Copyright Act, 1978 (Act No. 98 of 1978)

Chapter 5 : Miscellaneous Provisions

43. Application to work made before commencement of Act

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This Act shall apply in relation to works made before the commencement of this Act as it applies in relation to works made thereafter: Provided that—

(a)nothing in this Act contained shall—
(i)subject to paragraph (d), affect the ownership, duration or existence of any copyright which subsists under the Copyright Act, 1965 (Act No. 63 of 1965); or
(ii)subject to paragraph (c), be construed as creating copyright in any type of work in which copyright could not subsist prior to 11 September 1965;
(b)[Section 43(b) deleted by section 14 (b) of Act No. 52 of 1984]
(c)the copyright in a cinematograph film made before the commencement of this Act shall be governed by the relevant provisions of this Act, subject to the qualification, in the case of a cinematograph film treated as an original dramatic work under section 35 of the Third Schedule to the Designs Act, 1916 (Act No. 9 of 1916)—
(i)that the owner of the copyright shall, if so required, remunerate the person who is the owner of a copyright in that original dramatical work for the purposes of that Act, which remuneration shall be determined by arbitration if agreement thereon cannot be reached; and
(ii)that the owner of the copyright in the cinematograph film or any person deriving rights in respect of the cinematograph film from such owner shall in excercising such rights in the cinematograph film be deemed not to infringe any rights in such original dramatical work under the said Act; and
(iii)that an act performed by virtue of a licence granted by the owner of the copyright in the original dramatical work under that Act and in existence before or at the time of coming into force of this subsection, shall be deemed to be performed or have been performed on the authority of the owner of the copyright in the cinematograph film.
(d)in the determination of the term of copyright contemplated in the proviso to section 3(2)(a) in the case of a work in respect of which the copyright has expired at the commencement of the Copyright Amendment Act, 1984, on the ground that the period mentioned in the said paragraph has lapsed, it shall be deemed that, subject to any rights acquired by any person after the lapse of that period and before the said commencement, copyright did not expire on that ground.