Berne Convention

Berne Convention

Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works
Ratifications of the Convention (blue) as of 2012
Signed	9 September 1886
Location	Berne, Switzerland
Effective	5 December 1887
Condition	3 months after exchange of ratifications
Parties	172
Depositary	Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization
Languages	signed in French (prevailing in case of differences in interpretation) and English, officially translated in Arabic, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish
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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 first accepted in Berne, Switzerland, in 1886.

The Berne Convention formally mandated several aspects of modern copyright law; it introduced the concept that a copyright exists the moment a work is "fixed", rather than requiring registration. It also enforces a requirement that countries recognize copyrights held by the citizens of all other signatory countries.

The Berne Convention requires its signatories to treat the copyright of works of authors from other signatory countries (known as members of the Berne Union) at least as well as those of its own nationals. For example, French copyright law applies to anything published or performed in France, regardless of where it was originally created.

In addition to establishing a system of equal treatment that internationalised copyright amongst signatories, the agreement also required member states to provide strong minimum standards for copyright law.

Copyright under the Berne Convention must be automatic; it is prohibited to require formal registration. However, when the United States joined the Convention 1 March 1989, it continued to make statutory damages and attorney's fees only available for registered works.

Under Article 3, the protection of the Convention applies to nationals and residents of signatory countries, and to works first published or simultaneously published (under Article 3(4), "simultaneously" is defined as "within 30 days") in a signatory country. Under Article 4, it also applies to cinematic works by persons who have their headquarters or habitual residence in a signatory country, and to architectural works situated in a signatory country.

The Convention relies on the concept of "country of origin". Often determining the country of origin is straightforward: when a work is published in a signatory country and nowhere else, this is the country of origin. However, under Article 5(4), when a work is published simultaneously in several signatory countries (under Article 3(4), "simultaneously" is defined as "within 30 days" ), the country with the shortest term of protection is defined as the country of origin.