Law Dictionary Definitions

Berne Convention.Copyright. An international copyright treaty providing that works created by citizens of one signatory nation will be fully protected in other signatory nations, without the need for local formalities. • The treaty was drafted in Berne in 1886 and revised in Berlin in 1908. It is now administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization…

Berne Additional Protocol.Copyright. A 1914 amendment to the Berne Convention providing for reprisals against a foreign national who publishes simultaneously in both a member nation and the author’s own nonmember and nonreciprocating country. • The reprisal was aimed at the United States, which until 1989 refused to join the Berne Convention but whose citizens could…

Berlin Act.Copyright. A 1908 revision of the Berne Convention prohibiting formalities as a requirement for copyright protection, recommending (but not requiring) a term of protection equal to the life of the author plus 50 years, and expanding the types of works eligible for copyright protection. • Motion pictures were included in copyright protection for the…

bequest (bi-kwest), n.1. The act of giving property (usu. personal property) by will. [Cases: Wills  1. C.J.S. Wills §§ 1, 3, 174.] 2. Property (usu. personal property other than money) disposed of in a will. — Also termed bequeathal (bi-kwee-th<<schwa>>l). Cf. DEVISE; LEGACY. charitable bequest.A bequest given to a philanthropic organization. See CHARITABLE ORGANIZATION. [Cases:…

bequeathal. See BEQUEST. [Blacks Law 8th]

bequeath (bi-kweeth), vb.1. To give property (usu. personal property) by will. [Cases: Wills  1. C.J.S. Wills §§ 1, 3, 174.] 2.Hist. To assign or transfer real or personal property by formal declaration, either inter vivos or after death.[Blacks Law 8th]

BEP.abbr.BUREAU OF ENGRAVING AND PRINTING. [Blacks Law 8th]

Benthamite,adj. Of or relating to the utilitarian theory of Jeremy Bentham. See hedonistic utilitarianism under UTILITARIANISM.[Blacks Law 8th]

Benthamism. See hedonistic utilitarianism under UTILITARIANISM.[Blacks Law 8th]

benevolent society.See benevolent association under ASSOCIATION.[Blacks Law 8th]