Page:The copyright act, 1911, annotated.djvu/15

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Rights.
3

§1 (1).

Newfoundland, if the self-governing dominion has by its legislature declared the Act to be in force therein (and such declaration has not been repealed [1]);

(4) Protectorates, including Cyprus, to which the Act may be extended by Order in Council [2].

Existing law.—The Act of 1842 relating to books extends throughout the British dominions, and the rights and remedies conferred by the Act are not affected by any colonial legislation [3], except in so far as any British possession may have passed an Act or Ordinance relating to works first published in such possession [4]. The Act of 1862 relating to artistic works extends to the United Kingdom only; and paintings, drawings and photographs are accordingly unprotected throughout the British possessions, except in so far as they are protected by colonial legislation [5]. The Acts relating to engravings and probably that relating to sculpture are also confined in their operation to the United Kingdom. Pictures which are first published in a book are, however, protected as part of the book, and therefore it has always been possible to obtain protection for drawings, paintings and engravings throughout the British dominions by first publishing them in the form of a book [6].

"Every original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic work."An attempt was made in Grand Committee of the House of Commons to strike out the word "original" on the ground that derivative works such as translations or engravings would be excluded. It is clear that the adjective is properly inserted here. "Original" as applied to a work merely indicates that it must contain some substantial feature which is not copied from a previously existing work. If a work is derivative and there is some novel feature which distinguishes it from the work from which it is derived, that novel feature constitutes the originality and receives protection, and the novel feature alone is protected in so far as the derivative work is concerned.

The reproduction of spoken words in the form of a
  1. Sects. 25, 26, 35 (1) (" Self-governing dominion ").
  2. Sect. 28.
  3. Smiles v. Belford (1876), 1 Out. A. R. 436; Macmillan v. Shamsul, &c. (1895), Ind. L. R. 19 Bomb. 557.
  4. Int. Cop. Act, 1886, s. 8 (4).
  5. Graves v. Gorrie, [1903] A. C. 496.
  6. Bogue v. Houlston (1852), 5 De G. & S. 267; Maple v. Junior Army and Navy Stores (1882), 21 Ch. D. 369; Davis v. Benjamin, [1906] 2 Ch. 491.