91. Sir GEORGE HAMILTONasked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether he is aware that Albert Close, publisher of deep sea fishermen's charts for 28 years, was prosecuted by the Stationery Office and fined £6, with £5 5s. costs, at Bow Street Police Court on 13th November last on a charge of infringing copyright of the Admiralty charts, notwithstanding the fact that Mr. Close produced in Court reproductions and copies of these same Admiralty charts by the United States and German Governments on which no permission or copyright is acknowledged; and whether he will give an assurance that no private individual will in future be prosecuted for doing what can be done by a national of a foreign country without protest?
§ The FINANCIAL SECRETARY to the TREASURY (Mr. Pethick-Lawrence)I am aware of the circumstances referred to in the first part of the question, but I am not prepared to give the assurance suggested in the second part of the question.
§ Mr. ERNEST BROWNWhy should the Admiralty claim a monopoly in this matter, seeing that this man had published the charts for many years, and that the fishermen find them of great use?
§ Mr. PETHICK-LAWRENCEI do not think that it is right to say that the Admiralty claim a monopoly. There is a certain copyright, and in accordance with the hitherto established practice, it is usual to demand a small fee for the use of the charts.
§ Mr. BROWNIs it not a fact that this is not a long-established practice at all, but that this action on the part of the Admiralty is quite recent?
§ Mr. BROWNWill the hon. Gentleman make inquiries about it, because surely the Admiralty ought not to have a monopoly of these things, and they charge the fishermen much more for their charts than this man does?
92. Sir G. HAMILTONasked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether he is aware that no foreign nation claims or admits copyright on its own or other nation's charts, and that all 1677 freely copy, and allow others to copy, without charging royalty fees; and whether he will give directions for similar liberty to be granted in the cases of the official British charts?
§ Mr. PETHICK-LAWRENCEAs I have informed the hon. Member on previous occasions, I am not prepared to modify the present arrangements under which a small royalty is charged in respect of the reproduction of Admiralty charts for the preservation of Crown copyright. I am not aware of the practice of foreign Governments with regard to the copyright on their own charts, but there has for many years been an arrangement between the Governments of the maritime countries whereby each Government is free to reproduce, except in facsimile, the charts of other Governments provided that due and proper acknowledgment of the original source is printed on such reproductions.
Sir G. HAMILTONIf any other Government can reproduce a British Admiralty chart without paying any royalty, surely a British citizen, in the interests of British fishermen, can do the same thing. Will the hon. Gentleman look into that point?
§ Sir WILLIAM MITCHELL-THOMSONDoes the answer of the hon. Gentleman mean that a person is free to sell in this country reproductions of charts produced in America or Germany, but is not free to sell British charts?
§ Mr. PETHICK-LAWRENCEI should require to have notice of that question. [HON. MEMBERS: "It is the question on the Paper."] The form in which the right hon. Gentleman puts the question raises a difficult point, and I should have to look into it.
§ Mr. MILLSHow many successive Governments have allowed this practice to go on before questions have been asked about it?