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10 1963

COPYRIGHT ACT, 1963

PART VII.

Miscellaneous and Supplementary Provisions.

Assignments and licences in respect of copyright.

47. —(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, copyright shall be transmissible by assignment, by testamentary disposition, or by operation of law, as personal or moveable property.

(2) An assignment of copyright may be limited in any one of the following ways, or in any combination of two or more of those ways, that is to say—

(a) so as to apply to one or more, but not all, of the classes of acts which by virtue of this Act the owner of the copyright has the exclusive right to do (including any one or more classes of acts not separately designated in this Act as being restricted by the copyright, but falling within any of the classes of acts so designated),

(b) so as to apply to any one or more, but not all, of the countries in relation to which the owner of the copyright has by virtue of this Act that exclusive right,

(c) so as to apply to part, but not the whole, of the period for which the copyright is to subsist,

and references in this Act to a partial assignment are references to an assignment so limited.

(3) No assignment of copyright (whether total or partial) shall have effect unless it is in writing signed by or on behalf of the assignor.

(4) A licence granted in respect of any copyright by the person who, in relation to the matters to which the licence relates, is the owner of the copyright shall be binding on every successor in title to his interest in the copyright, except a purchaser in good faith for valuable consideration and without notice (actual or constructive) of the licence or a person deriving title from such a purchaser; and references in this Act, in relation to any copyright, to the doing of anything with, or (as the case may be) without, the licence of the owner of the copyright shall be construed accordingly.

Broadcasting of works incorporated in a cinematograph film.

48. —(1) Where the owner of the copyright in any literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work authorises a person to incorporate the work in a cinematograph film and Radio Éireann broadcasts the film, such broadcast shall not, in the absence of any agreement to the contrary, infringe such copyright.

(2) Where Radio Éireann broadcasts a cinematograph film in which a musical work is incorporated, the owner of the right to broadcast the work shall be entitled to receive an equitable remuneration from Radio Éireann.

Prospective ownership of copyright.

49. —(1) Where by an agreement made in relation to any future copyright, and signed by or on behalf of the prospective owner of the copyright, the prospective owner purports to assign the future copyright (wholly or partially) to another person (in this subsection referred to as the assignee), then if, on the coming into existence of the copyright, the assignee or a person claiming under him would, apart from this subsection, be entitled as against all other persons to require the copyright to be vested in him (wholly or partially, as the case may be), the copyright shall, on its coming into existence, vest in the assignee or his successor in title accordingly by virtue of this subsection and without further assurance.

(2) Where, at the time when any copyright comes into existence, the person who, if he were then living, would be entitled to the copyright is dead, the copyright shall devolve as if it had subsisted immediately before his death and he had then been the owner of the copyright.

(3) Subsection (4) of section 47 of this Act shall apply in relation to a licence granted by a prospective owner of any copyright as it applies in relation to a licence granted by the owner of a subsisting copyright subject to the modification that any reference in that subsection to the owner's interest in the copyright shall be construed as including a reference to his prospective interest therein.

(4) In this Act “future copyright” means copyright which will or may come into existence in respect of any future work or class of works or other subject-matter, or on the coming into operation of any provisions of this Act, or in any other future event, and “prospective owner” shall be construed accordingly and, in relation to any such copyright, includes a person prospectively entitled thereto by virtue of such an agreement as is mentioned in subsection (1) of this section.

Copyright to pass under will with unpublished work.

50. —Where under a bequest (whether specific or general) contained in the will or a codicil to the will of a person who dies after the commencement of this section a person is entitled, beneficially or otherwise, to the manuscript of a literary, dramatic or musical work, or to an artistic work, and the work was not published before the death of the testator, the bequest shall, unless a contrary intention is indicated in the testator's will or a codicil thereto, be construed as including the copyright in the work in so far as the testator was the owner of the copyright immediately before his death.

Copyright in Government publications.

51. —(1) In the case of every original literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work, sound recording and cinematograph film made by or under the direction or control of the Government or a Minister of State—

(a) if apart from this section copyright would not subsist in the work, copyright shall subsist therein by virtue of this subsection, and

(b) in any case, the Government shall, subject to the provisions of this Part of this Act, be entitled to the copyright in the work.

