TNAG-0086-FCO40-122-Copyright-legislation-1968 — Page 31

Section 40 relieving the relayer from proceedings for infringement when

a broadcast is relayed.

20

So far as is known there are no relay operations in existence

in any of the countries referred to above, so that the omission of the

relieving provisions of Section 40 of the Act is of no significance in

relation to those countries.

21

The situation is, however, entirely different in Hong Kong

where there is a multiplicity of broadcasting services, including two

wireless sound broadcasting stations, a wireless television station, a

wired sound broadcasting service and a wired television service. The

two wired services are operated by the Company under licences from the

Government of Hong Kong, which licences specifically grant to the Company

the right to relay the wireless programmes of any station in the

official international list of broadcasting stations.

Moreover the

relay of television broadcasts by the Company is now very actively under

consideration in Hong Kong.

22. The proposed Order in Council extending the Act to Hong Kong

will, whilst creating copyright in Hong Kong broadcasts, omit any

provisions equivalent to the relieving provisions of Section 40 of the

Act in relation to works broadcast. Further, the proposed Bill to

amend the Act in its application to Hong Kong will make it a restricted

act to relay the broadcasts themselves.

23. If it was the intention, as presumably it was, that the Act

should be extended to the Commonwealth so that the local laws would

follow the United Kingdom legislation as nearly as possible, to make it

an infringement to relay the work broadcast, with no relieving provisions

similar to Section 40, and to make it an infringement to relay the

broadcasts themselves, results in a product differing from the intention

to the maximum possible degree from the point of view of relay operations.

In practice it means that a relay operator cannot relay local broadcasts

whereas, in the United Kingdom, he is encouraged to do` SO. Further,

whereas no claims can be brought against him for

infringement of

6.