Decree of the Minister for Foreign Affairs No. 2 / 1960 Coll.
Decree on the General Convention on Copyright
Valid
Effective from 06.01.1960
2
DECLARATION
Minister for Foreign Affairs
of 29 December 1959
on the General Convention on Copyright
On 6 September 1952 the General Convention on Copyright was negotiated in Geneva with the Protocols annexed thereto.
The Czechoslovak Republic acceded to the Convention and Protocols 2 and 3. The President of the Republic signed the Act of Accession of the Czechoslovak Republic on 7 September 1959. The Charter on the Access of the Czechoslovak Republic to the General Convention on Copyright and Protocols 2 and 3 was deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations for Education, Science and Information on 6 October 1959.
Pursuant to Article IX of the Convention with Protocols No 2 and No 3, the Convention shall become effective for the Czechoslovak Republic on 6 January 1960.
The Czech version of the Convention and Protocols No 2 and No 3 shall be published simultaneously.
David v. r.
GENERAL CONVENTION
on copyright
Contracting States,
guided by the desire to ensure in all countries the protection of copyright in literary, scientific and artistic works,
confirmed in the view that the regulation of the protection of the rights of authors, satisfying all nations and expressed in the international convention, building on existing international systems, without undermining them, will ensure respect for the personal rights of man and promote the development of writing, science and art,
convinced that such general arrangements for the protection of authors' rights will facilitate the dissemination of intellectual works and contribute to a better international understanding,
agree on the following:
Each Contracting State undertakes to provide all necessary measures to ensure sufficient and effective protection of the rights of authors and all other owners of such rights to literary, scientific and artistic works such as documents, works of music, dramatic and cinematographic, paintings, engravings and sculptures.
1. Works of members of each Contracting State and works first issued in the territory of that State shall enjoy in each other Contracting State the protection accorded by that State to the works of its members for the first time issued in its own territory.
2. Unpublished works of members of each Contracting State shall enjoy in another Contracting State the protection accorded by that State to the unpublished works of its nationals.
3. In implementing this Convention, each Contracting State may bring all persons established in its territory to the same extent as its members.
1. Any Contracting State which, under its internal legislature, requires, as a condition for the protection of the rights of authors, the fulfilment of formalities such as the record, deposit, registration, notarial certificate, the payment of fees, manufacture or extradition on its territory, must consider those requirements to be met for any work protected under the provisions of this Convention which was first issued outside the territory of that State and the author of which is not a member of that State if, since the first edition of that work, all specimens of the work, issued with the permission of the author or of any other owner of his rights, bear the mark with the addition of the title of the copyright owner and the title of the year of the first edition; the designation, name and year must be given in such a way and in such a place as to make it clear that copyright is reserved.
2. The provisions of the first paragraph of this Article shall not prevent an individual Contracting State from subject to certain formal rules or other conditions governing the acquisition and use of copyright in respect of works first issued in its territory or for works of its own members, wherever they are issued.
3. The provisions of the first paragraph of this Article shall not prevent an individual Contracting State from requiring a person referring to a court to comply, for the purposes of legal proceedings, with the provisions of the Rules of Procedure, such as representation by a lawyer, a lawyer in that State, or the presentation of one copy of the work of a court or administrative office or both at the same time. If these requirements are not met, this will not affect copyright. None of these requirements may be applied to a national of another Contracting State unless it is applied to a national of the State where protection is sought.
4. Each Contracting State shall provide legal protection without formal conditions to the works of members of other Contracting States.
5. Where a Contracting State grants a period of protection for more than one period and the duration of the first period is longer than one of the shortest periods of protection referred to in Article IV of this Convention, that State shall not be bound by the provisions of the first paragraph of this Article III as regards the second and subsequent periods of protection.
1. The term of protection of the work shall be governed by the law of the Contracting State in which protection is sought pursuant to Article II and by the following provisions of this Article.
2. The period of protection of works protected by this Convention shall be at least for the duration of the author's life and 25 years after his death.
A Contracting State which, at the time of the entry into force of this Convention on its territory, has a period of protection limited to the period from the first issue of the work, may, however, maintain or extend those derogations to other types of works. For all these types of works, the duration of protection shall not be less than 25 years from the date of first issue.
Any Contracting State which, at the time of entry into force of this Convention in its territory, does not take the life of the author as the basis of the term of protection may count the term of protection from the first edition of the work or, where appropriate, from the registration prior to the publication of the work; the period of protection shall not be less than 25 years from the date of first issue or, where appropriate, from the registration prior to the issue of the work.
Where the legislature grants a period of protection for two or more consecutive periods, the first period may not be shorter than the shortest period of protection mentioned above.
