The author takes a view that a general provision, which would constitute a basis for the application of or giving an effect to the overriding mandatory provisions of the forum or of a third country, should be included in the new act on private international law. This conclusion is preceded by a historical and comparative analysis of the concept of the overriding mandatory provisions. The author presents the differences between art. 7 of the Rome Convention and art. 9 of the Regulation Rome I, and takes a position that the former is to be preferred. This is particularly because of the possibility to give an effect to the overriding mandatory provisions of the third country. Therefore, it should be seen as one of the advantages of the draft of the new private international law, that art. 9 of the draft, which concerns the overriding mandatory provisions, is modeled rather after art. 7 of the Convention and not after art. 9 of the Regulation Rome I. The author makes also a proposition how the terms such as “country where the obligations arising out of the contract are performed” and “unlawfulness of the performance of the contract”, as provided for in art. 9(3) of the Regulation, should be interpreted, in order to achieve the effect that the said provision could be understood as similar to art. 7(1) of the Convention as possible.

A work made for hire under the United States Copyright Act of 1976 is — (1) a work prepared by an employee within the scope of his or her employment; or (2) a work specially ordered or commissioned for use as a contribution to a collective work, as a part of a motion picture or other audiovisual work, as a translation, as a supplementary work, as a compilation, as an instructional text, as a test, as answer material for a test, or as an atlas, if the parties expressly agree in a written instrument signed by them that the work shall be considered a work made for hire. (17 U.S.C. § 101)
The first situation applies only when the work’s creator is an employee, not an independent
contractor. The determination of whether an individual is an employee for the purposes of the work made for hire doctrine is determined under the common law of agency, in which a court looks to a multitude of factors to determine whether an employer‑employee relationship exists. On the other hand, if the work is created by an independent contractor or freelancer, the work may be considered a work for hire only if all of the following conditions are met:
— the work must come within one of the nine limited categories of works listed in the definition above, namely (1) a contribution to a collective work, (2) a part of a motion picture or other audiovisual work, (3) a translation, (4) a supplementary work, (5) a compilation, (6) an instructional text, (7) a test, (8) answer material for a test, (9) an atlas;
— the work must be specially ordered or commissioned;
— there must be a written agreement between the parties specifying that the work is a work made for hire.
In the United States a work for hire (published after 1978) receives copyright protection until 120 years after creation or 95 years after publication, whichever comes first. This differs from the standard U.S. copyright term of life of the author plus 70 years because the „author” of a work for hire is often not an actual person, in which case the standard term would be unlimited, which is unconstitutional (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Work_for_hire — cite_note‑Circ09‑2).

The paper aims to present a comparative law study on the issue of arbitrability, which defines the material scope of arbitration and constitutes the basis for the jurisdiction of the arbitration court, in the legal systems of Germany and Switzerland. In the opinion of the author the rules on arbitrability in the law of these two abovementioned states have been more accurate than the one existing in the Polish law. The analysis of Polish legal doctrine shows that since the amendment of the Polish Law on Civil Procedure the issue of arbitrability has been strongly debated due to the ambiguous wording of the provision thereon. According to a view prevailing in the Polish jurisprudence, under Polish law the disputes are arbitrable, if the issue of the accordant dispute may be settled by agreement of the parties. In view of the author the criterion chosen by the Polish legislator unnecessarily narrows the scope of arbitrability. In the light of the existing strong tendency in the arbitration practice to expand the scope of the disputes that are arbitrable, which may be observed in the law of Germany and Switzerland, the interpretation of the Polish provision on arbitrability needs to be revised.

Description of the legal rules binding in the Norwegian private international law may be interesting lecture not only for academics, but also for ordinary citizens. This is due to the fact that in Norway nearly 12% of the total population constitutes foreigners. Immigrants living in Norway come from 216 countries from all over the world. It is worth to noticed that the citizens of the Poland embraces the largest group of immigrants living in Norway and represents nearly 50,000 people. Due to such large ethnic differences in Norway exist a big need for frequent application of the rules of private international law by Norwegian courts. The aim of this paper is to introduce to the Polish reader the system of private international law in Norway. The article has been written mostly based on Norwegian literature and case law. The legal principles found in the Norwegian private international law has been described in general terms, without going into specific issues. First and foremost this paper contains a description of legal rules in Norwegian international private law such: contractual and non‑contractual law, family law, inheritance law, property law and the right of life insurance law. Problematic of application by the Kingdom of Norway the legal rules binding in the European Union is also diseussed. The significance of creation the rules of Norwegian international private law by Norwegian case‑law and the viewpoints of doctrine relevant in this respect has also been depicted. This is due to the fact that the use of certain legal provisions requires a theoretical support gives by the doctrine — for example, the public policy (ordre public), and practical support through the creation of legal rules by courts. This is especially needed in those parts of international private law, in which there are legal gaps such in contractual and non‑contractual obligations.

Ten years after the civil pact of solidarity was created, on the 12th of May, 2009 French legislator introduced the new rule of private international law that indicates the law applicable to the conclusion, the effects and the resolution of registered partnership. However, it was Belgium that decided to take this step earlier, in 2004. According to the corresponding regulation of Belgium, “the relation of common life” is submitted to the law of the estate in which registration of union took place for the first time. This solution was criticized by some representatives of Belgian doctrine, but finally it won with the concept of making the conflict rules concerning registered partnerships similar to those regarding marriage as far as it is justified. In France it was also the lex loci registrationis admitted as the law applicable to the extramarital registered unions. Despite the difficulties generated ineluctably for practicians by this solution, the introduction of the new conflict rule was estimated as significant not only in French literature, but also internationally.

The commented judgement concerns the transcription of foreign certificate of personal status (marriage certficate) that is regulated in article 73 sec. 1 of Act on Personal Status Registration (p.a.s.c). The Supreme Court stated that in frames of the transcription of the marriage certificate it is not allowed to change the surname of the married woman that was palced in the certificate. In this case the problem was about the replacement of the ending from „cki” into „cka”. The thesis should be assessed positively. In the reasons for the sentence the Supreme Court have also taken a stand concerning some significant issues. It should be also approved the opinion of the Supreme Court that the impact of the contracting marriage on the surname — because of the lack of the regulation in Private International Law Act of 1965 — it should be assessed according to the law applicable for the effects of the contract of the marriage ( it is indicated in article 17 of the Private International Law Act of 1965). The place of residence as the connecting factor included in conflict of law rule from article 17 paragraph 3 of Private International Law Act of 1965 should be interpreted autonomous to the use of the abovementioned rule. It is not recommended the imputation of the decisive role of the registration as the act of the public law. The Supreme Court, unnecessarily referred to the overriding mandatory rules, when trying to find the legal basis of apllication of article 73 sec. 1 p.o.s.c. Nevertheless, the Supreme Court correctly included the surname to the personal interests that is protected not only by the civil law rules but also by the rules of the Constitution and by the rules of some of the Conventions.