Copyright Act, 1963

Copyright in cinematograph films.

18.—(1) Copyright shall subsist, subject to the provisions of this Act—

(a) in every cinematograph film the maker of which was a qualified person for the whole or a substantial part of the period during which the film was made, and

(b) without prejudice to the provision contained in paragraph (a) of this subsection, in every published cinematograph film the first publication of which took place in the State.

(2) Copyright subsisting in a cinematograph film by virtue of this section shall continue to subsist until the end of the period of fifty years from the end of the year in which the film is first published.

(3) Subject to the provisions of this Act the maker of a cinematograph film shall be entitled to any copyright subsisting in the film by virtue of this section, except, however, that where a person commissions the making of a cinematograph film, and pays or agrees to pay for it in money or money's worth, and the film is made in pursuance of that commission, that person, in the absence of an agreement to the contrary, shall be entitled to any copyright subsisting in the film by virtue of this section.

(4) The acts restricted by the copyright in a cinematograph film are—

(a) making a copy of the film;

(b) causing the film, in so far as it consists of visual images, to be seen in public, or, in so far as it consists of sounds, to be heard in public;

(c) broadcasting the film;

(d) causing the film to be transmitted to subscribers to a diffusion service.

(5) The making of a copy of a cinematograph film for the purposes of a judicial proceeding, or causing it to be seen or heard in public for those purposes, shall not constitute an infringement of any copyright subsisting therein by virtue of this section.

(6) Where copyright has subsisted in a cinematograph film by virtue of this section and has ceased to so subsist, a person who, after such cesser, causes the film to be seen, or to be seen and heard, in public, or to be broadcast, does not thereby infringe any copyright subsisting by virtue of Part II of this Act in any literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work presented in the film.

(7) In the case of a cinematograph film which is a newsreel, the causing of the film to be seen, or seen and heard, in public, or to be broadcast, after the end of the period of fifty years from the end of the year in which the principal events depicted in the film occurred, shall not constitute an infringement of the copyright subsisting by virtue of this section in the film.

(8) For the purposes of this Act, a cinematograph film shall be taken to include the sounds embodied in any sound-track associated with the film, and references to a copy of a cinematograph film shall be construed accordingly.

(9) Where the sounds embodied in any sound-track associated with a cinematograph film are also embodied in a record not derived from that sound-track, any use made of that record shall not constitute an infringement of the copyright in the film.

(10) In this Act—

“cinematograph film” means any sequence of visual images recorded on material of any description (whether translucent or not) so as to be capable, by use of that material—

(a) of being shown as a moving picture, or

(b) of being recorded on other material (whether translucent or not) by the use of which it can be shown;

“maker”, in relation to a cinematograph film, means the person by whom the arrangements necessary for the making of the film are undertaken;

“publication”, in relation to a cinematograph film, means the sale, letting on hire, or offer for sale or hire, of copies of the film to, or for showing by any means to, the public;

“copy”, in relation to a cinematograph film, means any print, negative, tape or other article on which the film or part of it is recorded.

(11) References in this Act to a sound-track associated with a cinematograph film are references to any record of sounds which is incorporated in any print, negative, tape or other article on which the film or part of it, in so far as it consists of visual images, is recorded, or which is issued by the maker of the film for use in conjunction with such an article.