Shostakovich and John Huston:The French Supreme Court on Copyright, Contracts and Moral Rights

Shostakovich and John Huston:The French Supreme Court on Copyright, Contracts and Moral Rights
Andre´ Bertrand

ISBN 978-90-411-3343-4
Kluwer Law International BV, The Netherlands

It must never be forgotten that the word and concept of copyright are only used in English-speaking common law countries. Civil-law countries, and therefore most countries around the world, use the word and the concept of authors’ rights, in French droit d’auteur, in Spanish derecho de autor, in German Urheberrecht, etc. Historically, French law has played an important role in the field of author’s rights, owing to the fact that the French law of 19–24 July 1793 on the property rights of authors, was enforced in the years following in all the European countries part of the Empire founded by Napoleon. Thus, for example, even though the French army was only able to secure its control over Portugal for a few months, not only did Portugal adopt this French law, but it also came into effect until 1851 in Brazil, a former Portuguese colony.