The Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) presents his compliments to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and has the honor to notify him of the deposit by the Government of the German Democratic Republic, on November 16, 1977, of its instrument of accession to the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works of September 9, 1886, as revised at Paris on July 24, 1971.
This instrument of accession was accompanied by the following declaration:
"The German Democratic Republic does not consider itself bound by the provisions of article 33, paragraph 1, of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works of 9 September 1886, revised at Paris on 24 July 1971, which provides that any dispute concerning the interpretation and application of this Convention, which is not settled by negotiation, shall at the request of any one of the parties to the dispute be referred to the International Court of Justice for decision, unless all the parties to the dispute stipulate another arrangement.
"With regard to the competence of the International Court of Justice the German Democratic Republic holds the view that in each individual case the consent of all parties to the dispute is necessary in order to refer a specific dispute to the International Court of Justice for decision." (Translation)
Furthermore, the said instrument of accession was accompanied by the following declaration:
"The German Democratic Republic, in its attitude towards article 31 of the Convention, in so far as it concerns the application of the Convention to colonial and other dependent territories, is guided by the stipulations of the United Nations Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples (res. 1514 (XV) of 14 December 1960), which proclaims the necessity of bringing to a speedy and unconditional end colonialism in all its forms and manifestations." (Translation)
The Paris Act (1971) of the said Convention will enter into force, with respect to the German Democratic Republic, three months after the date of this notification, that is, on February 18, 1978.
November 18, 1977