JUNE 25.] THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE. 2549

prohibit, by measures of domestic legislation or police, the
circulation, representation, or exhibition of any works or
productions in regard to which the competent authority
may find it necessary to exercise that right.

Article 18.

The present Convention shall apply to all works which
at the moment of its coming into force have not yet fallen
into the public domain in the country of origin through
the expiration of the term of protection.

If, however, through the expiration of the term of pro-
tection which was previously granted, a work has fallen
into the public domain of the country where protection is
claimed, that work shall not be protected anew in that
country.

The application of this principle shall take effect accord-
ing to the stipulations contained in special Conventions
existing, or to be concluded, to that effect between coun-
tries of the Union. In the absence of such stipulations,
the respective countries shall regulate, each in so far as it
is concerned, the manner in which the said principle is to
be applied.

The above provisions shall apply equally in case of new
accessions to the Union, and also in the event of the term
of protection being extended by the application of Ar-
ticle 7.

Article 19.

The provisions of the present Convention shall not pre-
vent a claim being made for the application of any wider
provisions which may be made by the legislation of a
country of the Union in favour of foreigners in general.

Article 20.

The Governments of the countries of the Union reserve
to themselves the right to enter into special arrangements
between each other, provided always that such arrange-
ments confer upon authors more extended rights than
those granted by the Union, or embody other stipulations
not contrary to the present Convention. The provisions
of existing arrangements which answer to the above-men-
tioned conditions shall remain applicable.

Article 21.

The International Office established under the name of
the “Office of the International Union for the Protection
of Literary and Artistic Works” shall be maintained.

That Office is placed under the high authority of the
Government of the Swiss Confederation, which regulates
its organization and supervises its working.

The official language of the Office shall be French.

Article 22.

The International Office collects every kind of informa-
tion relative to the protection of the rights of authors over
their literary and artistic works. It arranges and pub-
lishes such information. It undertakes the study of ques-
tions of general interest concerning the Union, and by the
aid of documents placed at its disposal by the different
Administrations, edits a periodical publication in the
French language on the questions which concern the ob-
jects of the Union. The Governments of the countries of
the Union reserve to themselves the power to authorize by
common accord the publication by the Office of an edition
in one or more other languages, if experience should show
this to be requisite.

The International Office will always hold itself at the
disposal of members of the Union with the view to fur-
nish them with any special information which they may
require relative to the protection of literary and artistic
works.

The Director of the International Office shall make an
annual Report on his Administration, which shall be com-
municated to all the members of the Union.

Article 23.

The expenses of the Office of the International Union
shall be shared by the contracting States. Until a fresh
arrangement be made they cannot exceed the sum of
60,000 francs a year. This sum may be increased, if neces-
sary, by the simple decision of one of the Conferences pro-
vided for in Article 24.

The share of the total expense to be paid by each country
shall be determined by the division of the contracting and
acceding countries into six classes, each of which shall
contribute in the proportion of a certain number of units,
viz. :—

1st class .. .. .. .. 25 units.
2nd ,, .. .. .. .. 20 ,,
3rd ,, .. .. .. .. 15 ,,
4th ,, .. .. .. .. 10 ,,
5th ,, .. .. .. .. 5 ,,
6th ,, .. .. .. .. 3 ,,

These coefficients are multiplied by the number of coun-
tries of each class, and the total product thus obtained
gives the number of units by which the total expenses is
to be divided. The quotient gives the amount of the unit
of expense.

Each country shall declare, at the time of its accession,
in which of the said classes it desires to be placed.

The Swiss Administration prepares the Budget of the
Office, superintends its expenditure, makes the necessary
advances, and draws up the annual account which shall
be communicated to all the other Administrations.

Article 24.

The present Convention may be submitted to revisions in
order to introduce therein amendments calculated to per-
fect the system of the Union.

Questions of this kind, as well as those which are of
interest to the Union in other respects, shall be considered
in Conferences to be held successively in the countries of
the Union by delegates of the said countries. The Ad-
ministration of the country where a Conference is to meet
prepares, with the assistance of the International Office,
the programme of the Conference. The Director of the
Office shall attend at the sittings of the Conferences, and
shall take part in the discussions without the right to vote.

No alteration in the present Convention shall be binding
on the Union except by the unanimous consent of the
countries composing it.

Article 25.

States outside the Union which make provision for the
legal protection of the rights forming the object of the
present Convention may accede thereto on request to that
effect.

Such accession shall be notified in writing to the Govern-
ment of the Swiss Confederation, who will communicate
it to all the other countries of the Union.

Such accession shall imply full adhesion to all the
clauses and admission to all the advantages provided by
the present Convention. It may, nevertheless, contain an
indication of the provisions of the Convention of the 9th
September, 1886, or of the Additional Act of the 4th May,
1896, which they may judge necessary to substitute, pro-
visionally at least, for the corresponding provisions of the
present Convention.

Article 26.

Contracting countries shall have the right to accede to
the present Convention at any time for their Colonies or
foreign possessions.

They may do this either by a general Declaration com-
prising in the accession all their Colonies or possessions, or
by specially naming those comprised therein, or by simply
indicating those which are excluded.

Such Declaration shall be notified in writing to the Go-
vernment of the Swiss Confederation, who will communi-
cate it to all the other countries of the Union.

Article 27.

The present Convention shall replace, in regard to the
relations between the Contracting States, the Convention
of Berne of the 9th September, 1886, including the Addi-
tional Article and the Final Protocol of the same date,
as well as the Additional Act and the Interpretative De-
claration of the 4th May, 1896. These instruments shall
remain in force in regard to relations with States which do
not ratify the present Convention.

The Signatory States of the present Convention may de-
clare at the exchange of ratifications that they desire to
remain bound, as regards any specific point, by the provi-
sions of the Conventions which they have previously
signed.

Article 28.

The present Convention shall be ratified, and the rati-
fications exchanged at Berlin not later than the 1st July,
1910.

Each Contracting Party shall, as regards the exchange
of ratifications, deliver a single instrument, which shall
be deposited with those of the other countries in the
archives of the Government of the Swiss Confederation.
Each party shall receive in return a copy of the procès-
verbal of the exchange of ratifications signed by the Pleni-
potentiaries who took part.

Article 29.

The present Convention shall be put in force three
months after the exchange of ratifications, and shall re-
main in force for an indefinite period until the termina-
tion of a year from the day on which it may have been
denounced.

Such denunciation shall be made to the Government of
the Swiss Confederation. It shall only take effect in re-
gard to the country making it, the Convention remaining
in full force and effect for the other countries of the
Union.