This work commemorates the centenary of the Berne Convention for the protection of literary and artistic works which occurred in September 1986. The author deals in detail with the origins of the Convention and the development of international copyright protection as well as providing a complete historical analysis of the steps by which the present provisions of the Convention have been reached.

The aim of this Guide is to present, as simply and clearly as possible, the contents of the Berne Convention and to provide a number of explanations as to its nature, aims and scope.

The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, from 1886 to 1986.

A comprehensive commentary on the international framework concerned with the protection of copyright and neighbouring rights. The focal point of this commentary is the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works 1886, but the treatment extends beyond to the related conventions that have grown out of, or are based on, Berne.

In order to place the 25 years in a historical context, the essay does, exceptionally, deal also with pre-1967 events and with post-1992 possibilities.

In this bold and persuasive work Daniel Gervais, one of the world’s leading thinkers on the subject of intellectual property, argues that the international copyright system is in need of a root and branch rethink. As the Internet alters the world in which copyright operates beyond all recognition, a world increasingly defined by the might of online intermediaries and spawning a generation who are simultaneously authors, users and re-users of creative works, the structure of copyright in its current form is inadequate and unfit for purpose. This ambitious and far-reaching book sets out to diagnose in some detail the problems faced by copyright, before eloquently mapping out a path for comprehensive and structured reform. It contributes a reasoned and novel voice to a debate that is all too often driven by ignorance and partisan self-interest.