International Copywright and Neighbouring Rights ― The Berne Convention And Beyond

This commentary deals with the history and development of the major international agreements affecting copyright and related rights, including the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works 1886-1970, the Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers, Phonogram Producers and Broadcasting Organisations 1961, the WIPO Copyright and Performances and Phonograms Treaties 1996 and the TRIPS Agreement (so far as it affects copyright and related rights). Doctrinal analysis exposes gaps and ambiguities in the current text and considers the extent to which subsequent international instruments have resolved those questions. The authors analyze questions of subject matter coverage, copyright ownership, duration, nature and scope of rights, and exceptions and limitations to copyright protection. Extensive analysis of private international law matters also figures prominently, with two chapters devoted to problems of international jurisdiction and choice of law.

Sam Ricketson is Professor of Law at University of Melbourne, Australia, and practises part-time as a barrister at the Victorian Bar, principally in the area of intellectual property. Professor Ricketson has written, taught and advised widely in the areas of intellectual property law (copyright and designs, patents, trade marks and unfair competition, and breach of confidence), conflicts of law and corporate law. He has also held various professional as well as governmental appointments in the intellectual property area, including membership of the Commonwealth Copyright Tribunal. He is currently a panel member of the World Intellectual Property Organisation's dispute resolution body in relation to domain names and a member of the Victorian Law Reform Commission.
Jane Ginsburg is the Morton L Janklow Professor of Literary and Artistic Property Law at Columbia University School of Law, USA, and the Goodhart Visiting Chair of Legal Science at Cambridge University (2004-05). She has been a member of the Columbia Law School since 1987, where she teaches copyright law , trade mark law and legal methods, and she is the author or co-author of books on all three subjects. Professor Ginsburg has also taught French and US copyright law and US legal methods at the University of Paris and other French universities.