In Hong Kong the position would be, if the draft Order in
Council is promulgated and the draft Bill becomes law, that the
operator of a relay service in Hong Kong would need to obtain licences,
where he relays broadcasts originating in Hong Kong, both in respect
of the broadcasts themselves and in respect of the works broadcast,
subject to a possible exception in respect of a gramophone record which
is not a Hong Kong record.
In summary, therefore, a relay operator is concerned with the
copyright in the broadcast itself and in the works broadcast and, whereas
in the United Kingdom no licences to relay are necessary, in Hong Kong
licences to relay in respect of the broadcasts themselves and the works
broadcast will be necessary if the present proposals go through.
It is, perhaps, pertinent to conclude this Memorandum by
pointing out that, the United Kingdom instrument of ratification of the
European Agreement on the Protection of Television Broadcasts (Strasbourg
June 22nd 1960) was made subject to certain reservations, including the
withholding of that part of the protection provided by the Agreement in
respect of television broadcasts which gave broadcasting organisations
the right to authorise or prohibit the relay of such broadcasts.
7.
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