Copyright Act 1911
| Act of Parliament | |
| Long title | An Act to amend and consolidate the Law relating to Copyright. |
|---|---|
| Citation | 1 & 2 Geo. 5. c. 46 |
| Introduced by | Sydney Buxton (Second reading speech) (Commons) Viscount Haldane (Second reading speech) (Lords) |
| Territorial extent | |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 16 December 1911 |
| Commencement | 1 July 1912 |
| Repealed | 5 November 1956 (in the United Kingdom) 21 January 1958 (in India) 2 Jun 1962 (in Pakistan) 1 May 1969 (in Australia) 1 January 1979 (in South Africa) 10 April 1987 (in Singapore) 1 December 1987 (in Malaysia) 27 June 1997 (in Hong Kong) 25 May 2008 (in Israel) 24 May 2019 (final repeal, in Myanmar) |
| Other legislation | |
| Repeals/revokes |
|
| Amended by | Copyright (British Museum) Act 1915 |
| Repealed by | Copyright Act 1956 and Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1986 (in the United Kingdom) Copyright Act 1957 (in India) Copyright Ordinance, 1962 (in Pakistan) Copyright Act 1968 (in Australia) Copyright Act, 1978 (in South Africa) Copyright Act 1987 (Singapore) (in Singapore) Copyright Act 1987 (Malaysia) (in Malaysia) Copyright Ordinance (Cap 528) (in Hong Kong) Copyright Law 5778-2007 (in Israel) Literary and Artistic Copyright Law 2019 (in Myanmar) |
Status: Repealed | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| Revised text of statute as amended | |
The Copyright Act 1911 (1 & 2 Geo. 5. c. 46), also known as the Imperial Copyright Act 1911, was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which received royal assent on 16 December 1911. The act established copyright law in the UK and the British Empire. The act amended existing UK copyright law, as recommended by a royal commission in 1878 and repealed all previous copyright legislation that had been in force in the UK. The act also implemented changes arising from the first revision of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works in 1908.
The act came into force in the UK on 1 July 1912, in the Channel Islands (except Jersey) on 1 July 1912, in Jersey on 8 March 1913, and in the Isle of Man on 5 July 1912. The Copyright Act 1911 applied or extended to all parts of the British Empire. In India the act came into force on 30 October 1912 (with some modifications in terms of its application to Indian law enacted in 1914), in Burma (then a province of British India) on 24 February 1914, in Papua on 1 February 1931, and all other British possessions on 1 July 1912. It was subsequently enacted on various dates in the self-governing dominions and "territories under protection" of the British Empire. The Copyright Act 1911 (Extension to Palestine) Order 1924 (SR&O 1924/385) covered Mandatory Palestine and later the State of Israel, where in the latter it remained the governing statute until the Israeli Copyright Law 2007 took effect on 25 May 2008.