The Copyright Act 1911 (1 & 2 Geo. 5. c. 46), also known as the Imperial Copyright Act 1911, was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which received royal assent on 16 December 1911. The act established copyright law in the United Kingdom and the British Empire. The act amended existing UK copyright law, as recommended by a royal commission in 1878Macgillivray, E. J., The copyright act, 1911, annotated, 1912 and repealed all previous copyright legislation that had been in force in the UK. The act also implemented changes arising from the first revision of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works in 1908.
The act came into force in the UK on 1 July 1912, in the Channel Islands (except Jersey) on 1 July 1912, in Jersey on 8 March 1913, and in the Isle of Man on 5 July 1912. The Copyright Act 1911 applied or extended to all parts of the British Empire. In India the act came into force on 30 October 1912 (with some modifications in terms of its application to Indian law enacted in 1914), in Burma (then a province of British India) on 24 February 1914, in Papua on 1 February 1931, and all other British possessions on 1 July 1912. It was subsequently enacted on various dates in the self-governing dominions and "territories under protection" of the British Empire. The (SR&O 1924/385) covered Mandatory Palestine and later the State of Israel, where in the latter it remained the governing statute until the Israeli Copyright Law 2007 took effect on 25 May 2008.
Provisions In the two centuries after the Statute of Anne of 1710, 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, in legislation such as the Engraving Copyright Act 1734 (8 Geo. 2. c. 13) and the Fine Arts Copyright Act 1862 (25 & 26 Vict. c. 68).
The act consolidated previous copyright statutes, and apart from some minor exceptions, repealed all previous copyright legislation and established a single statute covering all forms of copyright.
The act implemented the Berne Convention, which abolished the common law copyright in unpublished works and responded to technological developments by conferring copyright on a new type of works not mentioned in the Berne Convention, namely sound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.
The act abolished the need for registration at the Stationers' Hall and provided that copyright is established upon the creation of a work. However, as the 1911 act came into effect at different times in different countries of the British Empire, registration at Stationers' Hall continued to be required in some Commonwealth countries after 1911. The act also stated that copyright arose in the act of creation, not the act of publishing.
The scope of copyright was further widened and producers of sound recordings were granted the exclusive right to prevent others reproducing their recordings, or playing them in public. The act provided that the copyright in literary, dramatic and music works could be infringed by the making of a film or other mechanical performance incorporating the copyrighted works.
In Israel, the bulk of amendments were made by the Knesset not to the 1911 act itself, but to the Copyright Ordinance 1924 that accompanied it, resulting in a situation in which the two legal instruments were in conflict – for instance, while the act set a copyright term of 50 years after the author's death, the ordinance set a term of 70. Because the Knesset did not amend the act to respond to further technological developments, the courts had to apply the act's definitions, which were centered on artistic works, or types of works not mentioned in it – for instance, phone books, newspapers, restaurant menus and even the codes of computer programs were legally deemed "books" for copyright purposes, regardless of their (usually nonexistent) artistic value. These "stretched-boundaries" definitions are maintained in the Copyright Law 5778–2007.Copyright Act 5778-2007, Section 1: "In this Act -..."Literary work" – including works expressed in writing, lectures, tables, compilations, and computer programs"
The last country of the former British Empire to repeal the 1911 act was Myanmar, whose parliament ratified a new, unified copyright law on 24 May 2019, repealing both the said act as well as the Burma Merchandise Marks Act of 1889 and an outdated definition of "trademark" from the Burma Penal Code of 1861.
Summary of changes British lawyer Evan James MacGillivray summarised the changes in the introduction of his annotated edition of the act as follows:
Repealed enactments Section 36 of the act repealed 21 enactments, listed in the second schedule to the act.
