Definition: Berne Convention

Definition: Berne Convention | Glossary entry

Berne Convention

The “Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works” is an international agreement that governs copyright for authors of original works. The Berne Convention was first adopted in 1886. The latest version was implemented in 1971. One hundred and sixty four countries are signed up to the Convention.

Each country-signatory of the Berne Convention has agreed to meet the minimum standards for copyright protection set out in the Act of the Convention. The Act provides copyright protection for original works of authors in the member countries where the work is published/released/played etc.

Some countries have not signed up to the Berne Convention. These in general have committed to an alternative agreement The Universal Copyright Convention (UCC). The UCC is of lesser global importance today as the Berne Convention has become so widely accepted. The Berne Convention also incorporates Article 17 which states that the UCC does not affect any provision of the Berne Convention.

A more detailed article on copyright in general…
Definition: Copyright; Copyrights; Copyrighting;

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Damon Guy (Netkonnexion)

Damon is a writer-photog and editor of this site. He has run some major websites, a computing department and a digital image library. He started out as a trained teacher and now runs training for digital photographers.
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