 For Russian and Soviet work that originated in Russia, this was just a restatement of article 18(1) of the Berne Convention; but as far as foreign works were concerned, this reservation effectively denied the retroactivity of the Berne Convention within Russia.This was of some importance because of the issue of foreign works published before May 27, 1973, when the USSR had joined the UCC.Such works had never been eligible to copyright in the Soviet Union or in Russia.