TNAG-0086-FCO40-122-Copyright-legislation-1968 — Page 149

Mr Carter

пин

REDIFFUSION

REDIFFUSION INTERNATIONAL LIMITED Registered and Head Office

Carlton House Lower Regent Street London SW1

HD/NMM/RC

H.P. Ball, Esq., C.M.G., M.B.E.,

The Commonwealth Office,

Curtis Green Buildings, Victoria Embankment, London, S.W.1.

Mu Beattie

ANG 13.3.68

Telephone 01-930 0221

Cables Rediffuse London SW1

12th March 1968

9.39

ух

28/€

Dear Mr Hall:

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(38)

EG 2/20 CR 4/2/44

Hong Kong Copyright

I am so sorry to have to/trouble you with a further communication but in my letter to you of 1st March 1968 I indicated that it seemed to be fairly clear from a recent statement by the Hong Kong Government Information Officer, that the Hong Kong Government intended to make a distinction, in their proposed copyright legislation, between people licensed to operate wired reception systems within single buildings (under paragraph d(ii) of Mr. Hamilton's letter of 10th February 1968) Eme and Rediffusion as operators of wired reception systems involving street crossings (under Mr. Hamilton's paragraph d(i)).

It now appears from the text of a letter from Mr. A.T. Clark, for the Colonial Secretary, to the Managing Director of Rediffusion (Hong

44/€ Kong) Limited of 29th February 1968, copy of which I enclose, that

clause 4(2) of the proposed Copyright Bill is to apply equally to Rediffusion and to the operators of wired reception systems within single buildings. It seems therefore that our fears on this point are groundless and I thought I should bring this extra information, in view of what I said in my last letter, to your attention.

It is, however, perhaps worth noting that it now seems that the effect of the proposed legislation would be to make it impossible for anyone to offer a wired television reception service of any kind - except perhaps by outright sale - without incurring a double copyright liability. And even though he might get clearance in advance from the broadcasting company, he would run the risk of getting a claim from owners of underlying copyright in works broadcast and he could have no

EG 2/20

A Member Company of the Rediffusion Organisation

/...