um C.O.88
-885
13
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE | BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-
2
In accordance with the practice of the Board of Trade, a copy of the Newfoundland Act respecting copyright was forwarded to the Foreign Office, for their information, in a letter of which the following is a copy :-
SIR,
R. 5741.
Board of Trade, November 10, 1888.
REFERRING to previous communications on the subject of Colonial Copyright, 1 am directed by the Board of Trade to transmit herewith, for the information of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, a copy of a communication this Board have received from the Colonial Office, enclosing a print of an Act passed by the Legislature of Newfoundland, entitled the "Copyright Act, 1868."
I have, &c.,
The Under Secretary of State,
Foreign Office.
•
(Signed)
COURTENAY BOYLE.
The following is a copy of the reply received from the Foreign Office :—
SIR,
Foreign Office, November 13, 1888.
I AM directed by the Marquis of Salisbury to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 10th instant, enclosing a copy cf an Act passed by the Legislature of Newfoundland entitled the "Copyright Act, 1888," and I am to request that you will lay before the Board of Trade the following observations thereon :-
1. Under the terms of section 8 (4) of the International Copyright Act, 1886," Acts or Ordinances may be passed in a British Possession," respecting the copyright within the limits of such Possession of works first produced in that Possession, but with regard to works produced in other parts of the British Dominions, or in any State which is a party to the International Copyright Union, Lord Salisbury apprehends that the copyright protection to be accorded thereto in Newfoundland is regulated by the Imperial Copyright Acts.
2. Under the terms of the Imperial Copyright Acts such protection is afforded under widely different conditions to those imposed by the Newfoundland Act at present under consideration. For instance, it is not necessary that the work should be "printed and published, or reprinted and republished in Newfoundland," as provided in section 5 of the Newfoundland Act; and the term of protection accorded by the Imperial Acts is not identical with, and may in some cases exceed, the periods of 28 and 14 years specified in the Newfoundland Act, sections 4 and 17.
fo
3. Therefore the words in section 4 which relate to persons "domiciled in any part of the British Possessions" (save in Newfoundland) or citizen of
any has an International Copyright Treaty with the United Kingdom," seem to be unneces- any country which sary, the rights of such persons in Newfoundland being already determined by Imperial Legislation, the full effect of which cannot be curtailed or diminished by any Colonial Act, and it is to be observed that by the terms of the International Copyright Convention, it is not necessary that a work first published in any State of the Union Ehould be reprinted and republished in any part of Her Majesty's dominions in order to secure therein protection from piracy, the sole condition being that proof shall, if necessary, be forthcoming that a legal title to copyright in the work has been established in the country where it was first produced.
4. Lord Salisbury does not clearly understand whether the intention of the present Newfoundland Act is to override “ pro tanto "the Imperial Acts, but if so, some of its provisions would apparently be in contravention of those Imperial Acts, and would be an infraction of the International Copyright Convention.
As the matter is one of some complexity, his Lordship would suggest that the Board of Trade should consult the Law Officers of the Crown on this point before submitting any observations to Her Majesty's Secretary of State for the Colonies.
I am to request that, if the Board of Trade adopt this course, the result may be communicated to this Department.
The Secretary,
Board of Trade,
I am, &c., (Signed) P. W. CURHIE.
3
A copy of the above letter forwarded to the Colonial Office with a letter from the Board of Trade, of which the following is a copy :--
SIR,
R. 5911.
REFERRING to the letter from this Department of the 10th instant, on the subject
Board of Trade, November 17, 1888. of an Act passed by the Legislature of Newfoundland, entitled the Copyright Act, 1888, I am directed by the Board of Trade to transmit, herewith, to be laid before Lord Knutsford, copy of a communication that has been made to this Department by the Foreign Office, to whom a copy of the Act was sent for their information.
I am to state that the Board of Trade are disposed to concur in the view taken by the Foreign Office, in regard to the provisions of this Act, and they further consider that the opinion of the Law Officers should be taken on the question raised as early as practicable, and they will at once take the requisite steps in the matter.
In the meanwhile the Board of Trade think it desirable that the Secretary of State should be in possession of the views expressed in Sir Philip Currie's letter.
The Under Secretary of State,
Colonial Office.
I have, &c., (Signed)
COURTENAY BOYLE.
In accordance with the suggestions made in the letter from the Foreign Office above set out, the Board of Trade have deemed it advisable to take the opinion of the Law Officers upou the points raised by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
The Law Officers and Mr. R. S. Wright are requested to advise upon the points raised in the paragraphs numbered 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the letter of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, dated November 13, 1888.
Opinion.
In our opinion, the observations of the Secretary of State are well founded. The Act of the Legislature of Newfoundland appears to have been based on the Canadian Copyright Act of 1875, without adverting to the effect of the Imperial International Copyright Act of 1886, or to the circumstance that it necessary in 1875 to confirm the Canadian Act by an Imperial Act (38 & 39 Vict. was found cap. 53).
The now existing powers of Colonial Legislatures to pass local laws on the subject of copyright in books are, in our opinion, probably limited to, enactments for registration and for the imposition of penalties with a view to the more effectual prevention of piracy, and enactments within sub-section (4) of section 8 of the International Copyright Act, 1886, with reference to works first produced in the Colony.
Royal Courts of Justice,
5th January 1889.
(Signed)
RICHARD E. WEBSTER. EDWARD CLARKE,
R. S. WRIGHT,