§ 84. Mr. Roland Robinsonasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he can give an assurance that in the general review of the law of copyright which is to be undertaken at an early date, special attention will be paid to the desirability of legislation to prevent or deal with any abuse of the monopoly rights conferred upon owners of copyright by the law of the United Kingdom, in accordance with the reservation made by His Majesty's Government in connection with the signature of the Brussels Convention of 1948.
§ Mr. BottomleyYes. I assume that the hon. Member refers to the declaration made by the United Kingdom Delegation to the Brussels Copyright Conference when Article 11 of the Brussels Convention was adopted. The Article gives to authors of musical and dramatic works the exclusive privilege of authorising the public performance of their works and the purpose of the declaration was to reserve 257W the right of His Majesty's Government to consider whether any change in the law relating to the exercise of this privilege is desirable. My right hon. Friend is prepared to include this question in the general review of the law of copyright which, it is hoped, can be begun at an early date.