Copyright Act 1911 - Summary of Changes

Summary of Changes

British lawyer Evan James Macgillivray summarised the changes in the introduction of his annotated edition of the 1911 Act as follows:

The principal changes which the Act will effect upon the existing law may be briefly summarised —

1. Extension of the term of copyright to life and fifty years (Subject to certain exceptions).
2. Provision that the last twenty-five years of the term of copyright shall be unassignable by the author during his lifetime.
3. Provision that during the last twenty-five years any person may reproduce a work without consent on payment of a ten per cent royalty.
4. Exclusive right of dramatising and translating secured to the author.
5. Dramatic works entitled to protection include pieces in dumb show, ballets and cinematograph productions, and the copyright is infringed by the making or exhibiting of unauthorised cinematograph films.
6. Subject to the right in certain circumstances of making records upon payment of a royalty, the composer of a musical composition gets the sole right of adapting his composition for use upon mechanical instruments.
7. Subject to limitations in respect of remedies, and to the right of making paintings, drawings, engravings or photographs of any architectural work, architectural works are included among artistic works entitled to protection.
8. Taking of short passages for insertion in school books is permitted.
9. Subject to conditions and limitations, an exclusive right of oral delivery is conferred in respect of non-dramatic works, such as lectures, speeches and sermons.
10. Summary remedies, hitherto confined to infringements of musical works, are made applicable to all classes of works, and to infringements of performing rights, but the remedies are not so complete as in the case of musical works.
11. The National Library of Wales is, subject to limitations, included as one of the libraries entitled to free copies of books from the publishers.
12. Copyright subsists from the time a work is created, the condition of protection being, in the case of an unpublished work, that the author is a British subject or resident, and in the case of a published work, that it was first published within the dominions to which the Act applies.
13. Common law right in unpublished works is abrogated, but in the case of a literary, dramatic, or musical work, or an engraving, copyright subsists until publication notwithstanding the expiration of the period of life and fifty years, and if publication is posthumous, then for fifty years after publication.
14. No copyright vests in the proprietor of a collective work unless the author is employed under a contract of service or apprenticeship, or there is an assignment in writing; and when the copyright vests in the proprietor of a periodical by reason of a contract of service or apprenticeship, the author may restrain separate publication.
15. The passing of the copyright by reason of the work having been executed on commission is confined to the cases of engravings, photographs and portraits.
16. The self-governing dominions are given a free hand in copyright matters. Each dominion may adopt or reject the Imperial Act as it pleases. Similarly, each dominion may adhere to the Revised Convention or to the original Berne Convention, or it may decline to adhere to either, and so place itself in the position of a non-union country.