Interpretation

(1) For the purposes of this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, “adaptation” means, (a) in relation to a computer program, a version of the program in which it is converted into or out of a computer language or code, or into a different language or code otherwise than incidentally in the course of running the (b) in relation to a literary work in a non- dramatic form, a version of the work (whether in its original language or in a different language) in a dramatic form; (c) in relation to a literary work in a dramatic form, a version of the work (whether in its original language or in a different language) in a non-dramatic form; 11 (d) in relation to a literary work (whether in a non-dramatic form or in a dramatic form), (i) a translation of the work; or (ii) a version of the work in which the story or action is conveyed solely or principally by means of pictures in a form suitable for reproduction in a book or in a newspaper, magazine or similar periodical; and (e) in relation to a musical work, an arrangement or transcription of the work; “article” in the context of an article in a periodical, includes an item of any description; “artistic work” means, (a) a graphic work, photograph, sculpture or collage, irrespective of artistic quality; (b) a work of architecture being a building or a model of a building, irrespective of artistic quality; or (c) a work of artistic craftsmanship to which neither paragraph (a) nor paragraph (b) applies; “author” means the person who creates a work, being, (a) in relation to a literary or dramatic work, the author of the work; (b) in relation to a musical work, the composer; 12 (c) in relation to an artistic work other than a photograph, the artist; (d) in relation to a photograph, the person taking the photograph; and, where the context requires; shall be taken to be in relation to, (e) a sound recording or film, the person by whom the arrangements necessary for the making of the recording or film are undertaken; (f) the typographical arrangement of a published edition, the publisher; (g) a broadcast, the person making the broadcast as described in section 6 (2) of this Act or, in the case of a broadcast which relays another broadcast by reception and immediate re- transmission, the person making that other (h) a cable program, the person providing the cable program service in which the program is included; (i) a computer-generated literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work, the person by whom the arrangements necessary for the creation of the work are undertaken; “a broadcast” means a transmission by wireless telegraphy of visual images, sounds or other information which, (a) having regard to section 6 of this Act, is capable of being lawfully received by members of the public; or 13 (b) is transmitted for presentation to members of the public; “to broadcast” means to transmit, by the emission of electromagnetic energy otherwise than over a path that is provided by a material substance, visual images or sounds, or both, for reception by the public notwithstanding that, (a) subsequent to the initial transmission, but before reception by the public, the images or sounds may be carried on a path provided by a material substance; (b) the public receiving, or capable of receiving, the images and sounds is in a country other than that from the original transmission took place; (c) no member of the public actually receives the images or sounds, provided only that members of the public could, if in possession of suitable apparatus, receive them; and “broadcasting” and “rebroadcasting” have corresponding “building” includes any fixed structure of any kind and a part of a building or fixed structure; “business” includes a trade or profession; “cable programme” means any item included in a cable programme service, and any reference in this Act, (a) to the inclusion of a cable programme or work in a cable programme service is a reference to its transmission as part of the service; and 14 (b) to the person including it is a reference to the person providing the service; “cable programme service” means a service which consists wholly or mainly in sending visual images, sounds or other information, irrespective of the form in which the images, sounds or information are represented, by means of a telecommunications system, otherwise than by wireless telegraphy, for reception, (a) at two or more places (whether for simultaneous reception or at different times in response to requests by different users); or (b) for presentation to members of the public, and which is not, or to the extent that it is not, excepted by Regulations made under this Act; “collective work” means, (a) a work of joint authorship; or (b) a work in there are distinct contributions by different authors or in which works or parts of works of different authors are incorporated; “computer-generated work” means a work generated by a computer in circumstances such that the work has no human “computer programme” means a set of instructions, whether expressed in words or in schematic or other form, which is capable, when incorporated in a machine-readable medium, of causing an electronic or other device having information processing capabilities to indicate, perform or achieve a particular function, task or result; 15 “copy” in relation to, (a) a work that is a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work, means a reproduction of a