Chapter 8

Dealings with Rights in Copyright Works

120. —(1) The copyright in a work is transmissible by assignment, by testamentary disposition or by operation of law, as personal or moveable property.

(2) A transmission of the copyright in a work by assignment, by testamentary disposition or by operation of law may be partial, so as to apply—

(a) to one or more but not all of the acts the copyright owner has the right to undertake or authorise, and

(b) to part but not the whole of the period for which the copyright in the work is to subsist.

(3) An assignment of the copyright in a work, whether in whole or in part, is not effective unless it is in writing and signed by or on behalf of the assignor.

(4) A licence granted by a copyright owner is binding on every successor in title to his or her interest in the copyright, except a purchaser in good faith for valuable consideration and without notice (actual or constructive) of the licence or a person deriving title from such a purchaser and references in this Part to undertaking any act with or without the licence of the copyright owner shall be construed accordingly.

(5) A licence granted by a prospective owner of copyright is binding on every successor in title to his or her interest (or prospective interest) in the copyright, except a purchaser in good faith for valuable consideration and without notice (actual or constructive) of the licence or a person deriving title from such a purchaser and references in this Part to undertaking any act with or without the licence of the copyright owner shall be construed accordingly.

121. —(1) Where, by an agreement made in relation to future copyright and signed by or on behalf of the prospective owner of the copyright, the prospective owner purports to assign the future copyright, whether in whole or in part, to another person, then, where, on the copyright coming into existence, the assignee or his or her successor in title, or another person claiming under him or her, would be entitled as against all other persons to require the copyright to be vested in him or her, the copyright shall vest in the assignee or his or her successor in title under this section or any other person claiming under him or her.

(2) Where, at the time when any copyright comes into existence, the person who, if he or she were then living, would be entitled to the copyright is dead, the copyright shall devolve as if it had subsisted immediately before his or her death and he or she had then been the owner of the copyright.

(3) The rights of an assignee to future copyright shall not be prejudiced by the fact that an agreement referred to in subsection (1) was made before the commencement of this section.

(4) In this Part—

“future copyright” means copyright which will or may come into existence in respect of a future work or class of works or on the occurrence of a future event;

“prospective owner” includes a person who is prospectively entitled to copyright by virtue of an agreement made in relation to future copyright.

122. —(1) In this Part, an “exclusive licence” means a licence in writing which is signed by or on behalf of an owner or prospective owner of the copyright which authorises the licensee, to the exclusion of all other persons, including the person granting the licence, to exercise a right which would otherwise be exercisable exclusively by the copyright owner and references to an exclusive licensee shall be construed accordingly.

(2) An exclusive licensee has the same rights against a successor in title who is bound by the licence as he or she has against the person granting the licence.

123. —Where, under a bequest (whether specific or general), a person is entitled, beneficially or otherwise, to any material thing containing an original fixation of a work which has not been made available to the public before the death of the testator, the bequest shall be construed as including the copyright in the work in so far as the testator was the owner of the copyright immediately before his or her death, unless a contrary intention is indicated in the will of the testator or in a codicil to that will.

124. —(1) Without prejudice to the right of an author to receive equitable remuneration in respect of a rental right, where an agreement concerning film production is concluded between an author or a prospective author of a copyright work and a film producer, the author or prospective author shall be presumed, unless the agreement provides to the contrary, to have transferred to the film producer any rental right in relation to the film arising by virtue of the inclusion of a copy of the work of the author in the film.

(2) Where a presumption of transfer of the rental right arises by virtue of subsection (1), the absence of a signature by or on behalf of the author shall not restrict the operation of section 120 or 121.

(3) The reference in subsection (1) to an agreement concluded between an author or a prospective author and a film producer includes any agreement whether made by them directly or through intermediaries.

(4) The right to equitable remuneration on the transfer of the rental right applies where there is a presumed transfer under this section as in the case of an actual transfer.

125. —(1) Without prejudice to the generality of section 124 , where an author has transferred his or her rental right he or she retains the right to equitable remuneration for the rental.

(2) The right to equitable remuneration conferred by this section shall not be waived by the author and the author shall not assign the right to equitable remuneration except to a collecting society for the purpose of enabling the collecting society to exercise that right on his or her behalf.

(3) The right to equitable remuneration is transmissible by way of testamentary disposition or by operation of law, as personal or moveable property and it may be further transmitted, including by assignment, by any person who legally acquires the right.

(4) Equitable remuneration under this section is payable by the person to whom the rental right is transferred or any successor in title.

(5) Subject to section 126 , the amount payable by way of equitable remuneration is that which has been agreed by or on behalf of the persons by and to whom it is payable.

(6) An agreement is void in so far as it purports to exclude or restrict the right to equitable remuneration conferred by this section.

(7) References in this Part to the transfer of the rental right by one person to another include any arrangement having that effect whether made by them directly or through intermediaries.

(8) In this section, “collecting society” means a society or other organisation which has as one of its main objects the exercise of the right to collect equitable remuneration under this section on behalf of more than one author.

126. —(1) In default of agreement as to the amount of equitable remuneration payable under section 125 , the person by or to whom it is payable may apply to the Controller for an order under subsection (4).

(2) Subject to subsection (3), a person by or to whom equitable remuneration is payable under section 125 may also apply to the Controller—

(a) to vary any agreement as to the amount payable, or

(b) to vary any previous determination of the Controller as to the amount payable.

(3) An application may not be made under subsection (2) within 12 months from the date of the previous determination except with the special leave of the Controller.

(4) On an application being made under this section the Controller shall consider the matter and make such order as to the method of calculating and paying equitable remuneration as he or she may determine to be reasonable in the circumstances, having regard to the importance of the contribution of the author.

(5) An order made under subsection (4) shall have effect from the date on which it is made or such later date as may be specified by the Controller.

(6) Remuneration shall not be considered inequitable because it is paid by way of a single payment or at the time of transfer of the rental right.

(7) An agreement is void in so far as it purports to prevent a person challenging the amount of equitable remuneration or to restrict the powers of the Controller conferred by this section.