In place of the periods of protection varying, as formerly, Chap. XV. according to the class of goods, the copyright in a registered design Duration of now extends in all cases to one period of five years from the date copyright. of registration.1 Before delivery on sale the proprietor must cause each article to be marked with the prescribed mark, denoting that the design is registered, or his copyright will cease, unless he shows that he took all proper steps to ensure the marking of the article. 3 The copyright will also cease if the design is used in manufacture in any foreign country, and is not used in this country, within six months of its registration. This provision is new, and it will be observed that it is not confined to use abroad by the proprietor. In the Register of Designs at the Patent Office are to be Registers. entered the names and addresses of proprietors of registered designs, notifications of assignments and of transmissions of registered designs, and such other matters as may from time to time be prescribed; and the register will be prima facie evidence of the matters entered therein under the Act. The person for the time being entered as proprietor has, subject to the provisions of the Act and to any rights appearing from the register to be vested in any other person, power absolutely to assign, grant licences as to, or otherwise deal with, the copyright, and give effectual receipts for any consideration therefor; provided that any equities may be enforced as in respect of any other personal property, but there must not be entered on the register or received by the Comptroller notice of any trust.6 designs. During the existence of copyright, the design is not open to Inspection of inspection, except by the proprietor, or a person authorized in writing by him or a person authorized by the Comptroller or by the Court and furnishing such information as may enable the Comptroller to identify the design, nor except in the presence of the Comptroller or his officer, and on payment of the prescribed fee; and the person making the inspection may not take a copy of the design or any part of it. When, however, the copyright 1 46 & 47 Vict. c. 57, s. 50 (1). 2 lb. s. 51. For instance of the exception, see Wittman v. Oppenheim, 27 Ch. D. 260. 3 Ib. s. 54. + Ib. s. 55. 5 46 & 47 Vict. c. 57, s. 87, amended by 51 & 52 Vict. c. 50, s. 21. 6 46 & 47 Vict. c. 57, s. 85. 7 46 & 47 Viet. c. 57, s. 52 (1), subject to the exception in s. 6 of the Act of 1888. Chap. XV. has ceased, the design is to be open to inspection, and copies may be taken by any person on payment of the prescribed fee,1 or certified copies obtained. Certified and sealed copies or extracts of or from the register are to be received in evidence without further proof or production of the originals. The Court may, on the application of any person aggrieved, order the register to be rectified, and the Comptroller may correct a clerical error.5 Piracy. VII. International and colonial copyright. On the request of any person producing a particular design, with its mark of registration, or producing only its mark of registration, or furnishing such information as may enable the Comptroller to identify the design, and on payment of the fee, the Comptroller is to inform him whether the registration still exists, and in respect of what class or classes of goods, and the date of registration, and the name and address of the proprietor. The Act makes it unlawful for any person, during the existence of the copyright, without the written consent of the registered proprietor, to apply, or cause to be applied, such design, or any fraudulent or obvious imitation thereof, in the class in which the design is registered, for the purposes of sale to any article; or to publish or expose for sale any such article knowing that the registered proprietor has not consented. For every such offence the proprietor may, by action, recover a penalty not exceeding 501. from the offender; provided that the total sum forfeited in respect of any one design shall not exceed 100.9 The proprietor may, if he so elects, sue for damages.' The registered proprietor only can sue for any infringement." 10 Any person who describes any design applied to any article sold by him as registered, which is not so, is made liable for every offence on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding 51.12 As regards literary and artistic works first published in a foreign country, certain statutes, styled the International Copyright Acts, 13 have been passed, authorizing His Majesty by Order in Council to direct that the author shall have copyright in the 1 Ib. ss. 52 (2), 56. 2 Ib. s. 88. 3 lb. s. 89. 4 lb. s. 90. 5 Ib. s. 91. 6 Ib. s. 53. 7 51 & 52 Vict. c. 50, s. 7. 8 46 & 47 Vict. c. 57, s. 58. 9 51 & 52 Vict. c. 50, s. 7. 10 46 & 47 Vict. c. 57, s. 59. 11 Woolley v. Broad, [1892] 1 Q. B. 806. 12 46 & 47 Vict. c. 57, s. 105. 13 7 & 8 Vict. c. 12; 15 & 16 Viet. c. 12; 25 & 26 Vict. c. 68, s. 12; 38 & 39 Vict. c. 12. 