INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT LAW-March 17th, 2003
FiledMarch 17th, 2003The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (hereinafter referred to as the Convention) is the oldest international agreement in the field of copyright.1 Copyright is the protection given by the law to original literary and artistic works. The Convention is the most important treaty that governs the area of copyright. It has also been described as being to copyright what the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (hereinafter referred to as the Paris Convention) is to industrial property rights.2 The Convention was signed in 1886 and has been revised several times.3 These revisions typically occur at twenty-year intervals, however, the last revision was done in Paris in 1971.4 The Paris 1971 Revision was notable because it added to the Convention the Appendix containing the Special Provisions Regarding Developing Countries.