TNAG-0086-FCO40-122-Copyright-legislation-1968 — Page 37

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yet been made extending the Act to Hong Kong, although, as mentioned here-

after, drafts have been prepared, as have drafts of amending Bills.

A

(vi) A draft Order in Council to extend the Act to Hong Kong and a

draft Bill to modify and add to its provisions were prepared by the

Colonial Secretariat of Hong Kong in or about September 1967 when copies

were forwarded to Rediffusion (Hong Kong) Limited ("the Company").

further draft Order in Council and Bill were prepared by the Colonial

Secretariat of Hong Kong in or about February 1968 when copies were

forwarded to the Company.

(vii)

An action was commenced by the Company in the Supreme Court of

Hong Kong on the 10th April 1968 seeking relief against the members of

the Legislative Council of Hong Kong concerning the legality of the draft

Bill. There have now been certain interlocutory proceedings in this

action which are under appeal and it is not the purpose of this

Memorandum to comment upon this action in any way. All that this

Memorandum seeks to do is to show what the law of copyright would be

in Hong Kong if the draft Order in Council is promulgated and the draft

Bill became law.

(viii) The relevant provisions of the 1968 draft Order in Council are

as follows:-

(a)

It will extend to Hong Kong, inter alia, the provisions of the

Act concerned with subsistence and ownership of copyright in literary,

dramatic, musical and artistic works, sound recordings, cinematograph

films, television and sound broadcasts and published editions and the

relevant restricted acts.

(b)

It will extend to Hong Kong Section 31(3), which is the provision

giving the legislature of Hong Kong limited powers to modify or add to the

provisions of the Act extended to Hong Kong.

(c)

It will vary Section 40 by omitting subsection (3) and

amending subsection (4) to omit that part of the subsection which prevents

proceedings where an unauthorised broadcast is relayed.

(a)

It will substitute a new definition for the meaning of relay in

Section 48(3), although such new definition would appear to differ from

the old only in terminology, not substance.

5.