CitationShort titleExtent of repeal8 Geo. 2. c. 13Engraving Copyright Act 1734The whole act.7 Geo. 3. c. 38Engraving Copyright Act 1767The whole act.15 Geo. 3. c. 53Copyright Act 1775The whole act.17 Geo. 3. c. 57Prints Copyright Act 1777The whole act.54 Geo. 3. c. 56Sculpture Copyright Act 1814The whole act.3 & 4 Will. 4. c. 15Dramatic Copyright Act 1833The whole act.5 & 6 Will. 4. c. 65Lectures Copyright Act 1835The whole act.6 & 7 Will. 4. c. 59Prints and Engravings Copyright (Ireland) Act 1836The whole act.6 & 7 Will. 4. c. 110Copyright Act 1836The whole act.5 & 6 Vict. c. 45Copyright Act 1842The whole act.7 & 8 Vict. c. 12International Copyright Act 1844The whole act.10 & 11 Vict. c. 95Colonial Copyright Act 1847The whole act.15 & 16 Vict. c. 12International Copyright Act 1852The whole act.25 & 26 Vict. c. 68Fine Arts Copyright Act 1862Sections one to six. In section eight the words "and pursuant to any Act for the protection of copyright engravings," and "and in any such Act as aforesaid,." Sections nine to twelve.38 & 39 Vict. c. 12International Copyright Act 1875The whole act.39 & 40 Vict. c. 36Customs Consolidation Act 1876Section forty-two, from "Books wherein" to "such copyright will expire." Sections forty-four, forty-five, and one hundred and fifty-two.45 & 46 Vict. c. 40Copyright (Musical Compositions) Act 1882The whole act.49 & 50 Vict. c. 33International Copyright Act 1886The whole act.51 & 52 Vict. c. 17Copyright (Musical Compositions) Act 1888The whole act.52 & 53 Vict. c. 42Revenue Act 1889Section one, from "Books first published" to "as provided in that section."6 Edw. 7. c. 36Musical Copyright Act 1906In section three the words "and which has been registered in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act, 1841, or of the International Copyright Act, 1844, which registration may be effected notwithstanding anything in the International Copyright Act, 1886."
Imperial copyright act
With the exception of provisions that were expressly restricted to the United Kingdom by the act, all provisions of the Copyright Act 1911 applied "throughout His Majesty's dominions" and self-governing dominions if enacted by the parliament of that dominion without modifications that were not necessary to adapt the act "to the circumstances of the dominion". The Copyright Act 1911 was adapted to circumstances and enacted by the then self-governing dominions of Australia (Copyright Act 1912), Newfoundland (the 1912 Copyright Act2 Geo. 5, c. 5, April 18, 1912, "The Act of the Imperial Parliament 1 and 2 George V., chapter 46, entitled 'An act to Amend and Consolidate the Law relating to Copyright' and all the provisions thereof except such as are expressly restricted to the United Kingdom by the said Act shall be in force throughout the Colony of Newfoundland.". Consolidated Statues of Newfoundland (third series), c. 153, 1919. Via Memorial University of Newfoundland Digital Archives Initiative.) and the Union of South Africa (Patents, Designs, Trade Marks and Copyright Act 1916). The Copyright Act 1911 also provided that the UK Secretary of State could certify copyright laws passed in any self-governing dominion if the copyright legislation was “substantially identical” to those of the Copyright Act 1911. Though the Secretary of State could certify copyright law even if their provisions on copyright enforcement and the restriction on importation of works manufactured in “foreign countries” were not identical to that of the Copyright Act 1911. Such self-governing dominions were then treated as if the Copyright Act 1911 extended to the self-governing dominion. The Secretary of State certified the copyright laws of New Zealand (New Zealand Copyright Act 1913, certified April 1914) and Canada (Copyright Act of Canada 1921, certified 1924).
The act also provided that “His Majesty may, by Order in Council, extend this Act to any territories under his protection and to Cyprus” and the act would then apply to these countries as if they were dominions of the British Empire. In 1912 an Order in Council extended the Copyright Act 1911 to Cyprus and the following territories: Bechuanaland, East Africa, The Gambia, the Gilbert and Ellice Islands, Northern Nigeria, the Northern Territories of the Gold Coast, Nyasaland, Northern Rhodesia, Southern Rhodesia, Sierra Leone, Somaliland, Southern Nigeria, the Solomon Islands, Swaziland, Uganda and Weihaiwei. The Copyright Act 1911 was extended to Palestine by an Order in Council in 1924, it was extended to Tanganyika by an Order in Council in 1924 and 1931, it was extended to the Federated Malay States by an Order in Council in 1931 and 1932, and it was extended to the Cameroons under British Mandate by an Order in Council in 1933.
Influence The act provided the template for an approach to copyright exceptions where a specific list of exceptions carefully defines permitted uses of the copyrighted work. The act formed the basis of UK copyright law and, as an imperial measure, formed the basis for copyright law in most of what were then 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.
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.
Subsequent developments The whole act, except sections 15, 34, and 37, was repealed for the United Kingdom by section 50(2) of, and the ninth schedule to, the Copyright Act 1956 (4 & 5 Eliz. 2. c. 74), which came into force on 1 June 1957.
Sections 34 and 37(2) of the act was subsequently repealed for the United Kingdom by section 1(1) of, and part VI of schedule 1 to, the Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1986, which received royal assent on 2 May 1986.
Section 15 of the act was repealed for the United Kingdom by section 16(1) of, and the schedule to, the Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003, which came into force on 1 February 2004.
Section 37(1), which provides the act's short title, is the only unrepealed provision of the act, meaning that the act is treated as repealed for the United Kingdom.
See also Crown copyright Copyright Act 1842 Copyright Act 1956 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 Copyright law of the United Kingdom
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