663373-1887-International-Copyright-Union — Page 3

My Lord,

THE HONGKONG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, 5TH FEBRUARY, 1887. 111

No. 4.

M. Vernet to the Earl of Rosebery.-(Received July 26.)

25, Old Broad Street, July 24, 1886.

I HAVE the honour to hand your Lordship the inclosed Circular note of my Government, containing a proposal to modify Article VII of the International Copyright Convention, agreed upon at the Conference of last

year.

Inclosure in No. 4.

誊

I have, &c.

(Signed)

H. VERNET,

"Agent and Consul-General for Switzerland,

The President of the Swiss Confederation to the Earl of Rosebery.

(Translation.)

My Lord,

Berne, July 17, 1886.

IN continuation of our note of the 6th instant, we have to inform your Lordship that our attention has been called to an omission in the wording of the "Projet de Convention" for the protection of literary and artistic works, drawn up by the International Conference held at Berne in the month of September last.

The first line of Article 9 of the Avant-Projet of 1884, which is reproduced almost word for word in the first sentence of Article 7 of the Projet of 1885, was conceived in these terms:—

“Articles extracted from newspapers or periodicals published in any of the countries of the Union may be reproduced in original or in translation in the other countries of the Union.'

The Conference of 1885 considered it advisable to suppress the second line of the old "Projet," enumerating the articles which by their nature were excluded from the right of reproduction, and to replace them by adding to the sentence cited above the words, "unless the authors or publishers may have expressly forbidden it."

In transcribing the new Article an omission was accidentally made of the words, "in the other countries of the Union," which had encountered no opposition, and which seem necessary to the sense of the text, for the Convention could not make stipulations as to the rights of subjects of non- Contracting States.

Though it was understood that no amendment should be made to the text adopted by the Confer ence of 1885, we nevertheless consider that it would be advisable to reinstate in the Convention the words which were left out by inadvertence, and we beg your Lordship to authorize your Plenipoten- tiary to assent to the introduction in Article 7 of the slight modification proposed.

We seize, &c.

In the name of the Swiss Federal Council : The President of the Confederation,

(Signed)

The Chancellor of the Confederation,

(Signed)

DEUCHER.

RINGIER.

No. 5.

Sir,

Mr. Boyle to Mr. Bryce.—( Received July 26.)

Board of Trade, London, July 24, 1886.

I AM directed by the Board of Trade to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 20th instant on the subject of a Project of Declaration which the French Government will propose for signature, simultaneously with the International Copyright Convention, at the Conference to be held, next September; and, in reply, to state, for the information of Lord Rosebery, that the Board of Trade concur in the terms of the reply it is suggested should be made to M. Vernet's note.

I have, &c.

(Signed)

COURTENAY BOYLE.