3. The provisions of paragraph 2 of this Article shall not apply to photographic works or works of used art. However, in the Contracting States which protect works of photographic and art used as works of art, the period of protection of such works shall not be less than 10 years.
4. No Contracting State shall be obliged to protect the work for a period longer than the term of protection laid down for the type of works to which the work belongs, namely, if the work is not published, the law of the Contracting State of which the author is a national and if the work is issued, the law of the Contracting State where the work was first issued. Where the legislature of a Contracting State provides for a period of protection for two or more consecutive periods, the sum of those periods shall be considered for the application of the previous provisions as a period of protection provided by that State. However, where, for any reason, a work is not protected by that State for the second or one of the following periods, the other Contracting States shall not be obliged to protect that work for that second or subsequent period.
5. For the application of the provisions of paragraph 4 of this Article, the work of a national of a Contracting State, first issued in a non-Contracting State, shall be deemed to have been first issued in a Contracting State of which the author is a national.
6. For the application of the provisions of paragraph 4 of this Article, a work issued at the same time in two or more Contracting States shall be deemed to have been first issued in a State providing the shortest period of protection. A work which has been issued in two or more States within 30 days of its first issue shall be regarded as being simultaneously issued in several States.
1. The copyright relating to works protected by this Convention shall include the exclusive right to procure and issue translations and to grant permission to be translated and issued.
2. However, each Contracting State may, by its internal legislation, restrict the right of translation of works expressed in writing, but only under the following conditions:
If, within seven years of the date of the first issue of such a work, the owner of the translation right or, with his consent, the translation of that work into a national or one of the national languages of a Contracting State has not been issued, any member of that Contracting State may obtain from the competent authority of that State a non-exclusive authorisation to translate the work into a national language in which the work has not been published and so issue it. Such authorisation may be granted only if the applicant has demonstrated, in accordance with the provisions in force in the State in which the application is made, that he has requested the right-holder to translate the work and the translation, that, however, despite appropriate efforts, he has not been able to trace or obtain the right-holder's permission. Under the same conditions, authorisation may be granted if the previous issue of the translation is disassembled in the national language. If the owner of the right for translation cannot be traced by the applicant, the applicant shall send a copy of his application to the publisher whose name is on the work and, if the nationality of the owner of the right for translation is known, to the diplomatic or consular representative of the State of which the owner of the right for translation is a national, or to an institution which the government of that State may designate. The authorisation shall not be granted before the expiry of a period of two months from the date of dispatch of the copies of the application.
By internal legislation, appropriate measures will be taken to ensure adequate remuneration to the owner of the right for translation, appropriate to international practice, as well as payment and transfer of such remuneration, and to guarantee an impeccable translation of the work.
The original name of the work and the name of its author shall be printed on all specimens of the translation. The authorisation shall be valid only for the issue of a translation in the territory of the Contracting State in which the authorisation was applied for. Imports and sales of copies of such copies to another Contracting State shall be permitted if the national language of that State is the same language to which the work has been translated and if the legislature of that State authorises and does not prevent such imports and sales of the provisions in force in that State; the import and sale on the territory of the Contracting States in which those conditions are not imposed shall be reserved for the legislations of those States and the conventions which they have concluded. The authorisation may not be passed on to the creditor.
The permit cannot be granted if the author has withdrawn all specimens of the work.
Issue within the meaning of this Convention shall mean the reproduction of a work in material form and the public dissemination of its copies, which enable the work to be read or perceived.
This Convention shall not apply to works or rights relating to such works which, at the time when this Convention becomes effective in the Contracting State in which protection is sought, have definitively ceased to be protected or have never been protected.
1. This Convention, dated 6 September 1952, shall be deposited with the Director-General of the United Nations for Education, Science and Information and shall remain open for signature by all States for a period of 120 days from that date. It shall be subject to ratification or acceptance by the signatory States.
2. Any State which has not signed this Convention may accede to it.
3. Ratification, acceptance or access shall be carried out by the deposit of an appropriate instrument with the Director-General of the United Nations for Education, Science and Information.
1. This Convention shall enter into force three months after the deposit of 12 instruments of ratification, acceptance or accession, including those deposited by four States which are not members of the International Union for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works.
2. Furthermore, this Convention shall become effective for each State three months after the deposit of its instrument of ratification, acceptance or accession.
1. Any State which is a Contracting Party to this Convention undertakes to take the necessary measures in accordance with its Constitution to ensure that this Convention is implemented.
2. However, it is understood that, at the time of the deposit of the instrument of ratification, acceptance or accession, each State must be in a position to implement the provisions of this Convention by its internal legislation.
