COLONIAL SECRETARIAT File
No. CR 3245/57 III
No. 981.
CONFIDENTIAL
28
GOVERNMENT HOUSE,
HONG KONG,
HKK 16/2.
25 August 1970
Dear Michael
Thank you for your letter of 19th June (HKK 16/2)
on the subject of copyright in broadcasts.
2
It is obvious to me from your letter that there is still considerable misunderstanding of this matter in London, and I must say that I deplore the suggestion in paragraph 7 that it might appear that a vendetta has been mounted against RTV. There is absolutely no foundation whatsoever for such a suggestion: our sole object throughout has been to find the right solution, and I would remind you that the solution we propose equally confers protection on both broadcast programmes and on the originated programmes of a wired service. It is certainly unfortunate that this should be one of those cases where no solution will satisfy everyone, but the delay arising from this fact is having increasingly disastrous effects on the introduction of the much needed modern copyright legislation.
3
It is important for a proper understanding of the position to keep the background firmly in mind, and I think it would help if I began by reiterating some of the details. But before doing so, I must emphasize that the questions which have arisen cannot be considered solely in an RTV/TVB context. It is likely that we shall have another wireless television station in Hong Kong within the next three or four years.
4
in other woorde within 5
RTV's
The brief history of this matter is as follows :-
(a) The question of a broadcasting company's
copyright in sound and television broadcasts received serious examination in 1964 when the Television Bill was being drafted. However, the matter first came under review as long ago as January 1962, when a Government Working Party surveying the problem of television in Hong Kong reported that, if a television licence were granted to a commercial operator, it would almost certainly be necessary to prevent RTV from relaying the operator's broadcasts without his permission.
Yrs of granting
licence Fork realised they
mus haka in the Terms of RIVS Lamen
(b) My advisers
...
K.M. Wilford, Esq, CMG Foreign and Commonwealth Office LONDON S.W.1
CONFIDENTIAL
(20) 2936)
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.