for the whole term of copyright or any part thereof, or license accordingly. But no assignment otherwise than by will shall be operative beyond twenty-five years from the death of the author, when the copyright reverts to his natural heirs, following Spanish precedent.
Registration provisions are altogether omitted from the new measure.
Deposit
copiesDeposit is required at the British Museum within one month after publication, "of every book published in the United Kingdom" on penalty of fine not exceeding five pounds and the value of the book, and copies must also be supplied to the four university libraries, and for specific classes to the National Library of Wales, on demand—the "best" edition in the case of the British Museum, and that of which most copies are sold in the other cases.
ImportationImportation of " copies made out of the United Kingdom…which if made within the United Kingdom would infringe copyright," is prohibited, on notification in writing to the Commissioners of Customs (the Isle of Man being specifically excepted from this provision), and similar prohibition is authorized as to British possessions. The use in the section on infringement of the phrase "imports for sale or hire," taken from the act of 1842, involves a possible limitation of this prohibition which is discussed in the chapter on importation.
RemediesThe usual civil remedies are provided, actions being limited within three years from the infringement. If the real name of an author, or in the absence of such, the name of a publisher, is indicated on a work, that is prima facie evidence of copyright ownership in the prosecution of infringement. An infringer may be relieved from damages (but not from injunction) on proving innocence; architectural infringements may