1. An Intergovernmental Committee shall be established with the following responsibilities:
(a) study questions relating to the implementation and operation of this Convention;
(b) prepare periodic revisions to this Convention;
(c) study all other issues relating to the international protection of copyright in cooperation with the various international organisations involved, in particular the United Nations Organisation for Education, Science and Information, the International Union for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works and the Organization of American States;
(d) inform the Contracting States of their activities.
2. The Committee shall be composed of representatives of the twelve Contracting States, selected with regard to a fair geographical representation and in accordance with the provisions of the Resolution annexed to this Convention and concerning this Article.
The Director-General of the United Nations for Education, Science and Information, the Director of the Office of the International Union for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works and the Secretary-General of the Organisation of American States or their representatives may attend meetings of the Advisory Committee.
The Intergovernmental Committee shall convene a conference for the revision of this Convention whenever it deems it necessary, or at the request of at least 10 Contracting States, or of a majority of Contracting States if their number is less than 20.
Any Contracting State may, on surrender of its instrument of ratification, acceptance or accession or at any later date declare by notification, send to the Director-General of the United Nations for Education, Science and Information that this Convention applies to all or certain countries or territories for whose international contacts it is responsible; The Convention shall then apply to the countries or territories indicated in that note after the expiry of the three-month period laid down in Article IX. Without such communication, this Convention shall not apply to those countries or territories.
1. Any Contracting State may terminate this Convention on its behalf or on behalf of all or some of the countries or territories concerned by the notification referred to in Article XIII. The denunciation shall be made by a note sent to the Director-General of the United Nations for Education, Science and Information.
2. This statement shall be effective only for the State or country or territory on whose behalf it was made, only 12 months from the date on which the notification was accepted.
Any dispute between two or more Contracting States relating to the interpretation or implementation of this Convention, which will not be resolved by negotiation, shall be referred to the International Court of Justice for a decision unless the relevant States agree otherwise.
1. This Convention shall be drawn up in French, English and Spanish. All three texts shall be signed and shall be equally authentic.
2. The official versions of this Convention shall be drawn up in German, Italian and Portuguese.
Any Contracting State or a group of Contracting States shall be entitled to have additional language versions as chosen by the Director-General of the United Nations for Education, Science and Information and in agreement with it.
All these texts shall be attached to the signed text of this Convention.
1. This Convention is without prejudice to the provisions of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Works of Literary and Artistic and to the membership of the Union established by this Convention.
2. A declaration shall be attached to the implementation of the preceding paragraph. This Declaration is an integral part of this Convention for States bound or acceded to by the Berne Convention on 1 January 1951. The signing of this Convention by the abovementioned States shall also apply as a signature of the Declaration; the ratification, adoption or access to this Convention shall also include a Declaration.
This Convention shall be without prejudice to multilateral or bilateral agreements or agreements on copyright which are valid or may take effect between two or more American Republics but exclusively between them. In the event of a conflict between either the provisions of one of these existing agreements or arrangements with the provisions of this Convention or between the provisions of this Convention and the provisions of any agreement or arrangement which would have been renegotiated between two or more American republics after this Convention has become effective, an agreement or arrangement negotiated most recently between the Parties shall apply. The rights to work acquired in a Contracting State under agreements or arrangements in force before the date on which this Convention enters into force in that State shall remain without prejudice.
This Convention shall be without prejudice to multilateral or bilateral copyright agreements or arrangements applicable between two or more Contracting States. In the event of a conflict between the provisions of one of such agreements or arrangements in force with the provisions of this Convention, the provisions of this Convention shall take precedence. The rights to work acquired in any of the Contracting States under agreements or arrangements in force before the date on which this Convention enters into force in that State shall remain unaffected. This Article shall be without prejudice to the provisions of Articles XVII and XVIII of this Convention.
Reservations to this Convention are not permitted.
The Director-General of the United Nations for Education, Science and Information shall send duly certified copies of this Convention to the participating States, the Swiss Federal Council and to the United Nations Secretary-General for Registration.
It will also notify all participating States of the deposit of instruments of ratification, acceptance and accession, the date on which this Convention becomes effective, the notification referred to in Article XIII of this Convention and the denunciation referred to in Article XIV.
ADDITIONAL DECLARATION
relating to Article XVII
States which are members of the International Union for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works and which are Contracting Parties to the General Convention on Copyright,
Desiring to consolidate its contacts on the basis of that Union and to avoid any dispute which could arise from the current validity of the Berne Convention and the General Convention,
adopt, by common agreement, the following declaration:
(a) Works whose country of origin under the Berne Convention is a country which, after 1 January 1951, has withdrawn from the International Union established by that Convention shall not be protected by the General Convention on Copyright in the countries of the Berne Union.