(2) The Government shall, subject to the provisions of this Part of this Act, be entitled to the copyright in every original literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work, sound recording or cinematograph film first published in the State if first published by or under the direction or control of the Government or a Minister of State.

(3) The copyright in any original literary, dramatic or musical work to which the Government is entitled by virtue of this section—

(a) where the work is unpublished, shall continue to subsist so long as the work remains unpublished, and

(b) where the work is published, shall subsist (or, if copyright in the work subsisted immediately before its first publication, shall continue to subsist) until the end of the period of fifty years from the end of the year in which the work was first published.

(4) The copyright in an artistic work which belongs to the Government by virtue of this section—

(a) where the work is an engraving or a photograph, shall continue to subsist until the end of the period of fifty years from the end of the year in which the work is first published, and

(b) in the case of any other artistic work, shall continue to subsist until the end of the period of fifty years from the end of the year in which the work was made.

(5) In the case of every sound recording or cinematograph film made by or under the direction or control of the Government or a Minister of State—

(a) if apart from this section copyright would not subsist in the recording or film, copyright shall subsist therein by virtue of this subsection, and

(b) in any case, the Government shall, subject to the provisions of this Part of this Act, be entitled to the copyright in the recording or film, and it shall subsist for the same period as if it were copyright subsisting by virtue of, and owned in accordance with section 17 or, as the case may be, section 18 of this Act.

(6) The preceding provisions of this section shall have effect subject to any agreement made by or on behalf of the Government or any Minister of State with the author of the work, or the maker of the sound recording or cinematograph film, as the case may be, whereby it is agreed that the copyright in the work, recording or film shall vest in the author or maker, or in another person designated in that behalf in the agreement.

(7) In relation to copyright subsisting by virtue of this section—

(a) in the case of a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work, the provisions of Part II of this Act, with the exception of provisions thereof relating to subsistence, duration or ownership of copyright, and

(b) in the case of a sound recording or cinematograph film, the provisions of Part III of this Act, with the exception of provisions thereof relating to the subsistence or ownership of copyright,

shall apply as those provisions apply in relation to copyright subsisting by virtue of Part II or, as the case may be, Part III of this Act.

Broadcasts of sound recordings and cinematograph films and diffusion of broadcast programmes.

52. —(1) Where a sound broadcast or television broadcast is made by Radio Éireann, and a person, by the reception of that broadcast, causes a sound recording, whether made before or after the commencement of this section, to be heard in public or to be transmitted to subscribers to a diffusion service, he does not thereby infringe the copyright (if any) in that recording.

(2) Where a television broadcast or sound broadcast is made by Radio Éireann, and the broadcast is an authorised broadcast, any person who, by the reception of the broadcast, causes a cinematograph film to be seen or heard in public shall be in the like position, in any proceedings for the infringement of the copyright (if any) in the film under section 18 of this Act, as if he had been the holder of a licence granted by the owner of that copyright to cause the film to be seen or heard in public by the reception of the broadcast.

(3) Where a television broadcast or sound broadcast is made by Radio Éireann, and the broadcast is an authorised broadcast, any person who, by the reception of the broadcast, causes a programme to be transmitted to subscribers to a diffusion service, being a programme comprising a literary, dramatic, or musical work, or an adaptation of such a work, or an artistic work, or a cinematograph film, shall be in the like position, in any proceedings for infringement of the copyright (if any) in the work or film, as if he had been the holder of a licence granted by the owner of that copyright to include the work, adaptation or film in any programme caused to be transmitted by him to subscribers to that service by the reception of the broadcast.

(4) If, in the circumstances mentioned in either of the two last preceding subsections, the person causing the cinematograph film to be seen or heard, or the programme to be transmitted, as the case may be, infringed the copyright in question, by reason that the broadcast was not an authorised broadcast—

(a) no proceedings shall be brought against that person under this Act in respect of his infringement of that copyright, but

(b) it shall be taken into account in assessing damages in any proceedings against Radio Éireann in respect of that copyright, in so far as that copyright was infringed by Radio Éireann in making the broadcast.

(5) For the purposes of this section, a broadcast shall be taken, in relation to a work or cinematograph film, to be an authorised broadcast if, but only if, it is made by, or with the licence of, the owner of the copyright in the work or film.

Use of copyright material for education.