work in any material form, and, in respect of an artistic work, includes a reproduction in three dimensions, if the artistic work is a two dimensional work and a reproduction in two dimensions if the artistic work is a three dimensional work; and, in respect of a literary, dramatic or musical work, includes a reproduction in the form of a record or film; (b) a work that is a film, television broadcast or cable programme, includes a photograph of the whole or any substantial part of any image forming part of the film, broadcast or (c) a work that is a typographical arrangement of a published edition, means a facsimile copy of the arrangement; and (d) any category of work includes any copy of the work, however made and in whatever medium, that is transient or is incidental to some other use of the work, and references to the “copying” of a work of any description shall be construed to include a reference to storing the work in any medium by electronic means; “copyright” means copyright subsisting under Part II of this Act; “country” includes any territory; “distribution” means the distribution to the public, for commercial purposes, of copies of a work by way of rental, lease, hire, loan or similar arrangement and “distributing” has a corresponding meaning; 16 “dramatic work” includes, (a) a choreographic show or entertainment in dumb show; and (b) a scenario or script for a film but does not include a film as distinct from the scenario or script; “drawing” includes a diagram, map, chart or plan; “educational establishment” means any school, college or other educational body designated, either individually or by reference to a class, for the purposes of this Act by the Minister by Order published in the Gazette; “engraving” includes an etching, lithograph, product of photogravure, woodcut, print or similar work, not being a “exclusive recording contract” means a contract between a performer and another person under which that person is entitled, to the exclusion of all other persons, including the performer, to make recordings of one or more of the performer’s performances with a view to their being sold or let for hire, or shown or played in public, or otherwise commercially exploited; “film” means a recording on any medium from which a moving image may by any means be produced; “future copyright” means copyright which will or may come into existence in respect of any future work or class of works or on the coming into operation of this Act, or on the occurrence of any other future event, and “prospective owner” shall be construed accordingly and, in relation to any such copyright, includes a person prospectively 17 entitled thereto by virtue of such an agreement as is mentioned in section 28 (1) of this Act; “graphic work” includes, (a) any painting, drawing, diagram, map, chart or plan; and (b) any engraving, etching, lithograph, woodcut or similar work; “illicit recording” means, (a) for the purposes of a performer’s rights, a recording wherever made, of the whole or a substantial part of a performance of his, if it is made, otherwise than for private purposes, without his consent; (b) for the purposes of the rights of a person having recording rights under an exclusive recording contract, a recording wherever made, of the whole or any substantial part of a performance subject to the exclusive recording contract, if it is made, otherwise than for private purposes, without his consent or that of the performer; (c) for the purposes of any offence under this Act, a recording which is an illicit recording by virtue of either paragraphs (a) or (b) of this definition; “infringing copy” in relation to a protected work means, (a) any copy of the work, the making of which constitutes an infringement of the copyright in the work; 18 (b) any copy of the work that is or is proposed to be imported into Belize and its making in Belize would have constituted an infringement of the copyright in the work or a breach of an exclusive agreement relating to that work; “literary work” means any work, other than a dramatic or musical work, which is written, spoken or sung, and accordingly includes, (a) a written table or compilation; (b) a computer programme; “manuscript” in relation to a work, means the original document embodying the work whether written by hand or not; “Minister” means the Minister to whom subject of copyright is assigned by the Governor-General pursuant to section 41 of the Belize Constitution, Cap. 4; “musical work” means a work consisting of music, exclusive of any words, or action intended to be sung, spoken or performed with the music; “performer” means any actor, singer, musician, dancer or other person who acts, sings, depicts, delivers, declaims, plays in or otherwise performs a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work; and references to the performer in the context of the person having performer’s rights to shall be read and construed to include references to the person who, pursuant to any provision of this Act, is for the time being entitled to exercise those rights; “performance”, in relation to, (a) copyright in a protected work includes, 19 (i) delivery in the case of lectures, addresses, speeches and sermons; and (ii) any mode of visual or acoustic presentation, including presentation by means of a sound recording, film, broadcast or cable programme, of the work; (b) rights conferred under Part VIII, means, (i) a dramatic includes dance and mime; (ii) a