Copyright Act, 1963

Copyright in artistic works.

9.—(1) In this Act “artistic work” means a work of any of the following descriptions—

(a) paintings, sculptures, drawings, engravings and photographs, irrespective of their artistic quality,

(b) works of architecture, being either buildings or models for buildings, and

(c) works of artistic craftsmanship not falling within the descriptions contained in paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) of this subsection.

(2) Copyright shall subsist, subject to the provisions of this Act, in every original artistic work which is unpublished and the author of which was a qualified person—

(a) when the work was made, or

(b) if the making of the work extended over a period, for a substantial part of that period.

(3) Copyright shall subsist, subject to the provisions of this Act, in every original artistic work which is published, if—

(a) the first publication of the work took place in the State, or

(b) the author of the work was a qualified person at the time when it was first published, or

(c) the author had died before that time but was a qualified person immediately before his death.

(4) Where copyright subsisted in an original artistic work immediately before its first publication, the copyright shall continue to subsist in that work after its first publication if, but only if, that publication complies with the provisions of the immediately preceding subsection of this section relating to copyright in a published work.

(5) The term of copyright subsisting in a work under this section shall, subject to the provisions of subsection (6) and subsection (7) of this section, be the lifetime of the author of the work and a period of fifty years from the end of the year in which the author died.

(6) In the case of an engraving which was not published before the death of the author, the copyright shall continue to subsist for a period of fifty years from the end of the year in which it is first published.

(7) In the case of a photograph, the copyright shall continue to subsist for a period of fifty years from the end of the year in which the photograph is first published.

(8) The acts restricted by the copyright in an artistic work are—

(a) reproducing the work in any material form,

(b) publishing the work,

(c) including the work in a television broadcast,

(d) causing a television programme which includes the work to be transmitted to subscribers to a diffusion service.