PART I

CHAPTER XI.

Registration, &c.

pirating from someone. No doubt there is the conceivable case where he does this because he is told by another person who has no authority that he may do so; and if he does this with bona fides the penalty should be reduced to a nominal sum. Then, in the case where a man sells copies of a work not made by himself but by others, the statute says this must be done knowingly. The object of the Legislature was that there should be such a description of the subject as will be sufficient to identify it. For this purpose the conventional name applied to it will in general hardly be sufficient; there should be description of the subject; and whether there is or not is a question of fact for the tribunal. Taking that as the question which was before the justice in this case, and importing our own knowledge of these pictures, which we have all seen, the description of the subject of the first is evidently that of an officer ordered abroad, and taking leave of his friends. So of the second and third who could reasonably doubt that what was intended to be represented was a child looking with eyes wide open at its first sermon and fast asleep at the second? Some cases were suggested in the argument in which I do not say there might not be some difficulty, as, for instance, the figure of a dog described as 'A distinguished Member of the Humane Society.' So also a bullfinch and a couple of squirrels, described as 'A Piper and a Pair of Nutcrackers.' There it would be right to put a short description of the subject, or at all events wise to give more than the name. But the question here is, does what is given earmark the picture?"

In Re Walker and Graves (a) the sufficiency of the description of the picture last referred to, "A Piper and a Pair of Nutcrackers," was questioned, but the Court did not find it necessary to pronounce an opinion on the subject.

The several enactments in the Act 5 & 6 Vict. c. 45,(b) with relation to keeping the register book thereby required, and the inspection thereof, the searches therein, and the delivery of certified and stamped copies thereof, the reception of such copies in evidence, the making of false entries. in the said book, and the production in evidence of papers falsely purporting to be copies of such entries, the application to the courts and judges by persons aggrieved by entries in the said book, and the expunging and varying such entries, are to apply to the book or books to be kept by virtue of the present Act, and to the entries and assignments (a) 20 L. T. N. S. 877: L. Rep. 4 Q. B. 715.

(b) Vide ante, pp. 56-59.

PART I.

of copyright and proprietorship therein under this Act, except that the forms of entry prescribed by 5 & 6 Vict. c. 45, CHAPTER XI. may be varied to meet the circumstances of the case, and that the sum to be demanded by the officer of the Company of Stationers for making any entry required by this Act shall be one shilling only.(a)

A person who has been convicted of infringing the copy- Person right in certain paintings and photographs of the registered "aggrieved proprietor, but who sets up no title in himself or adduces any evidence to rebut the prima facie evidence of proprietorship afforded by the book of registry, is not a person "aggrieved" within the meaning of this section or of sect. 14 of 5 & 6 Vict. c. 45.

"A person," said Hannen, J., (b) "to be 'aggrieved' within the meaning of the statute must show that the entry is inconsistent with some right that he sets up in himself or in some other person, or that the entry would really interfere with some intended action on the part of the person making the application." "It seems," said Blackburn, J., in the same case, (c) "that to make a person aggrieved within the meaning of the statute, the applicant must have some substantial objection, and one going to the merits of the registered proprietor's title; then the court may direct an issue, or have the question otherwise disposed of, or, if they think this the proper course, may set aside or expunge the entry. But I do not think it is enough to entitle a person to say that he is aggrieved and that the entry ought to be expunged, that although the registered proprietor has a complete title in equity and in good sense, yet there is some slip either in the signing of the memorandum or in the spelling of a name; this would be my view if it were necessary to decide this question." Compare the language of Willes, J., in Ex parte Davidson, cited ante, p. 94. Copyright in paintings, drawings, and photographs is personal property, and assignable as such. (7)

As to the infringement of this copyright and the remedies for infringement see the chapters on "Piracy," and the Remedies for Infringement," post.

(a) 25 & 26 Vict. c. 68, s. 5.

(b) Graves's case (L. Rep. 4 Q. B. 724; 20 L. T. N. S. 877). (d) 25 & 26 Vict. c. 68, s. 3. See the chapter on “ right," post.

(c) lb.

Transfer of Copy

PART 1.

CHAPTER XIL

Subjects in

exists.

CHAPTER XII.

SCULPTURE, MODELS, AND BUSTS.

THE Copyright in sculpture, models, and casts is dependant solely on the Act 54 Geo. 3, c. 56; the former Act on the subject (38 Geo. 3, c. 71), (a) being now repealed. (b)

