Re: Berne Convention -- copyright or author-right?

Hmmm. Quick course in international law anyone?

The Berne Convention is an agreement on copyright protection. The wording seems strange now, perhaps, especially for those not versed in international law. In general the aim is to use words to articulate rights and obligations without using special terms of art that work in one language or one culture but not another. Of course, this aim is hardly consistently either attempted or realized, but it is one reason for the language. Copyright statutes don't say "xyz has a copyright" and leave it at that -- they define the rights that are bundled in the term copyright. Same sort of thing in the Berne Convention.

"Exclusive" here means just what it means in most laws. Nothing special about it. It does not eliminate agency law and contract law and so on.

Steve

On Mar 30, 2006, at 5:59 PM, Samuel Murray wrote:

> G'day everyone
>
> I had always thought that the Berne Convention is an agreement on
> copyright protection, but it would seem to me that the Berne
> Convention does not protect copyright per se, but author-right
> instead. What are your takes on this? The convention uses the
> term "economic rights" (which I had presumed was copyright) as if
> it is distinct from author-rights (article 6bis).
>
> Mention of the right to "copy" is made, but it says that the author
> has exclusive right to authorise the production of copies, except
> in special cases. What does "exclusive" mean in this case? Does
> it mean only the author and no-one else (not his agent, his client,
> his publisher, etc) has the right to authorise publication?
> (article 9)
>
> Thanks for your comments.
>
> Samuel
>
>
>
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-- 
Prof. Steven D.  
Jamar                                                  vox:   
202-806-8017
Howard University School of Law                                     
fax:  202-806-8428
2900 Van Ness Street NW                                
mailto:stevenjamar[_at_]gmail.com
Washington, DC  20008      http://www.law.howard.edu/faculty/pages/jamar

But, Mousie, thou art no thy lane,
In proving foresight may be vain;
The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men
                     Gang aft agley,
An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,
                     For promis’d joy!

Robert Burns, 1785