musical performance; (iii) a reading or recitation of a literary work; or (iv) a performance of a variety act or any similar presentation, which is, or to the extent that it is, a live performance given by one or more individuals; “person having recording rights”, in relation to a performance (as defined in paragraph (b) of the definition of that expression in this section) means a person who, being a qualified person, (a) is either a party to and has the benefit of an exclusive recording contract to which the performance is subject or is a person to whom the benefit of such a contract has been assigned; or (b) is licensed to make recordings of the performance with a view to their being sold or let for hire or shown or played in public, by a person who is within the definition in 20 paragraph (a) of this definition but is not a qualified person; “photograph” means a recording of light or other radiation on any medium on which an image is produced or from which an image may by any means be produced, and which is not part of a film; “place of public entertainment” includes any premises which are from time to time made available for hire to such persons as may desire to hire them for purposes of public entertainment, including premises that are occupied mainly for other purposes; “police officer” includes any member of the Belize Police Department; “prospective owner” has the meaning assigned to it in the definition of “future copyright”; “publication” has the meaning assigned to it in section 5 of this Act; “published commercially” has the meaning assigned to it in section 23 of this Act; “published edition”, in the context of copyright in the typographic arrangement of a published edition, means a published edition of the whole or any part of one or more literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works; “qualified person”, (a) in the case of an individual, means a person who is a citizen of Belize or whose habitual residence is in Belize; and 21 (b) in the case of a body corporate, means a body incorporated or established under any written law of Belize; “qualifying performance” means a performance that, (a) is given by an individual who is a qualified person; or (b) takes place in Belize or a specified country; “record” means any disc, tape, perforated roll or other device in which sounds are embodied so as to be capable of being reproduced therefrom, other than a soundtrack associated with a film, but includes, in relation to a performance, a film incorporating the performance; “recording”, in relation to a performance, means a film or (a) made directly from the live performance; (b) made from a broadcast of, or cable programme including, the performance; or (c) made, directly or indirectly, from another recording of the performance; “rental” means any arrangement under which a copy of a work is made available, (a) for payment (in money or money’s worth); or (b) in the course of a business, as part of services or for amenities for which payment is made, on terms that it will or may be returned; 22 “reprographic process” means a process, as more fully described in section 55 of this Act; (a) for making facsimile copies; or (b) involving the use of and appliance for making multiple copies, and, in relation to a work held in electronic form, includes any copying by electronic means, but does not include the making of a film or sound recording; “sculpture” includes a cast or model made for purposes of sculpture; “sound recording” means, (a) a recording of sounds from which the sounds may be reproduced; or (b) a recording of the whole or any part of a literary, dramatic or musical work from which sounds reproducing the work or part thereof may be produced, regardless of the medium on which the recording is made or the method by which the sounds are reproduced or produced; “specified country” means a country specified by the Minister by Order published in the Gazette pursuant to section 143 of this Act; “unauthorized” when used to describe any act done in relation to a work, means, (a) if copyright subsists in the work, done otherwise than by or with the licence of the owner of the copyright; (b) if copyright does not subsist in the work, done otherwise than by or with the licence of 23 the author or person lawfully claiming under him; “wireless telegraphy” means the emitting or receiving, otherwise than over a path that is provided by a material substance, of electromagnetic energy transmitting visual images or sounds, or both; “work” means, (a) a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work; (b) a sound recording, film, broadcast or cable (c) the typographical arrangement of a published and accordingly “protected work” means a work of any of such categories in which copyright subsists by virtue of this Act; “work of joint authorship” means a work produced by the collaboration of two or more authors in which the contribution of each author is not separate from the contribution of the other author or authors; “writing” includes any form of notation, whether by hand or by printing, type-writing or any other process and regardless of the method by which or the medium in or on which it is recorded, and “written” shall be construed accordingly. (2) References in this Act to the time at which, or the period during which, a work was made are references to the time or period at or during which it was first written down, recorded or expressed in some other material form.