PROCLAMATION 2608
Copyright Extension: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Including Certain British Territories) and Palestine
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
March 10, 1944
WHEREAS by the act of Congress approved September 25, 1941 (c. 421, 55 Stat. 732), the President is authorized, on the conditions prescribed in that act, to grant an extension of time for the fulfilment of the conditions and formalities prescribed by the copyright laws of the United States of America with respect to works first produced or published outside of the United States of America and subject to copyright or to renewal of copyright under the laws of the United States of America, including works subject to ad interim copyright, by nationals of countries which accord substantially equal treatment to citizens of the United States of America; and
WHEREAS His Britannic Majesty has issued an Order in Council, effective from this day, by the terms of which treatment substantially equal to that authorized by the aforesaid act of September 25, 1941, is accorded, within the British dominions, colonies, protectorates, and mandated territories to which that order applies, to literary and artistic works first produced or published in the United States of America: and
WHEREAS the aforesaid Order in Council applies to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, British India, British Burma, Southern Rhodesia, Aden Colony, Bahamas, Barbados, Basutoland, Bechuanaland Protectorate, Bermuda, British Guiana, British Honduras, British Solomon Islands Protectorate, Ceylon, Cyprus, Falkland Islands and Dependencies, Fiji, Gambia (Colony and Protectorate), Gibraltar, Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony, Gold Coast ((a) Colony, (b) Ashanti, (c) Northern Territories), Hong Kong, Jamaica (including Turks and Caicos Islands and the Cayman Islands), Kenya (Colony and Protectorate), Leeward Islands (Antigua, Montserrat, St. Christopher and Nevis, Virgin Islands), Malta, Mauritius, Nigeria ((a) Colony, (b) Protectorate), Northern Rhodesia, Nyasaland Protectorate, Palestine (excluding Trans-Jordan), St. Helena and Ascension, Seychelles, Sierra Leone (Colony and Protectorate), Somaliland Protectorate, Straits Settlements, Swaziland, Trans-Jordan, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda Protectorate, and Windward Islands (Dominica, St. Vincent, Grenada, St. Lucia); and
WHEREAS the aforesaid Order in Council is annexed to and is part of an agreement embodied in notes exchanged this day between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; and
WHEREAS by virtue of a proclamation by the President of the United States of America dated April 9, 1910 (36 Stat. 2685), subjects of Great Britain and her possessions are, and since July 1, 1909, have been, entitled to the benefits of the act of Congress approved March 4, 1909 (35 Stat. 1075) relating to copyright, other than the benefits of Section 1(e) of that act; and
WHEREAS by virtue of a proclamation by the President of the United States of America dated January 1, 1915 (38 Stat. 2044), the subjects of Great Britain and the British dominions, colonies, and possessions, with the exception of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Newfoundland, are, and since January 1, 1915, have been, entitled to all the benefits of Section 1(e) of the aforesaid act of March 4, 1909; and
WHEREAS by virtue of a proclamation by the President of the United States of America dated September 29, 1933 (48 Stat. 1713), citizens of Palestine (excluding Trans-Jordan) are, and since October 1, 1933, have been, entitled to all the benefits of the aforesaid act of March 4, 1909:
NOW, THEREFORE, I, FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT, President of the United States of America, under and by virtue of the authority vested in me by the aforesaid act of September 25, 1941, do declare and proclaim:
That with respect to (1) works subject to copyright under the laws of the United States of America, including works eligible to ad interim copyright, which were first produced or published outside of the United States of America on or after September 3, 1939, by British nationals of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of the British territories to which the aforesaid Order in Council applies, or by citizens of Palestine (excluding Trans-Jordan); and (2) works of the same authors or copyright proprietors which were entitled to renewal of copyright under the laws of the United States of America on or after September 3, 1939, there existed and continues to exist such disruption or suspension of facilities essential to compliance with the conditions and formalities prescribed with respect to such works by the copyright laws of the United States of America as to bring such works within the terms of the aforesaid act of September 25, 1941; and that accordingly the time within which compliance with such conditions and formalities may take place is hereby extended with respect to such works until the day on which the President of the United States of America shall, in accordance with that act, terminate or suspend the present declaration and proclamation.
It shall be understood that the term of copyright in any case is not and cannot be altered or affected by this proclamation, and that, as provided by the aforesaid act of September 25, 1941, no liability shall attach under the Copyright Act for lawful uses made or acts done prior to the effective date of this proclamation in connection with the above-described works, or in respect to the continuance for one year subsequent to such date of any business undertaking or enterprise lawfully undertaken prior to such date involving expenditure or contractual obligation in connection with the exploitation, production, reproduction, circulation, or performance of any such work.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States of America to be affixed.
DONE at the City of Washington this tenth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred forty-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and sixty-eighth.
FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT
CORDELL HULL
Secretary of State