Copyright Act 1956

28 (1) Where by virtue of any provision of this Act copyright subsists in a work, any document or event which—

(a) was made or occurred before the commencement of that provision, and

(b) had any operation affecting the title to copyright in the work under the Act of 1911, or would have had such an operation if the Act of 1911 had continued in force,

shall have the corresponding operation in relation to the copyright in the work under this Act:

Provided that, if the operation of any such document was or would have been limited to a period specified in the document, it shall not have any operation in relation to the copyright under this Act, except in so far as that period extends beyond the commencement of the provision of this Act by virtue of which copyright subsists in the work.

(2) For the purposes of the operation of a document in accordance with the preceding sub-paragraph,—

(a) expressions used in the document shall be construed in accordance with their effect immediately before the commencement of the provision in question, notwithstanding that a different meaning is assigned to them for the purposes of this Act; and

(b) subsection (1) of section thirty-seven shall not apply.

(3) Without prejudice to the generality of sub-paragraph (1) of this paragraph, the proviso set out in paragraph 6 of the Eighth Schedule to this Act (being the proviso to subsection (2) of section five of the Act of 1911) shall apply to assignments and licences having effect in relation to copyright under this Act in accordance with that sub-paragraph, as if that proviso had been re-enacted in this Act.

(4) In relation to copyright under this Act in a sound recording or in a cinematograph film, the preceding provisions of this paragraph shall apply subject to the following modifications, that is to say—

(a) in the case of a sound recording, references to the copyright under the Act of 1911 shall be construed as references to the copyright under that Act in records embodying the recording, and

(b) in the case of a cinematograph film, references to the copyright under the Act of 1911 shall be construed as references to any copyright under that Act in the film (in so far as it constituted a dramatic work for the purposes of the Act of 1911) or in photographs forming part of the film.

(5) In this paragraph “operation affecting the (title”, in relation to copyright under the Act of 1911, means any operation affecting the ownership of that copyright, or creating, transferring or terminating an interest, right or licence in respect of that copyright.