(b) In relations between the countries of the Berne Union, the General Convention on Copyright will not apply to the protection of works whose country of origin, within the meaning of the Berne Convention, is one of the countries of the International Union established by this Convention.
RESOLUTION CONCERNING ARTICLE XI
Intergovernmental Conference on Copyright,
consider questions concerning the Intergovernmental Committee established by Article XI of the General Convention on Copyright,
And it shall be decided as follows:
1. the first members of the Committee shall be representatives of the following twelve States by designating one representative and one alternate member: Argentina, Brazil, France, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Switzerland;
2. The Committee shall be established as soon as the Convention enters into force pursuant to Article IX of this Convention;
3. The Committee shall elect a President and one Vice-President. They shall lay down the rules of procedure in which the following principles shall be applied:
(a) the term of office of representatives will normally be six years, one third of which will be changed every two years;
(b) before the expiry of each member's term of office, the Committee shall decide which States shall cease to be represented therein and which States shall be invited to designate their representatives; in particular, membership of the Committee of Representatives of those States which do not ratify, accept or accede to this Convention shall cease;
(c) the various parts of the world must be fairly represented;
and expresses a wish,
to establish the Secretariat of the Committee of the United Nations for Education, Science and Education.
In order to prove the signature, by submitting their power of attorney, they signed this Convention.
Danded in Geneva on the sixth September 1952 in a single copy.
Protocol 2 annexed to the General Convention on Copyright concerning the implementation of this Convention for the works of certain international organisations
States Parties to the General Convention on Copyright (hereinafter referred to as "the Convention ') which become Parties to this Protocol,
agree on the following provisions:
1. (a) The protection provided for in Article II (1) of the General Convention on Copyright concerns works published for the first time by the United Nations, its specialised agents or by the United States Organisation.
(b) The protection referred to in Article II (2) of the Convention also concerns those organisations or institutions.
2. (a) This Protocol shall be signed and shall be subject to ratification or acceptance by the signatory States or may be acceded to, as provided for in Article VIII of the Convention.
(b) This Protocol shall become effective for each State on the date of deposit of the instrument of ratification, acceptance or accession, if that State is already a Party to the Convention.
To prove the signature, if they were properly empowered to do so, they would sign this Protocol.
Done at Geneva, 6 September 1952, in the French, English and Spanish languages, all three texts being equally authentic, in one copy to be deposited with the Director-General of UNESCO, who shall send a certified copy to the signatory States, the Swiss Federal Council and for registration to the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
Protocol 3 annexed to the General Convention on Copyright concerning conditional ratification, acceptance or accession
States Parties to this Protocol,
Believing that the implementation of the General Convention on Copyright (hereinafter referred to as "the Convention ') in States Parties to the various systems of international copyright protection in force will significantly enhance the meaning of the Convention,
they have agreed as follows:
1. Any State Party to this Protocol may, when depositing or accessing the instrument of ratification or acceptance of the Convention, declare by written communication to the Director-General of the United Nations for Education, Science and Information (hereinafter referred to as "the Director-General ') that the deposit of the instrument will have effect for the purposes of Article IX of the Convention only when another State referred to in that communication has deposited a instrument of ratification, acceptance or accession.
2. The amendment referred to in paragraph 1 above shall be attached to the instrument to which it relates.
3. The Director-General shall inform all States signing or acceding to the Convention of any notification received under this Protocol.
4. This Protocol shall be dated the same day and shall remain open for signature for the same period as the Convention.
5. This Protocol shall be subject to ratification or acceptance by the signatory States. Any State that does not sign this Protocol will be able to accede to it.
6. (a) Ratification, acceptance or access shall be carried out by depositing the relevant instrument with the Director-General.
(b) This Protocol shall enter into force on the date of deposit of the fourth instrument of ratification, acceptance or accession. The Director-General shall notify all participating States of the date of entry into force of the Protocol. The documents deposited after this date shall become effective on the date of deposit.
To prove the signature, if they were properly empowered to do so, they would sign this Protocol.
Done at Geneva, 6 September 1952, in French, English and Spanish, the three texts being equally authentic, in a single copy annexed to the original of the Convention. The Director-General shall send certified copies to the signatory States, the Swiss Federal Council and to the Secretary-General of the United Nations for registration.
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Regulation Information
| Citation | Decree of the Minister for Foreign Affairs No. 2 / 1960 Coll., on the General Convention on Copyright |
|---|---|
| Regulation Type | - |
| Author | - |
| Collection | Code of Laws |
| Date of Promulgation | 29.01.1960 |
|---|---|
| Effective from | 06.01.1960 |
| Effective until | - |
| Status | Valid |
The regulation text is for informational purposes only.
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