— 15 —
secondary infringement covered by section 31, involving possession of an
infringing copy for the purpose of, etc, any trade or business; selling, letting or
hiring such copies; and indeed, distributing such copies in the circumstances
specified.9
43.
But the weakness of that argument is exposed by examples such as
those discussed above. Plainly, electronic copies of copyright works can be
bought, sold and delivered entirely via the internet.
Reference by the
Ordinance to such commercial transactions therefore does not imply that it
intends to apply only to dealings with electronic copies involving the physical
handling of storage devices.
44.
It is of course true that in some cases, such as with rentals, one
would normally envisage persons renting and then returning disks containing
electronic copies of the relevant works. But it does not follow that because one
particular form of dealing with an electronic copy may require physical
delivery of the storage device, all forms of dealing, and in particular
distribution, of such copies must inevitably require similar physical handling, to
the exclusion of delivery via the internet. Indeed, technological advances are
constantly being made with a view to eliminating the need for such physical
delivery. Thus, an electronic copy of a “rented” film may be sent to the
9
Section 31: (Secondary infringement: possessing or dealing with infringing copy)
(1) The copyright in a work is infringed by a person who, without the licence of the
copyright owner –
(a) possesses for the purpose of, in the course of, or in connection with, any trade
or business;
(b) sells or lets for hire, or offers or exposes for sale or hire;
(c) exhibits in public or distributes for the purpose of, in the course of, or in
connection with, any trade or business; or
(d) distributes (otherwise than for the purpose of, in the course of, or in connection
with, any trade or business) to such an extent as to affect prejudicially the
owner of the copyright, a copy of a work which is, and which he knows or has
reason to believe to be, an infringing copy of the work.
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