What Is Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (Berne Convention)?

Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (Berne Convention) is the only way to ensure that your next great novel will be read by all your fans, no matter where they are. It's a simple idea: If you write something and put it out into the world, you should be certain that anyone who wants to will have access to it—and everyone can make money off it. After all, who doesn't want more good books? The Berne Convention mandates equal treatment of copyrighted works by Berne signatories, known as the Berne Union. It requires signatory member countries to recognize copyrighted literary or artistic works in the same way their national copyrights are acknowledged. For example, U.S. Copyright law applies to anything published in the United States, regardless of the work's origin. It's no secret that the Berne Convention is one of the most important international copyright agreements. But did you understand that it also allows for longer terms of protection for authors whose works have been published with a limited term of protection, such as photographs and movies? The Berne Convention states that all works - except cinematography and photography - are copyrighted for at least 50 years after an author's death. Still, longer terms may be provided to related parties. The Berne Convention also allows signatories to apply fair use of copyrighted works in other broadcasts or publications, as reflected in the WIPO Copyright Treaty of 1996. This language may imply that Internet service providers (ISP) are not liable for unauthorized user communications. So if you're an ISP, you might wonder: "Wait a minute… if We are not responsible for what happens within my network, why do I need to protect it?" If you don't secure your network, anyone can access and use it however they want—which means they could even use it against you!