53. —(1) Where copyright subsists in a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work, the copyright shall not be taken to be infringed by reason only that the work is reproduced, or an adaptation of the work is made or reproduced—

(a) in the course of instruction, whether at a school or elsewhere, where the reproduction or adaptation is made by a teacher or pupil otherwise than by the use of a duplicating process, or

(b) as part of the questions to be answered in an examination, or in an answer to such a question.

(2) Nothing in the preceding subsection of this section shall apply to the publication of a work; and, for the purposes of section 11 of this Act, the fact that to a person's knowledge the making of an article would have constituted an infringement of copyright but for the preceding subsection of this section shall have the like effect as if, to his knowledge, the making of it had constituted such an infringement.

(3) For the avoidance of doubt it is hereby declared that, where a literary, dramatic or musical work—

(a) is performed in class, or otherwise in the presence of an audience, and

(b) is so performed in the course of the activities of a school, by a person who is a teacher in, or a pupil in attendance at, the school,

the performance shall not be taken for the purposes of this Act to be a performance in public if the audience is limited to persons who are teachers in, or pupils in attendance at, the school, or are otherwise directly connected with the activities of the school.

(4) For the purposes of the last preceding subsection of this section a person shall not be taken to be directly connected with the activities of a school by reason only that he is a parent or guardian of a pupil in attendance at the school.

(5) Subsections (3) and (4) of this section shall apply in relation to sound recordings, cinematograph films and television broadcasts as they apply in relation to literary, dramatic and musical works, subject to the modification that any reference to performance shall be construed as a reference to the act of causing the sounds or visual images in question to be heard or seen.

(6) Nothing in this section shall be construed—

(a) as extending the operation of any provision of this Act as to the acts restricted by copyright of any description, or

(b) as derogating from the operation of any exemption conferred by any provision of this Act other than this section.

(7) In this section “duplicating process” means any process involving the use of an appliance for producing multiple copies.

(8) The Minister may, after consultation with the Minister for Education, make an order under this section designating any educational establishment or any type or description of educational establishment specified in the order to be a school for the purposes of this section.

(9) The Minister may at any time, after such consultation as aforesaid, revoke or amend an order under this section.

False attribution of authorship.

54. —(1) The restrictions imposed by this section shall have effect in relation to literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works; and any reference in this section to a work shall be construed as a reference to such a work.

(2) A person (in this subsection referred to as the offender) contravenes those restrictions as respects another person if, without the licence of that other person, he does any of the following acts in the State, that is to say, he—

(a) inserts or affixes that other person's name in or on a work of which that person is not the author, or in or on a reproduction of such a work, in such a way as to imply that the other person is the author of the work, or

(b) publishes, or sells or lets for hire, or by way of trade offers or exposes for sale or hire, or by way of trade exhibits in public, a work in or on which the other person's name has been so inserted or affixed, if to the offender's knowledge that person is not the author of the work, or

(c) does any of the acts mentioned in the last preceding paragraph of this subsection in relation to, or distributes, reproductions of a work, being reproductions in or on which the other person's name has been so inserted or affixed, if to the offender's knowledge that person is not the author of the work, or

(d) performs in public, or broadcasts, a work of which the other person is not the author, as being a work of which he is the author, if to the offender's knowledge that person is not the author of the work.

(3) The last preceding subsection of this section shall apply where, contrary to the fact, a work is represented as being an adaptation of the work of another person as it applies where a work is so represented as being the work of another person.

(4) In the case of an artistic work which has been altered after the author parted with the possession of it, the said restrictions are contravened, in relation to the author, by a person who in the State, without the licence of the author—

(a) publishes, sells or lets for hire, or by way of trade offers or exposes for sale or hire the work as so altered, as being the unaltered work of the author, or

(b) publishes, sells or lets for hire, or by way of trade offers or exposes for sale or hire a reproduction of the work as so altered, as being a reproduction of the unaltered work of the author,

if to his knowledge it is not the unaltered work, or as the case may be, a reproduction of the unaltered work, of the author.

(5) Subsections (2), (3) and (4) of this section shall apply with respect to anything done in relation to another person after that person's death as if any reference to that person's licence were a reference to a licence given by him or by his personal representatives, so, however, that nothing in those subsections shall apply to anything done in relation to a person more than twenty years after that person's death.

