COPYRIGHT.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1105, 19 April 1911, Page 5

COPYRIGHT.

POSITION OF THE DOMINIONS. ,By Teleeraph-Press Association-Copyright London, April 17. Mr. C. J. Longman, M.A., editor of Longman's Magazine, and a member of the well-known firm of publishers, Longmans, Green, and Co., in a letter to "The Times" on the subject of the Copyright Bill, which was read a second time in tho House of Commons on April 7, and which seeks to effect the recommendations of tho Berlin Conference of November 13, 1808, says the measure gives the right to ! tho Dominions to repeal or amend its application within their spheres, and raises the-point'as to how British authors and artists.can obtain the best terms from the Dominions. The latter may hamper copyright by- compelling local manufacture. He urges that British people should enjoy 'benefits' in the Dominions identical with those accorded them in England. PROVISIONS OF THE BILL. Under the new Bill to amend and consolidate the Law of Copyright introduced by Mr. Buxton, copyright is to exist, for tho life of the author, and fifty years after his death! For tho purpose of this Act. "copyright" means the sole right to produce or reproduce the work, or any substantial part thereof, in any material form whatsoever and in any language; to perform, or in the case of a lecture to deliver, the work, or any substantial part thereof, in public; if the work is unpublished, to publish the work'; and shall include the solo right: (a) In the case of a dramatic work, to eorivVrt it into a novel or other nondramatic work; (b) In the case of. a novel or other nondramatic work, to convert it into a dramatic work, either by way of multiplication of copies or by way of performance in public; (c) In the case of a literary, dramatic, or musical work, to make any record, perforated roll, or other contrivance by means of which the work may be mechanically performed. "Pirated," when applied to a copy of a work in which copyright subsists, means any copy made without the consent or acciuiesc'enco of the owner of the copyright, or imported in contravention of the provisions of this Act.