An important judgment affecting news copyright in Palestine was handed down to-day by the British magistrate, Mr. Cressal, in a case brought by the Palestine Telegraphic Agency against the Arab paper “Al Hayat”, for infringement of copyright in printing P.T.A. cables from Basle during the time of the last Zionist Congress.
The British magistrate has held that the “Palestine Bulletin” is entitled to compensation from “Al Hayat” for the publication of the telegrams.
The case of “Al Hayat”, put by Mr. ###, was that the British Copyright Act of 1911, on which the case was brought has not been promulgated in Palestine. Although an Order-in-Council was published extending the Act to Palestine, it was contended, the Act itself was not published in accordance with the provisions of the Palestine Order-in-Council, and for this reason it was not law in the country.
The case submitted on behalf of the P.T.A. by its Counsel, Mr. Freidenberg, which has been upheld by the magistrate, is that promulgation of legislation enacted by Orders-in-Council is unnecessary in Palestine. What is sufficient to make an Order-in-Council effective in Great Britain being also sufficient in any of the territories over which the Crown exercises jurisdiction, so that the Copyright Act became operative in Palestine from the date fixed for its announcement, March 21st., 1924.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
