| EXCHANGE OF NOTES CONSTITUTING AN AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND INDIA RELATING TO COPYRIGHT RELATIONS
Washington, 21 October 1954 EMBASSY OF INDIA WASHINGTON, D.C. F. 35/54 October 21st, 1954 EXCELLENCY, In accordance with instructions from my Government, I have the honor to refer to the recent conversations held in New Delhi between
representatives of our two Governments with respect to the copyright relations between India and the United States after August 15,
1947, the date of the transfer of power pursuant to the Indian Independence Act, 1947. It is my understanding, that, upon receipt
of affirmative assurances that after August 15, 1947, as before that date, Indian Law has granted to citizens of the United States
the benefit of copyright on substantially the same basis as to its own citizens, your Government is prepared to have issued a Presidential
Proclamation under Section 9 (b) of Title 17, United States Code, being the Copyright Law, to continue to grant the protection of
that law to citizens of India after August 15, 1947, thereby providing for and affirming the continued existence of copyright relations
between our two countries as established prior to the change in the legal status of India. The legal obligation of India to extend
the protection of its Copyright Law to citizens of the United States was not altered by the transfer of power on August 15, 1947.
Section 18(3) of the Indian Independence Act, 1947, provided for the continuation, except as otherwise expressly provided, of all
laws which existed immediately before the transfer of power. Similarly, the legal obligations of India with respect to copyright
were not altered by the creation of the Republic of India on January 26, 1950. Article 372(l) of the Constitution of India provided
for continuation of all laws in force immediately before India became a Republic. In view of this, my Government has instructed me
to state its assurances that after August 15, 1947, as before that date, citizens of the United States have been and continue to
be entitled to the benefits of copyright in India on substantially the same basis as citizens of India, including rights similar
to those provided by section 1(c) of the aforesaid Title 17. Accept, Excellency, the renewed assurances of my highest consideration.
G.L. MEHTA, Ambassador of India. The Honourable the Secretary of State, Department of State, Washington, D.C. II DEPARTMENT OF STATE WASHINGTON Oct. 21, 1954 EXCELLENCY, I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your note of today's date, in which you refer to the recent conversations held in
New Delhi between representatives of our two Governments with respect to the copyright relations between India and the United States
after August 15, 1947. You state in your note that the legal obligation of India to extend the protection of its Copyright Law to
citizens of the United States was not altered by the transfer of power on August 15, 1947, since Section 18(3) of the Indian Independence
Act, 1947, provided for the continuation, except as otherwise expressly provided, of all laws which existed immediately before the
transfer of power. You state that similarly the legal obligations of India with respect to copyright were not altered by the creation
of the Republic of India on January 26, 1950, since Article 372(l) of the Constitution of India provided for continuation of all
laws in force immediately before India became a Republic. You state that in view of this, your Government has instructed you to state
its assurances that after August 15, 1947, as before that date, citizens of the United States have been and continue to be entitled
to the benefitq of copyright in India on susbstantially the same basis as citizens of India, including rights similar to those provided
by Section 1(e) of Title 17 of the United States Code. I have the honour to inform you that with a view to affirming the continuance
of copyright relations between our two countries, as established prior to the change in the legal status of India, the President
of the United States of America has issued today a Proclamation, a copy of which is enclosed herewith, declaring and proclaiming,
pursuant to the provisions of Section 9(b) of the said Title 17 on the basis of the assurances set forth in your note, that after
August 15, 1947, as before that date, the conditions specified in Sections 9(b) and 1(e) of the said Title 17 have existed and have
been fulfilled with respect to citizens of India, and that citizens of India, after August 15, 1947, as before that date, have been
entitled to all the benefits of the said Title 17. Accept, Excellency, the renewed assurances of my highest consideration. HERBERT HOOVER, Jr. Acting Secretary. Enclosure: Proclamation. His Excellency GAGANVIHARI LALLUBHAI MEHTA, Ambassador of India. COPYRIGHT-INDIA BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A PROCLAMATION WHEREAS section 9 of title 17 of the United States Code, entitled "Copyrights" as codified and enacted by the act of Congress
approved July 30, 1947, 61 Stat., 652, provides in part that the copyright secured by such title shall extend to the work of an author
or proprietor who is a citizen or subject of a foreign state or nation only : "(a) When an alien author or proprietor shall be domiciled within the United States at the time of the first publication of his
work; or "(b) When the foreign state or nation of which such author or proprietor is a citizen or subject grants, either by treaty, convention,
agreement, or law, to citizens of the United States the benefit of copyright on substantially the same basis as to its own citizens,
or copyright protection, substantially equal to the protection secured to such foreign author under this title or by treaty; or when
such foreign state or nation is a party to an international agreement which provides for reciprocity in the granting of copyright,
by the terms of which agreement the United States may, at its pleasure, become a party thereto", and WHEREAS section 1 of the said title 17 provides in part as follows "Any person entitled thereto, upon complying with the
provisions of this title, shall have the exclusive right "(e) To perform the copyrighted work publicly for profit if it be a musical composition; .... Provided, that the provisions of
this title, so far as they secure copyright controlling the parts of instruments serving to reproduce mechanically the musical work,
shall include only compositions published and copyrighted after July 1, 1909, and shall not include the works of a foreign author
or composer unless the foreign state or nation of which such author or composer is a citizen or subject grants, either by treaty,
convention, agreement, or law, to citizens of the United States similar rights"; and WHEREAS section 9 of the said title 17 further provides "The existence of the reciprocal conditions aforesaid shall be deter- mined by the President of the United States, by proclamation
made from time to time, as the purposes of this title may require ....... ; and WHEREAS satisfactory official assurances have been received that after August 15, 1947, as before that date, the laws of India
have granted to citizens of the United States the benefit of copyright on substantially the same basis as to citizens of India, including
rights similar to those provided by section 1 (e) of the said title 17 : Now, THEREFORE, I, Dwight D Eisenhower, President of the
United States of America, do declare and proclaim: U.S.A. Copywright Relations 21 Oct. 1954 273 That after August 15, 1947, as before that date, the conditions specified in sections
9(b) and 1(e) of the said title 17 of the United States Code have, as between the United States and India, existed and been fulfilled,
and that citizens of India, after August 15, 1947, as before that date, have been and are entitled to all the benefits of the said
title 17, except those conferred by the provisions embodied in the second paragraph of section 9 (b) thereof regarding the extension
of time for fulfilling copyright conditions and formalities. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States of America to be affixed. DONE at Washington this 21st day of October in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and fifty-four, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the one hundred and seventy-ninth. [SEAL] DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER By the President: HERBERT HOOVER, Jr. Acting Secretary of State. |
