Page:The copyright act, 1911, annotated.djvu/130

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��CoPYRrGHT Act, 1911.

��§ 16 (2). author or authors had been the sole author or authors thereof :

Provided that the term of the copyright shall be the same as it would have been if all the authors had satisfied such conditions as aforesaid.

(8) For the purposes of this Act, "a work of joint authorship " means a work produced by the collaboration of two or more authors in which the contribution of one author is not distinct from the contribution of the other author or authors.

(4) Where a married wonum and her husband are joint authors of a work the interest of such married woman therein shall be her separate property.

��Meaning of joint authors.

��Term of copyright.

��There is no joint authorship? within the meaning of this section if the contributions of two or more persons who have contributed to the making of a work are clearly distinguishable the one from the other. In such a case the work is a collective work, and there may be distinct copyrights (1) in the collection as a whole, and (2) in the separate contributions. On the other hand, there is no joint authorship when the work of the one has been so subordinate to that of the other that it may be deemed to have merged in it (e). True joint authorship is where there is a joint labour in the prosecution of a preconcerted joint design (e).

The term of copj- right in the work of joint authors under existing law has usually been stated to be measured by the life of the survivor, but there are only dicta in support of this (/). If that was the law the principle is now changed; owing, perhaps, to the fear of fraudulent collusion between an elderly author and a very young person who might merely lend his name for the purpose of prolonging the copyright. The adoption, however, of the life of the shortest liver of the joint authors as the

��{e) Ante, p. 11.

(,/) Nottac/c V. Jackson (If

��.1 Q. B. D. 6-27, 637.

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