Page:Copyright, Its History And Its Law (1912).djvu/414

 382 COPYRIGHT

Canadian decision, when in 1906 Justice Fortin, in Mary v. Hubert, in the Quebec Court of King's Bench, held that the British international copyright act in relation with the Berne convention protected a French work from Canadian reprint, though the author had not complied with specific Canadian requirements, — a most significant decision in defense of interna- tional copyright. Local Underthecolonialcopyrightactof 1847, which de-

legislation clared local legislation or decrees repugnant to the Imperial law to be null and void, local legislation con- sonant with Imperial acts was permitted, subject to approval by the Crown through Orders in Council, in which case prohibition of importation of foreign re- prints might be suspended by Order in Council with regard to the particular colony. Under this act, local legislation with special provisions existed in British India and other colonies, as well as in the "self-gov- erning dominions," which last now include Canada and Newfoundland, Australia and New Zealand, and South Africa, and which have somewhat greater pow- ers of local legislation. Under these local provisions, the Imperial law still prevails, local legislation being concurrent but not necessarily co-terminous with it, as is particularly noticeable in Canada, where there has been more or less conflict between the Imperial and Dominion authorities. Local protection may thus be extended, for instance, to works not first pub- lished within the British possessions, or in a unionist country, but copyright cannot be denied to works thus first published ; and the Crown disapproves or dis- allows laws or provisions construed by the Imperial authorities to be repugnant to Imperial law. More than a score of colonies have adopted local laws or ordinances, some of which have been disallowed by the Crown. The status of copyright in the several colo-