(6) In the case of an artistic work in which copyright subsists, the said restrictions are also contravened, in relation to the author of the work, by a person who in the State—

(a) publishes, or sells or lets for hire, or by way of trade offers or exposes for sale or hire, or by way of trade exhibits in public, a reproduction of the work, as being a reproduction made by the author of the work, or

(b) distributes reproductions of the work as being reproductions made by the author of the work,

if (in any such case) the reproduction or reproductions was or were to his knowledge not made by the author.

(7) The proceeding provisions of this section shall apply (with the necessary modifications) with respect to things done, in relation to two or more persons in connection with the same work.

(8) The restrictions imposed by this section shall not be enforceable by any criminal proceedings; but any contravention of those restrictions, in relation to a person, shall be actionable at his suit, or, if he is dead, at the suit of his personal representatives, as a breach of statutory duty.

(9) Any damages recovered under this section by personal representatives, in respect of a contravention committed in relation to a person after his death, shall devolve as part of his estate, as if the right of action had subsisted and had been vested in him immediately before his death.

(10) Nothing in this section shall derogate from any right of action or other remedy (whether civil or criminal) in proceedings instituted otherwise than by virtue of this section; so, however, that this subsection shall not be construed as requiring any damages recovered by virtue of this section to be disregarded in assessing damages in any proceedings instituted otherwise than by virtue of this section and arising out of the same transaction.

(11) In this section “name” includes initials or a monogram.

Register to be kept by proprietors of theatres, etc.

55. —(1) It shall be the duty of the proprietor of every theatre, hall, room or other place, in which dramatic works are performed to keep or cause to be kept in such theatre, hall, room, or place a register, in the form prescribed by the Minister by rules, of all dramatic works performed in such theatre, hall, room, or place in the presence of persons who have paid for admission to the performance, and within twelve hours after each performance to enter or cause to be entered in such register such particulars of the work and of the person presenting it as shall be prescribed by rules made by the Minister.

(2) Every register kept in pursuance of this section may be inspected at all reasonable times by any person who is the author of or owner of the copyright in any published work and copies of the register or of any part thereof may be made by the person.

(3) The Minister may make rules prescribing all or any of the following matters, that is to say:—

(a) the form of the register to be kept in pursuance of this section,

(b) the particulars to be entered in the register in respect of dramatic works, and of the person presenting them,

(c) defining the person who is to be deemed, in respect of any particular dramatic work, to be presenting it.

(4) If any person who is required by this section to keep, or cause to be kept, a register—

(a) fails to keep the register or to cause it to be kept, or

(b) fails to make or cause to be made in the register within the time prescribed by this section any entry required by or under this section to be made therein, or

(c) fails to produce the register for the inspection of any person entitled under this section to inspect it or obstructs or impedes any such person in making such inspection, or

(d) wilfully or negligently makes or causes or permits to be made in the register any entry which is false or misleading in any material particular,

he shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding ten pounds.

Delivery of books to certain libraries.

56. —(1) The publisher of any book first published in the State after the commencement of this section shall, within one month after the publication, deliver, at his own expense, a copy of the book to the trustees of the National Library of Ireland, a copy of the book to the authority having control of the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, four copies of the book for or in accordance with the directions of the authority having control of the National University of Ireland for the use of the respective libraries of the three constituent Colleges of that University and of the library of St. Patrick's College, Maynooth, a recognised College of that University, and a copy of the book to the trustees of the British Museum, and such trustees and authorities respectively shall give a written receipt for every book so delivered to them:

Provided that the Minister may, on the application of the trustees of the National Library of Ireland, or of the authority having control of the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, or of any of the respective authorities having control of the three constituent Colleges of the National University of Ireland or St. Patrick's College, Maynooth, or of the trustees of the British Museum, make regulations excepting from the provisions of this subsection in regard to the trustees or authority making the application, publications wholly or mainly in the nature of trade advertisements, or such classes of such publications as may be specified in the regulations, and thereupon it shall not be necessary for the publisher of any publication so excepted to deliver the publication to such trustees or authority or for such trustees or authority to give a receipt therefor, unless as respects any particular publication a written demand for the delivery thereof is made by such trustees or authority.

