La Rivista del diritto commerciale e il diritto d’autore in Europa nei primi decenni del Novecento

The author focuses on the role played by the Rivista del diritto commerciale with regard to the authors’ rights in the first three decades of the 20th century. Indeed, between 1903 and the promulgation of the 1941 law, authors’ rights in Italy and Europe are featured by some major issues, relating to the uniformity of their duration, to the rise of moral rights, and to the internationalization process. In particular, the Rivista follows and at times influences the formation and development of authors’ rights in the following three moments. The first (1903-1915) is characterized by the tendency to standardize duration along with the analysis of new means of reproduction and their impact on case law; the second (1916-1926) by the study and commentary of the drafts and the new 1925 law, which saw the triumph of moral rights; the third (1927-1939) by the affirmation of the internationalization of authors’ rights, especially during the Roman revision of the Berne Convention. In that period, the Rivista represented undoubtedly a point of reference for legal science and case law in the field of authors’ rights, highlighting some of their key and most significant aspects.