The Rome Convention of 1961

Abstract

Abstract As compared to the Berne Convention, the Rome Convention provides for a much easier system for the application of national treatment and minimum rights: it defines national treatment2 and determines the criteria of eligibility for protection, supplemented by definitions,3 but does not employ the concept of country of origin.4 The criteria of eligibility are listed separately5 for performers, phonogram producers, and broadcasting organizations. The indicated criteria apply alternatively; accordingly, it is sufficient for the application of the Convention to a performer, for example, if one of the three conditions (a), (b), or (c) under Article 4 of the Rome Convention is fulfilled. All criteria of eligibility show that the intention of the drafters was to make the Rome Convention applic able only to international situations, as is the case of the Berne Convention.6 At the same time, also as under the Berne Convention, Contracting States regularly have decided to grant the minimum standards of the Convention not only in international situations but also in domestic ones, in order to avoid any discrimination of their own right holders.