Copyright Act 1956

PART I Provisions relating to Part I of Act

Conditions for subsistence of copyright

1 In the application of sections two and three to works first published before the commencement of those sections, subsection (2) of section two, and subsection (3) of section three, shall apply as if paragraphs (b) and (c) of those subsections were omitted.

Duration of copyright

2 In relation to any photograph taken before the commencement of section three, subsection (4) of that section shall not apply, but, subject to subsection (3) of that section, copyright subsisting in the photograph by virtue of that section shall continue to subsist until the end of the period of fifty years from the end of the calendar year in which the photograph was taken, and shall then expire.

Ownership of copyright

3 (1) Subsections (2) to (4) of section four shall not apply—

(a) to any work made as mentioned in subsection (2) or subsection (4) of that section, if the work was so made before the commencement of that section, or

(b) to any work made as mentioned in subsection (3) of that section, if the work was or is so made in pursuance of a contract made before the commencement of that section.

(2) In relation to any work to which the preceding sub-paragraph applies, subsection (1) of section four shall have effect subject to the proviso set out in paragraph 1 of the Eighth Schedule to this Act (being the proviso to subsection (1) of section five of the Act of 1911).

Infringements of copyright

4 For the purposes of section five, the fact that, to a person's knowledge, the making of an article constituted an infringement of copyright under the Act of 1911, or would have constituted such an infringement if the article had been made in the place into which it is imported, shall have the like effect as if, to that person's knowledge, the making of the article had constituted an infringement of copyright under this Act.

5 Subsection (7) of section six does not apply to assignments made or licences granted before the commencement of that section.

6 (1) References in section eight to records previously made by, or with the licence of, the owner of the copyright in a work include references to records previously made by, or with the consent of, the owner of the copyright in that work under the Act of 1911.

(2) The repeal by this Act of any provisions of section nineteen, of the Act of 1911, or of the provisions of the Copyright Order Confirmation (Mechanical Instruments: Royalties) Act, 1928, shall not affect the operation of those provisions, or of any regulations or order made thereunder, in relation to a record made before the repeal.

7 (1) In relation to a painting, drawing, engraving, photograph or cinematograph film made before the commencement of section nine, subsection (6) of that section shall apply if, by virtue of subsection (3) or subsection (4) of that section, the making of the painting, drawing, engraving, photograph or film would not have constituted an infringement of copyright under this Act if this Act had been in operation at the time when it was made.

(2) In subsection (10) of section nine, the reference to construction by, or with the licence of, the owner of the copyright in any architectural drawings or plans includes a reference to construction by, or with the licence of, the person who, at the time of the construction, was the owner of the copyright in the drawings or plans under the Act of 1911, or under any enactment repealed by that Act.

8 (1) Section ten and the First Schedule to this Act do not apply to artistic works made before the commencement of that section.

(2) Copyright shall not subsist by virtue of this Act in any artistic work made before the commencement of section ten which, at the time when the work was made, constituted a design capable of registration under the Registered Designs Act, 1949, or under the enactments repealed by that Act, and was used, or intended to be used, as a model or pattern to be multiplied by any industrial process.

(3) The provisions set out in paragraph 2 of the Eighth Schedule to this Act (being the relevant provisions of the Copyright (Industrial Designs) Rules, 1949) shall apply for the purposes of the last preceding sub-paragraph.

9 (1) Where, before the repeal by this Act of section three of the Act of 1911, a person has, in the case of a work, given the notice requisite under the proviso set out in paragraph 3 of the Eighth Schedule to this Act (being the proviso to the said section three), then, as respects reproductions by that person of that work after the repeal of that section by this Act, that proviso shall have effect as if it had been re-enacted in this Act as a proviso to subsection (2) of section one :

Provided that the said proviso shall so have effect subject to the provisions set out in paragraphs 4 and 5 of the Eighth Schedule to this Act (being so much of subsection (1) of sections sixteen and seventeen respectively of the Act of 1911 as is applicable to the said proviso), as if those provisions had also been re-enacted in this Act.

(2) For the purposes of the operation of the said proviso in accordance with the preceding sub-paragraph, any regulations made by the Board of Trade thereunder before the repeal of section three of the Act of 1911 shall have effect as if they had been made under this Act, and the power of the Board of Trade to make further regulations thereunder shall apply as if the proviso had been re-enacted as mentioned in the preceding sub-paragraph.

Works of joint authorship

10 (1) Notwithstanding anything in section eleven, or in the Third Schedule to this Act, copyright shall not subsist by virtue of Part I of this Act in any work of joint authorship first published before the commencement of section eleven, if the period of copyright had expired before the commencement of that section.

(2) In this paragraph “the period of copyright” means whichever is the longer of the following periods, that is to say,—

(a) the life of the author who died first and a term of fifty years after his death, and

(b) the life of the author who died last.