§ MR. RAMSAY MACDONALDI beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether the Berlin Conference on Copyright has finished, and whether its recommendations have been signed by the representatives of all the countries present; whether a statement of the alterations proposed will be laid upon the Table of the House before any action has been taken by the Government to ratify them, such statement showing what alterations can be made by Orders in Council and what requires legislation; and whether, before the Government takes any action, those interested in the question will have an opportunity of laying their views before it.
§ MR. CHURCHILLA revised text of the Berne Convention was signed by all the parties to the Conference on the 13th instant. The Report of the British delegates has been received and will, as I have previously stated, be published in due course. Full opportunity will be given to those interested to submit their views before any action is taken by His Majesty's Government. Any alteration in the existing law of copyright must of necessity be made by legislation. An Order in Council, as stated in a reply given to the hon. Member for North Salford on Monday last, can only give foreign works the benefit of the existing law, and cannot alter that law.