The
Patent Office
Annadele Bouch
Hong Kong Department
Foreign and Commonwealth Department London SW1A 2AH
Intellectual Property Policy Directorate
Hazlitt House
45 Southampton Buildings London WC2A 1AR United Kingdom
Enquiries
071-438 4777
Telex 498040 PATOFF G Fax 071-438 4780/4713
Direct line 071-438 4756 Our ref IPP 36862
Your ref
Date 29 June 1993
Dear Annadele.
HKC 031/15
AUG 1993
HONG KONG: SUBSCRIPTION TELEVISION COPYRIGHT PROTECTION
1.
Further to your letter dated 25 June to Peter Britton and our telephone conversation this morning, please find attached a copy of the letter dated 11 July 1990 from Mr Whormersley to Daleep Mangat. You will note in paragraph 5 that a draft order to extend the (copyright) provisions of the Cable and Broadcasting Act 1984 to Hong Kong was to be prepared by FCO legal advisors. I can find no trace of such a draft ever reaching us here and Mr Mangat cannot recall anything either.
2. I have also spoken to Mr Mangat about the responsibility for extending all or part of the Copyright Act 1956 to other countries including Hong Kong. (The Cable and Broadcasting Act 1984 effectively amended the 1956 Act so an extension to Hong Kong of these amendments to the 1956 Act is now necessary.) He has pointed out that the FCO has been responsible for drafting orders to achieve this in the past (and this is borne out by Mr Whormersley's letter) and that FCO legal advisors have insisted that this is the correct approach. We are, however, pleased to be shown any drafts and would be glad to offer comments.
3.
Unless your legal advisor is able to locate the draft order indicated in Mr Whormersley's paragraph 5, it looks rather unlikely that an order can be ready to be submitted to the July Privy Council. However, you might be interested to note that, whilst current copyright law in Hong Kong provides no protection for cable television programmes as such, many of the elements in a cable television programme, such as the music, script, sound recordings and films, are protected. As I
An Executive Agency of the Department of Trade and Industry
Page 135Page 136
TICS 3168a