Copyright Act 1911

In the two centuries after the Statute of Anne of 1710, which afforded copyright protection to books, other works were afforded copyright protection either through case law, as in the case of music, or through acts of Parliament, as in the case of engravings, paintings, drawings and photographs, in legislation such as the Engraving Copyright Act 1734 and the Fine Arts Copyright Act 1862. The act consolidated previous copyright statutes, and apart from some minor exceptions, the act repealed all previous copyright legislation and established a single statute covering all forms of copyright. The act implemented the Berne Convention, which abolished the common law copyright in unpublished works and responded to technological developments by conferring copyright on a new type of works not mentioned in the Berne Convention, namely sound recordings. The act abolished the need for registration at the Stationers' Hall and provided that copyright is established upon the creation of a work. However, as the 1911 act came into effect at different times in different countries of the British Empire, registration at Stationers' Hall continued to be required in some Commonwealth countries after 1911. The act also stated that copyright arose in the act of creation, not the act of publishing. The last country of the former British Empire to repeal the 1911 act was Myanmar, whose parliament ratified a new, unified copyright law on 24 May 2019, repealing both the said act as well as the Burma Merchandise Marks Act of 1889 and an outdated definition of "trademark" from the Burma Penal Code of 1861. == Summary of changes ==

British lawyer Evan James MacGillivray summarised the changes in the introduction of his annotated edition of the act as follows: == Imperial copyright act ==

With the exception of provisions that were expressly restricted to the United Kingdom by the act, all provisions of the Copyright Act 1911 applied "throughout His Majesty's dominions" and self-governing dominions if enacted by the parliament of that dominion without modifications that were not necessary to adapt the act "to the circumstances of the dominion". The Copyright Act 1911 was adapted to circumstances and enacted by the then self-governing dominions of Australia (Copyright Act 1912), Newfoundland (Newfoundland Copyright Act 1912) and the Union of South Africa (Patents, Designs, Trade Marks and Copyright Act 1916). The Copyright Act 1911 also provided that the UK Secretary of State could certify copyright laws passed in any self-governing dominion if the copyright legislation was “substantially identical” to those of the Copyright Act 1911. Though the Secretary of State could certify copyright law even if their provisions on copyright enforcement and the restriction on importation of works manufactured in “foreign countries” were not identical to that of the Copyright Act 1911. Such self-governing dominions were then treated as if the Copyright Act 1911 extended to the self-governing dominion. The Secretary of State certified the copyright laws of New Zealand (New Zealand Copyright Act 1913, certified April 1914) and Canada (Copyright Act of Canada 1921, certified 1924). The Copyright Act 1911 also provided that “His Majesty may, by Order in Council, extend this Act to any territories under his protection and to Cyprus” and the act would then apply to these countries as if they were dominions of the British Empire. In 1912 an Order in Council extended the Copyright Act 1911 to Cyprus and the following territories: Bechuanaland, East Africa, The Gambia, the Gilbert and Ellice Islands, Northern Nigeria, the Northern Territories of the Gold Coast, Nyasaland, Northern Rhodesia, Southern Rhodesia, Sierra Leone, Somaliland, Southern Nigeria, the Solomon Islands, Swaziland, Uganda and Weihaiwei. The Copyright Act 1911 was extended to Palestine by an Order in Council in 1924, it was extended to Tanganyika by an Order in Council in 1924 and 1931, it was extended to the Federated Malay States by an Order in Council in 1931 and 1932, and it was extended to the Cameroons under British Mandate by an Order in Council in 1933. == Influence of the act ==

The act provided the template for an approach to copyright exceptions where a specific list of exceptions carefully defines permitted uses of the copyrighted work. The act formed the basis of UK copyright law and, as an imperial measure, formed the basis for copyright law in most of what were then British colonies and dominions. While many of these countries have had their own copyright law for a considerable number of years, most have followed the imperial model developed in 1911. Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, Singapore and South Africa define the limits on and exceptions to copyright by providing an exhaustive list of specifically defined exceptions. Commonwealth approach to exceptions This "Commonwealth approach" to copyright is in contrast with that adopted in US copyright law. US copyright does contain a number of specific exceptions, as well as providing for a fair use defence in section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976. The Section provides a list of illustrative example of uses under this defence, such as criticism, comment and research. In contrast to the Commonwealth fair dealing exceptions, the fair use defence allows US courts to find that a defendant's use is fair and hence not an infringement of copyright, even though the use does not fall within the statutory list provided for in Section 107. == Subsequent developments ==

The whole act, except sections 15, 34, and 37, was repealed by section 50(2) of, and the ninth schedule to, the Copyright Act 1956 (4 & 5 Eliz. 2. c. 74), which came into force on 1 June 1957. Sections 34 and 37(2) of the act was subsequently repealed by section 1(1) of, and part VI of schedule 1 to, the Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1986 (c. 12), which received royal assent on 2 May 1986. Section 15 of the act was repealed by section 16(1) of, and the schedule to, the Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003 (c. 28), which came into force on 1 February 2004. Section 37(1), which provides the act's short title, is the only unrepealed provision of the act, meaning that the act is treated as repealed for the United Kingdom. == See also ==