No. 1027.
Mr. Winchester to Mr. Bayard.
Berne, December 9, 1887. (Received December 27.)
Sir: The international convention upon copyrights, settled at the conferences held here in 1885–’86, the ratifications of which were completed on September 5, came into operation on last Monday. A schedule of twenty-one articles is appended to the order giving it validity.
Russia, Holland, Austria, Greece, and the United States with the Scandinavian Kingdoms, are the important countries not belonging to the bund. The failure of the United States to join the union continues to be regarded as depriving the convention of its chief value.
Some profess to think the practical working of the union will soon change the whole aspect of the question of international copyright, and as its operation is to be discussed at periodical conferences, it is predicted [Page 1512] that at one of these a representative of the United States will ask the delegates to find a place for him, and thus one of its greatest defects will quietly come to an end.
The bureau to be established under the authority of the Swiss Government has not been organized yet, and will not be for sometime, probably the latter part of next year.
The bureau having no administrative functions, its immediate existence is not essential for the working of the convention.
I am, etc.,