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Wednesday, January 3, 1973
To make it easier to prosecute successfully where the copyright
owner is not in Hong Kong, the Bill requires sworn statements (affidavits)
to be produced in court as evidence to the ownership of the copyright.
The Attorney General said provisions were also made to extend
the time within which a prosecution might be undertaken from six months
to three years from the date of the offence, or one year from its discovery,
whichever was the later.
He said this was considered necessary "since experience has
shown that such offences are often not detected in Hong Kong until long
after they were committed."
A number of other clauses in the Bill give the police and other
authorised officers power to investigate suspected pirating of copyright.
Search Warrant
However, a search of domestic premises will only be permitted under
a search warrant issued by a magistrate or an Assistant Director of Commerce
and Industry.
The Attorney General said the Bill also aimed at applying the United
Kingdom Copyright Act to local broadcasters, namely Radio Hong Kong, Hong
Kong Commercial Radio and H.K.T.V.B.
At present, he said, there was no diffusion service of sound or
television broadcasts in Hong Kong since R.T.V. originated all its television
programmes.
/However,
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