ision of the
English law, the draft had previously been considered and accepted, not
only by a Board of Trade Committee which reported unanimously in favour
of the recommendations of the Berlin Convention, but also by an Imperial
Conference. The bill for the first time brought British copyright
entirely under statutory law and consolidated and amended all previous
enactments; it adopted the suggestions of the Imperial Conference
(attended by representatives of Canada, Australia, South Africa, New
Zealand and Newfoundland, other interests being covered by home
representatives of the Foreign Office, India Office, Colonial Office and
Board of Trade) as to providing for its extension by their declaration
to the Dominions; and with its enactment a great simplification of the
British law of copyright came in sight, though for historical reasons
the details given above of the law as unamended must still remain of
value.

Briefly, the new points of importance, apart from the placing of all
copyright on a purely statutory basis and the inclusion of literary and
artistic copyright within one arrangement, were as follows. All
compulsory formalities of registration were abolished. The length of the
period for which copyright lasted was extended to the life of the author
and 50 years after. This reform was qualified, however, by a clause
intended to protect the public from its abuse, and providing that after
the author's death, if the work was withheld from the public or
published at too high a price, or if the reasonable requirements of the
public were not satisfied, a licence might be granted to publish or
perform it. These changes applied to all the subject-matters of
copyright, which were now put on the same level and treated uniformly.
In certain cases, already discussed above, protection was extended: e.g.
translations and lectures, original adaptations and arrangements, works
of artistic novelty, including architectural designs; and the right to
dramatize a novel or "novelize" a drama was conferred in each case on
the author. Musical works were protected against unauthorized
reproduction by mechanical means without payment; but protection was
also extended to the mechanical record when authorized.

In including all sorts of intellectual product the bill followed the
recommendation (resolution 6) of the Imperial Conference as to the
definition of copyright (Parl. Paper Cd. 5272): "the Conference is of
opinion that, subject t