Chapter XLVII: Section III: Infringement of the Copyright

=Prohibited Acts and Remedies.=--The Act (54 Geo. III. c. 56) gives to the proprietor "the sole right and property" of works in sculpture.

The prohibited Acts are[906]--

1. Making a pirated copy.
2. Importing a pirated copy.
3. Exposing for sale or otherwise disposing of a pirated copy.
4. Causing any of these acts to be done.

The remedy is an action at the suit of the proprietor for[907]--

i. Damages.
ii. Injunction.
iii. Costs--"a full and reasonable indemnity."[908]

_Guilty Knowledge._--Ignorance is no defence to an action in respect of any of the prohibited Acts, even that of selling.

_Limitation of Action._--All actions under the Act must be commenced within six months of the discovery of the offence sued on.

_Copying for Private Use._--Either making or importing a single copy for private use would technically be an infringement. The prohibition is not limited to making or importing for sale, hire, exhibition, or distribution, as in the case of paintings, &c., under 25 & 26 Vict. c. 68, sec. 6.

=What is a Piratical Copy.=--A pirated copy may be "produced by moulding or copying from or imitating in any way any of the matters or things put forth or published under the protection of the Act ... to the detriment, damage, or loss of the proprietor."[909]

The prohibition is against "imitating in any way." This prohibition does not seem so wide as that in 25 & 26 Vict. c. 68, which prohibits the multiplication of a painting or drawing or the design thereof. It is more similar to the prohibition in the Engraving Act 8 Geo. II. c. 13, viz., against engraving, &c., "or in any manner copying" a copyright print. It seems therefore to be open to question as with engravings whether a piece of sculpture can be infringed except by some work of art which reproduces the peculiar art of the sculptor. Would a piece of sculpture be infringed by a picture, sketch, or engraving copying the design of the work?

Licence would be a defence, and it probably does not require to be in writing. There is nothing in the Act from which the necessity for a licence to be in writing could be implied.