4 same during the period specified by the Order, which must not Chap. XV. exceed the period during which authors of the like works first published in the United Kingdom have copyright. In September, 1885, an International Conference was held at Berne, and a draft convention agreed to for giving to authors of literary and artistic works, first published in one of the countries parties to the convention, copyright in such works throughout the other countries parties to the convention. For the purpose of carrying such convention into effect in His Majesty's dominions, the International Copyright Act, 1886, was passed; and, on November 28th, 1887, an Order in Council was issued adopting the Berne convention, which Order is to be construed as if it formed part of the Act of 1886. That convention has been adopted by England, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Japan, and some other less important states, and these countries form what is called the "Copyright Union." Within this union the copyright of authors belonging to any one of these countries is protected in the other countries. The author of any literary or artistic work, first produced after December 6th, 1887, in one of these countries, if he is a citizen of one of them, has the same copyright within the British dominions as if the work had been first produced in the United Kingdom. No greater right or longer term of copyright is, however, conferred than that enjoyed in the foreign country in which such work was first produced. If the author of a work so produced is not a citizen of one of the countries of the union, the copyright belongs to the publisher. The Act of 1886 makes the Order in Council retrospective, but not so as to affect any rights or interests arising from or in connection with any work lawfully produced in the United Kingdom before the publication of the Order. Protection is also given in respect of the production or importation of translations." Compliance with the conditions and formalities required in the Registration. country where the work is first produced gives a right to sue for 149 & 50 Vict. c. 33. Copinger, App. p. cxxiii. S. 8 of the Order. 4 Austria and Hungary have a separate convention. In the United States there is a special Act. S. 3 of the Order. 49 & 50 Vict. c. 33, s. 2 (3). See Hanfstaengl v. American Tobacco Co., [1895] 1 Q. B. 347; Baschet v. London 7 Berne Convention, Arts. 2, 3 ; 8 49 & 50 Vict. c. 33, s. 6. See Moul v. Groenings, [1891] 2 Q. B. 443; Hanfstaengl v. American Tobacco Co., supra. 9 49 & 50 Vict. c. 33, s. 5: Berne Convention, Arts. 5, 6. Chap. XV. infringement in this country, and registration in this country is not necessary.1 Remedies. British In order to prevent infringements in a foreign country a British author must take proceedings in the courts of that country. A person suing in this country to prevent infringement of a foreign copyright must show that he is entitled to protection in the foreign country, and then his remedy depends on the law of this country. The owner of the British copyright in a book first published in a foreign country can prevent the importation into Great Britain of copies printed in that foreign country by the proprietor of the copyright there.* By the Act of 1886 the different Copyright Acts already referred to were made to apply to literary or artistic works first produced in a British possession in like manner as they apply to a work first produced in the United Kingdom, and registration in accordance with the law of such possession is sufficient." 1 Hanfstaengl v. American Tobacco Co., supra. 2 Morocco Bound v. Harris, [1895] 1 Ch. 535. 3 Baschet v. London Co., sup. Pitts v. George, [1896] 2 Ch. 866. 549 & 50 Vict. c. 33, ss. 8, 9. CHAPTER XVI. COMPANIES-SHARES-DEBENTURES-DEBENTURE STOCK. LORD LINDLEY defines a company as follows:- Chap. XVI. "By a company is meant an association of many persons who contribute money or money's worth to a common stock, and employ it in Company some trade or business, and who share the profit or loss (as the case defined. may be) arising therefrom. The common stock so contributed is denoted in money and is the capital of the company. The persons who contribute it, or to whom it belongs, are members. The proportion of capital to which each member is entitled is his share. Shares are always transferable; although the right to transfer them is often more or less restricted.”1 The difference between an ordinary partnership and a company Difference has been explained by James, L.J., thus:2 between a company and "An ordinary partnership is a partnership composed of definite a partnership. individuals bound together by contract between themselves to continue combined for some definite object, either during pleasure or during a limited time, and is essentially composed of the persons originally entering into the contract with one another. A company or association (which I take to be synonymous terms) is the result of an arrangement by which parties intend to form a partnership which is constantly changing, a partnership to-day consisting of certain members, and to-morrow consisting of some only of those members along with others who have come in, so that there will be a constant shifting of the partnership, a determination of the old and a creation of a new partnership, and with the intention that, so far as the partners can by agreement between themselves bring about such a result, the new partnership shall succeed to the assets and liabilities of the old partnership. This object, as regards liabilities, could not in point of law be attained by any arrangement between the persons themselves, unless the persons contracting with them authorized the change by a novation, or unless, by special provisions in Acts of Parliament, sanction was given to such arrangements." It will be observed that a company as thus defined differs from an ordinary partnership in that any member of the company can 1 Lindley on the Law of Companies, P. 1. See Reg. v. Registrar of Jt. St. Companies, [1891] 2 Q. B. 598. 2 Smith v. Anderson, 15 Ch. D. 273. |