Copyright Act 1911 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which received Royal Assent on December 16, 1911,[1] and came in to force on 1 July 1912.

It rewrote Copyright law of the United Kingdom, as recommended by a Royal Commission in 1878[2] and repealed all previous copyright legislation that had been in force in the UK.[3] The act also implemented changes arsising from the first revision of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works in 1908.[4]

In Israel the Copyright Act 1911, as amended, remains the governing statute.[5]

The act

In the two centuries after the Statute of Anne of 1709, which afforded copyright protection to books, other works were afforded copyright protection either through case law, as in the case of music, or through Acts of Parliament, as in the case of engravings, paintings, drawings and photographs.[6] The Copyright Act 1911 consolidated previous copyright statutes, such as the Engraving Copyright Act 1734 and the Fine Arts Copyright Act 1862.[7] Apart from minor exceptions the Copyright Act 1911 repeales all previous copyright legislation and established a single statute for all copyrighted work. It abbolished the need for registration at the Stationers' Hall and established that copyright is established upon the creation of a work. However, the Copyright Act 1911 was brought into force at different times in the Commonwealth, hence entry at Stationers' Hall continued to be required in some Commonwealth countries for years after 1911.[8] The UK implemented the Berne Convention in the 1911 Act, which abolished the common law copyright in unpublished works and responded to technological developments by conferring copyright on a new type of works not mentioned in the Berne Convention, namely sound recordings.[9]

Summary of changes

Wikisource has original works by or about:
Evan James Macgillivray

British lawyer Evan James Macgillivray summarised the changes in the introduction of his annotated edition of the 1911 Act as follows[2]:

The principal changes which the Act will effect upon the existing law may be briefly summarised —

  1. Extension of the term of copyright to life and fifty years (Subject to certain exceptions).
  2. Provision that the last twenty-five years of the term of copyright shall be unassignable by the author during his lifetime.
  3. Provision that during the last twenty-five years any person may reproduce a work without consent on payment of a ten per cent royalty.
  4. Exclusive right of dramatising and translating secured to the author.
  5. Dramatic works entitled to protection include pieces in dumb show, ballets and cinematograph productions, and the copyright is infringed by the making or exhibiting of unauthorised cinematograph films.
  6. Subject to the right in certain circumstances of making records upon payment of a royalty, the composer of a musical composition gets the sole right of adapting his composition for use upon mechanical instruments.
  7. Subject to limitations in respect of remedies, and to the right of making paintings, drawings, engravings or photographs of any architectural work, architectural works are included among artistic works entitled to protection.
  8. Taking of short passages for insertion in school books is permitted.
  9. Subject to conditions and limitations, an exclusive right of oral delivery is conferred in respect of non-dramatic works, such as lectures, speeches and sermons.
  10. Summary remedies, hitherto confined to infringements of musical works, are made applicable to all classes of works, and to infringements of performing rights, but the remedies are not so complete as in the case of musical works.
  11. The National Library of Wales is, subject to limitations, included as one of the libraries entitled to free copies of books from the publishers.
  12. Copyright subsists from the time a work is created, the condition of protection being, in the case of an unpublished work, that the author is a British subject or resident, and in the case of a published work, that it was first published within the dominions to which the Act applies.
  13. Common law right in unpublished works is abrogated, but in the case of a literary, dramatic, or musical work, or an engraving, copyright subsists until publication notwithstanding the expiration of the period of life and fifty years, and if publication is posthumous, then for fifty years after publication.
  14. No copyright vests in the proprietor of a collective work unless the author is employed under a contract of service or apprenticeship, or there is an assignment in writing; and when the copyright vests in the proprietor of a periodical by reason of a contract of service or apprenticeship, the author may restrain separate publication.
  15. The passing of the copyright by reason of the work having been executed on commission is confined to the cases of engravings, photographs and portraits.
  16. The self-governing dominions are given a free hand in copyright matters. Each dominion may adopt or reject the Imperial Act as it pleases. Similarly, each dominion may adhere to the Revised Convention or to the original Berne Convention, or it may decline to adhere to either, and so place itself in the position of a non-union country.

Influence of the act

The Copyright Act 1911 provided the template for an approach to copyright exceptions where a specific list of exceptions carefully defines permitted uses of the copyrighted work. The 1911 Act formed the basis of UK copyright law and as an imperial measure formed the basis for copyright law in most former British colonies and dominions. While many of these countries have had their own copyright law for a considerable number of years, most have followed the imperial model developed in 1911. Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, Singapore and South Africa define the limits on and exceptions to copyright by providing an exhaustive list of specifically defined exceptions.[10]

Commonwealth approach to exceptions

This "Commonwealth approach" to copyright is in contrast with that adopted in US copyright law. US copyright does contain a number of specific exceptions, as well as providing for a fair use defence in section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976. The Section provides a list of illustrative example of uses under this defence, such as criticism, comment and research. In contrast to the Commonwealth fair dealing exceptions, the fair use defence allows US courts to find that a defendant's use is fair and hence not an infringement of copyright, even though the use does not fall within the statutory list provided for in Section 107.[11]

References

  1. ^ Royal Assent
  2. ^ a b Macgillivray, E. J., The copyright act, 1911, annotated, 1912
  3. ^ Coyle, Michael (23 April 2002). "The History of Copyright". Lawdit. Retrieved 6 March 2010.
  4. ^ Coyle, Michael (23 April 2002). "The History of Copyright". Lawdit. Retrieved 6 March 2010.
  5. ^ Burrell, Robert (2005). Copyright exceptions: the digital impact. Cambridge University Press. p. 249. ISBN 9780521847261. ((cite book)): Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ Torremans, Paul (2007). Copyright law: a handbook of contemporary research. Edward Elgar Publishing. p. 9. ISBN 1845424875, 9781845424879. ((cite book)): Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
  7. ^ Mooney Cotter, Anne-Marie (2003). Intellectual Property Law. Routledge Cavendish. p. 4. ISBN 1859418058, 9781859418055. ((cite book)): Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
  8. ^ Arnold-Baker, Charles (2001). The companion to British history. Routledge. p. 360. ISBN 0415185831, 9780415185837. ((cite book)): Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
  9. ^ MacQueen, Hector L.; Waelde, Charlotte; Graeme T., Laurie (2007). Contemporary Intellectual Property: law and policy. Oxford University Press. p. 38. ISBN 0199263396, 9780199263394. ((cite book)): Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
  10. ^ Burrell, Robert (2005). Copyright exceptions: the digital impact. Cambridge University Press. p. 249. ISBN 9780521847261. ((cite book)): Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ Burrell, Robert (2005). Copyright exceptions: the digital impact. Cambridge University Press. p. 249. ISBN 9780521847261. ((cite book)): Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

External links

Law of the United Kingdom
Categories