing Countries would have permitted much wider compulsory licensing for translation and reproduction. The industrialised countries would not accept it, and the compromise reached at Paris in 1971 is the Appendix, whose conditions are so demanding that almost nobody has used it. That is worked in [Berne: The Appendix for Developing Countries, Article 21 and Articles I to VI].

Articles 27 to 32: revision and the relationship between Acts

Article 27(1): this Convention shall be submitted to revision with a view to the introduction of amendments designed to improve the system of the Union.

Article 27(2): for this purpose, conferences shall be held successively in one of the countries of the Union among the delegates of the said countries.

Article 27(3): amendments to Articles 22 to 26, the administrative articles, are governed by Article 26, and revision of the rest requires unanimity of the votes cast.

Unanimity, not a majority. That is why Berne has not been revised since 1971, and why the WIPO Copyright Treaty of 1996 had to be made as a special agreement under Article 20 instead.