661090-1888-Circular-Despatch-Order-in-Council — Page 3

THE HONGKONG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, 21ST APRIL, 1888.

FIRST SCHEDULE. Copyright Convention.

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Convention for protecting effectively and in as uniform a manner as possible, the rights of authors over their literary and artistic works. Made on the fifth day of September, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-seven, between Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Empress of India; His Majesty the German Emperor, King of Prussia; His Majesty the King of the Belgians: Her Majesty the Queen Regent of Spain, in the name of His Catholic Majesty the King of Spain; the President of the French Republic; the President of the Republic of Haïti; His Majesty the King of Italy; the Federal Council of the Swiss Confederation; His Highness the Bey of Tunis.

[The following is an English Translation of the Convention, with the omission of the formal be- ginning and end.]

ARTICLE I.

The Contracting States are constituted into an Union for the protection of the rights of authors over their literary and artistic works.

ARTICLE II.

Authors of any of the countries of the Union, or their lawful representatives, shall enjoy in the other countries for their works, whether published in one of those countries or unpublished, the rights which the respective laws do now or may hereafter grant to natives.

The enjoyment of these rights is subject to the accomplishment of the conditions and formalities prescribed by law in the country of origin of the work, and cannot exceed in the other countries the term of protection granted in the said country of origin.

The country of origin of the work is that in which the work is first published, or if such publication takes place simultaneously in several countries of the Union, that one of them in which the shortest term of protection is granted by law.

For unpublished works the country to which the author belongs is considered the country of origin of the work.

ARTICLE III.

The stipulations of the present Convention apply equally to the publishers of literary and artistic works published in one of the countries of the Union, but of which the authors belong to a country which is not a party to the Union.

ARTICLE IV.

The expression "literary and artistic works" comprehends books, pamphlets, and all other writings; dramatic or dramatico-musical works, musical compositions with or without words; works of design, painting, sculpture, and engraving; lithographs, illustrations, geographical charts, plans, sketches, and plastic works relative to geography, topography, architecture, or science in general; in fact, every production whatsoever in the literary, scientific, or artistic domain which can be published by any mode of impression or reproduction.

ARTICLE V.

Authors of any of the countries of the Union, or their lawful representatives, shall enjoy in the other countries the exclusive right of making or authorizing the translation of their works until the expiration of ten years from the publication of the original work in one of the countries of the Union. For works published in incomplete parts ("livraisons") the period of ten years commences from the date of publication of the last part of the original work.

For works composed of several volumes published at intervals, as well as for bulletins or collections ("cahiers") published by literary or scientific societies, or by private persons, each volume, bulletin, or collection is, with regard to the period of ten years, considered as a separate work.

In the cases provided for by the present Article, and for the calculation of the period of protection, the thirty-first December of the year in which the work was published is admitted as the date of publication.

ARTICLE VI.

Authorized translations are protected as original works. They consequently enjoy the protection stipulated in Articles II and III as regards their unauthorized reproduction in the countries of the Union.

It is understood that, in the case of a work for which the translating right has fallen into the public domain, the translator cannot oppose the translation of the same work by other writers.