(2) The publisher of any book first published in the State after the commencement of this section shall also, if written demand is made before the expiration of twelve months after publication, deliver within one month after receipt of that written demand or, if the demand was made before publication, within one month after publication, to some address in Dublin named in the demand a copy of that book for, or in accordance with the directions of, the authority having the control of each of the following libraries, namely: the Bodleian Library, Oxford, the University Library, Cambridge, the National Library of Scotland, and the National Library of Wales. In the case of an encyclopaedia, newspaper, review, magazine or work published in a series of numbers or parts, the written demand may include all numbers or parts of the work which may be subsequently published.

(3) A copy of a book delivered to the trustees of the National Library of Ireland or the trustees of the British Museum in pursuance of the provisions of this section shall be a copy of the whole book with all maps and illustrations belonging thereto, finished and coloured in the same manner as the best copies of the book are published, and shall be bound, sewed or stitched together, and be printed on the best paper on which the book is printed.

(4) A copy of a book delivered to any of the other authorities mentioned in this section in pursuance of the provisions of this section shall be printed on the paper on which the largest number of copies of the book is printed for sale, and shall be in the like condition as the books prepared for sale.

(5) If a publisher fails to comply with this section, he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds and the value of the book, and the fine shall be paid to the trustees or authority to whom the book ought to have been delivered.

(6) For the purposes of this section, “book” includes every part or division of a book, pamphlet, sheet of letterpress, sheet of music, map, plan, chart or table separately published, but shall not include any second or subsequent edition of a book unless such edition contains additions or alterations either in the letterpress or in the maps, prints, or other engravings belonging thereto.

Copyright in Irish legal tender notes, consolidated bank notes and in Irish coins.

57. —(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in Part II of this Act, the copyright in legal tender notes issued whether before or after the commencement of this section by the Central Bank of Ireland (in this section referred to as the Bank) or issued before such commencement by the Currency Commission shall be perpetual and shall belong to the Bank.

(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in Part II of this Act, the copyright in consolidated bank notes issued before the commencement of this section by the Bank or by the Currency Commission shall be perpetual and shall belong to the Bank.

(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in Part II of this Act, the copyright in all coins to which this section applies and the copyright in the artistic work defining the design of any such coin shall be perpetual and shall belong to the Minister for Finance.

(4) (a) In the application of subsection (1) of section 3 of this Act to any such legal tender note or consolidated bank note or any coin to which this section applies references in the subsection to a substantial part of a work or other subject-matter shall be construed as references to any part of a work or other subject-matter.

(b) Sections 12 and 14 of this Act shall not apply in relation to the copyrights referred to in this section.

(5) Coins to which this section applies and the artistic work defining the design of any such coin shall, for the purposes of section 172 of the Act of 1927, be deemed not to be designs.

(6) This section applies to coins issued under the Coinage Act, 1926 , or under that Act as amended, gold coins issued under the Currency Act, 1927 , and coins issued under the Coinage Act, 1950 .

Disposal of books of King's Inns Library, Dublin.

58. —Notwithstanding anything contained in the King's Inns Library Act, 1945 , or the enactments referred to therein or the Copyright Act, 1801, or the Copyright Act, 1836, the Benchers of the Honourable Society of King's Inns may sell or exchange any of the books of the King's Inns Library, Dublin, whether acquired before or after the commencement of this section.

Amendment of section 70 of Act of 1927.

59. —Section 70 of the Act of 1927 is hereby amended by—

(a) the substitution in subsection (2) of “before the expiration of a period of five years and six months from the date of such registration” for “within the prescribed time before the expiration of the said five years”, and

(b) the substitution in subsection (3) of “before the expiration of a period of ten years and six months from the date of such registration” for “within the prescribed time before the expiration of such second period of five years”.

Savings.

60. —(1) Nothing in this Act shall affect any right or privilege of the Government subsisting otherwise than by virtue of an enactment, and nothing in this Act shall affect any right or privilege of the Government or of any other person under any enactment, except in so far as that enactment is expressly repealed, amended or modified by this Act.

(2) Nothing in this Act shall affect the right of the Government or of any person deriving title from the Government to sell, use or otherwise deal with articles forfeited under the laws relating to customs or excise, including any article so forfeited by virtue of this Act or of any enactment repealed by this Act.

(3) Nothing in this Act shall affect the operation of any rule of equity relating to breaches of trust or confidence.

(4) Subject to the preceding provisions of this section, no copyright or right in the nature of copyright, shall subsist otherwise than by virtue of this Act or of some other enactment in that behalf.