Sect. 1 of 54 Geo. 3, c. 56, enacts "that from and after which copyright the passing of this Act every person or persons who shall make or cause to be made any new and original sculpture, or model, or copy or cast of the human figure or human figures, or of any bust or busts, or of any part or parts of the human figure, clothed in drapery or otherwise, or of any animal or animals, or of any part or parts of any animal combined with the human figure or otherwise, or of any subject being matter of invention in sculpture, or of any alto or, basso relievo representing any of the matters or things hereinbefore mentioned, or any cast from nature of the human figure, or of any part or parts of the human figure, or of any cast from nature of any animal, or of any part or parts of any animal, or of any such subject containing or representing any of the matters and things hereinbefore mentioned, whether separate or combined, shall have the sole right and property of all and in every such new and original sculpture, model, copy, and cast of the human figure or human figures, and of all and in every such bust or busts, and of all and in every such part or parts of the human figure, clothed in drapery or otherwise, and of all and in every such new and original sculpture, model, copy and cast, representing any animal or animals, and of all and in every such work representing any part or parts of any animal combined with the human figure or otherwise, and of all and in every such new and original sculpture, model, copy and cast of any subject, being matter of invention in sculpture, and of all and in every such new and original sculpture, model, copy and cast in alto or basso relievo, representing any of the matters or things herein before mentioned, and of every such cast from nature, for the term of fourteen years from first putting forth or publishing the same; provided, in all and in every case, the proprietor or proprietors do cause his, her, or their name or names, with the date, to be put on all and every such new and original

Condition to be observed.

(a) For the opinion of Lord Ellenborough on the inefficient character of this Act, see Gahagan v. Cooper (3 Camp. 111, 114).

(b) By 24 & 25 Vict. c. 101.

sculpture, model, copy or cast, and on every such cast from nature, before the same shall be put forth or published."

The term of enjoyment is, by the above section, to be "fourteen years from first putting forth or publishing" the work; but an additional term of copyright is granted if the maker of the original sculpture, &c., is living at the expiration of the former term, and has not divested himself of the right. Sect. 6 provides "that from and immediately after the expiration of the said term of fourteen years, the sole right of making and disposing of such new and original sculpture, or model, or copy, or cast of any of the matters or things hereinbefore mentioned, shall return to the person or persons who originally made or caused to be made the same, if he or they shall be then living, for the further term of fourteen years, excepting in the case or cases where such person or persons shall by sale or otherwise have divested himself, herself, or themselves, of such right of making or disposing of any new and original sculpture, or model, or copy, or cast of any of the matters or things herein before mentioned, previous to the passing of this Act."

PART I.

CHAPTER XII.

Duration.

Any of the works in which copyright is given by the Registration. foregoing enactments may be registered under the Designs Act, 1850 (13 & 14 Vict. c. 104). Sect. 6 of that Act provides "that the registrar of designs upon application by or on behalf of the proprietor of any sculpture, model, copy, or cast within the protection of the Sculpture Copyright Acts, (a) and upon being furnished with such copy, drawing, print, or description in writing or in print, as in the judgment of the said registrar shall be sufficient to identify the particular sculpture, model, copy, or cast in respect of which registration is desired, and the name of the person claiming to be proprietor, together with his place of abode or business, or other place of address, or the name, style, or title of the firm under which he may be trading, shall register such sculpture, model, copy, or cast in such manner and form as shall from time to time be prescribed or approved by the Board of Trade for the whole or any part of the term during which copyright in such sculpture, model, copy, or cast may or shall exist under the Sculpture Copyright Acts, and whenever any such registration shall be made, the said registrar shall certify under his hand and seal of office, in such form as the said board shall direct or approve, the fact of such registration, and the date of the same, and the name of the registered proprietor, or the style or title of (a) The "Sculpture Copyright Acts" is the name given to the Acts of 38 Geo. 3, c. 71, and 54 Geo. 3, c. 56.

PART L

the firm under which such proprietor may be trading, CHAPTER XII. together with his place of abode or business or other place

Copies to be

tered," and with

tion.

of address."

Sect. 7 inflicts a penalty on persons making, importing, marked regis &c., pirated copies or casts (a) of registered works; but it is date of registra- provided by the same section that no proprietor of any sculpture, model, copy, or cast which shall be registered under the Act shall be entitled to the benefit of the Act, "unless every copy or cast of such sculpture, model, copy, or cast which shall be published by him after such registration shall be marked with the word 'registered,' and with the date of registration."

If the article of sculpture, model copy, or cast is first published out of Her Majesty's dominions, the maker has no copyright in it other than such copyright as may be obtained under the International Copyright Acts.(b)

CHAPTER XIII.

COLONIAL COPYRIGHT.

THE provisions of the General Copyright Act of 5 & 6 Vict. c. 45, apply to "every part of the British dominions," a term which includes "all the colonies, settlements, and possessions of the Crown which now are or hereafter may be acquired." (c) The Acts relating to copyright in works of the fine arts also apply to all the British dominions.

The only enactment peculiarly relating to the colonies is the Act of 10 & 11 Vict. c. 95, passed to amend the law relating to the protection in the colonies of works entitled to copyright in the United Kingdom. Previously to the passing of that Act it was absolutely prohibited to import into any part of the British dominions books in which copyright subsisted, first composed, written, or printed in the United Kingdom and printed or reprinted in any other country.(d) But the first section of that Act provides "that in case the Legislature or proper legislative authorities in any British bitions against possession shall be disposed to make due provision for securing or protecting the rights of British authors in such possession, and shall pass an Act or make an ordinance for (a) See the chapters on "Piracy" and "Remedies for Infringement," post. (b) See 7 Vict. c. 12, s. 19. (c) Sects. 2 and 29. (d) See 5 & 6 Vict. c. 45, s. 17, and 8 & 9 Vict. c. 93.

Power to suspend, in certain cases, prohi

admission of pirated books into colonies.