Copyright Act 1911

The Copyright Act of 1911 is a parliamentary act of the United Kingdom. The act obsoleted copyright law previously established in the UK and its territories.

Enactment

The act was instated as follows:

Region	Date of enactment
United Kingdom	1 July 1912
Channel Islands*	1 July 1912
Isle of Man	5 July 1912
India	30 October 1912
Jersey	8 March 1913
Papua	1 February 1931
(remaining territories)	1 July 1912

*sans Jersey

(cf. Partridge, 154f.)

Content & Changes

The Copyright Act of 1911 repealed the previous act from 1842. It consists of three separate sections:

Part 1: Imperial Copyright
Part 2: International Copyright
Part 3: Supplemental Provisions

The Imperial Copyright is reserved to works published in the UK or other parts of the Empire's territories and to unpublished works created by British citizens or residents. All original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic work that these criteria apply to is in the scope of this act - however other works are exempt from this right. The term "copyright" in itself refers to the right to not only (re-)produce, perform or publish a translation of a work but also the right to create adaptations (in form of novels or performances) and, interestingly, "to make any record, perforated roll, cinematograph film, or other contrivance by means of which the work may be mechanically performed or delivered" (Copyright Act 1911, 1,(2),(d)). Generally speaking, copyright is an innate property of any work that falls under the aforementioned descriptions and applies the moment these works have manifested in physical form (e.g. as soon as an author has written his novel). Copyright is not eternal - as such it runs out after 50 years following the publication of a work or, in case of an unpublished work, after 50 years following the author's death.

Works cited

• Copyright Act 1911. UK Public General Acts. URL: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo5/1-2/46/contents/enacted. Last Access: 22 July 2021.
• Partridge, R. C. Barrington. The History of the Legal Deposit of Books. 2008. Read Books.