sole right of reproducing it, or of authorising its reproduction, whether by an identical or different art or process (par un art ou un procédé semblable ou distinct).

Art. XX.-The cession of a work of art does not include, either in the case of the artist-seller, or the purchaser, the right of reproducing it or causing it to be reproduced by the same process of art (la cession d'une œuvre d'art est exclusive, tant pour l'artiste cédant que pour l'acquéreur, du droit de la reproduire . . . .); the artist-seller retains the exclusive right of reproducing the work by a different process; saving always, in both cases, a stipulation to the contrary.

Art. XXI.—If a work of art be acquired by the State or a Public Administrative body, such acquirer has the right to authorise its reproduction by an identical or different process, save in the case of contrary stipulations, or where the right of reproduction does not belong to the seller.

[Commentary, Arts. XIX., XX., XXI.-The previous articles related only to literary and musical works. The succeeding paragraphs deal exclusively with productions of the plastic arts; the rules formulated respect all legitimate interests. It is needless to say that so long as the artist retains possession of his work, he alone has the right of reproducing it by any process whatsoever. But what happens when a cession of the work takes place? It would seem that, save by contrary agreement, the right of copy cannot belong either to the artist or the acquirer, and that the former alone can have the right of reproduction by a different process. These restrictions cannot be admitted in the case of works acquired by the State or Public Administrative bodies; being intended to serve as models and objects of study, they must be able to be copied and reproduced by any process of art, unless there be stipulation to the contrary in the contract, or the sellers themselves had not the right of reproduction.]

Art. XXII.-The author of every work of art, who shall have applied it, or permitted its application to an industrial purpose, shall, for such application, be bound by the laws which govern industrial models and designs.

[Commentary, Art. XXII.-A work of art, used for an industrial purpose, is no longer capable of enjoying the privileges of the new legislation as a work of art; it must fall under the provisions of the rules laid down for property in industrial models and designs.]

Art. XXIII.-Conventions made in due form, under the legislation hitherto prevailing, remain in force. Authors, or

their representatives, whose exclusive rights under such legislation shall not have expired at the date of the promulgation of the present Law, shall enjoy the advantages assured thereby. If before such promulgation they shall have ceded their rights, either in whole or in part,* neither they nor their assigns (cessionaires) shall enjoy the advantages assured by the present Law.

[Commentary, Art. XXIII.-Conventions made under existing legislations must be carried out in conformity with their prescriptions. If the rights acquired thereunder shall not have expired or been ceded in their entirety (en totalitét) before the promulgation of the new Law, the authors or their representatives shall enjoy the benefit of its provisions. These regulations are legitimate, and form their own justification.]

Penal Provisions.

Art. XXIV. Whoever shall, in violation of the rights guaranteed by the preceding articles, publish, print, engrave, or reproduce, in whole or in part, writings or works of any kind, drawings, pictures, sculptures, engravings, musical compositions, or other literary or artistic productions, shall be guilty of the delict (délit) of piracy (contrefaçon).

Anyone who shall knowingly announce, sell, expose for sale, or introduce upon Belgian soil, pirated works, shall be guilty of the same delict.

Art. XXV.-The author or introducer of the pirated article (contrefacteur ou introducteur) shall be punished with a fine. varying from 50 frs. to 2,000 frs. Any persons who announce, expose for sale, or sell pirated articles, shall be punished with a fine ranging from 26 frs. to 500 frs. Confiscation of the pirated edition or article shall be pronounced both against the piratical author or introducer, and against the seller or person exposing for sale. The plates, moulds, or matrices of the pirated articles shall also be confiscated.

Art. XXVI. The usurpation of the name of an artist for a work of art, the fraudulent imitation of his signature or other distinctive mark used by him, shall be punished with imprison

* See next note.

It will be observed that there appears here to be a slight divergence between the text and its commentary, the former speaking of cession "in whole or in part," and the latter only of cession "en totalité." We conceive that the text must be taken as expressing the intention of the Legislator.

ment for a period ranging from three months to two years, a fine ranging from 100 frs. to 2,000 frs., and the confiscation of the works forming the subject of the fraud. Any person who shall knowingly sell, expose for sale, or introduce upon Belgian soil, works of the kind mentioned in the former part of this article, shall receive the same punishment.

Art. XXVII.-Whoever shall represent or render publicly dramatic works, or musical compositions, in contempt of the author's rights, shall be punished with a fine ranging from 26 frs. to 100 frs., and the confiscation of the whole or a portion of the receipts.

Art. XXVIII.-Violations of the present Law shall be certified (constatées) by the officers of the Judicial Police, and, in addition, as regards the delict of introduction on Belgian soil, by the Custom House officers. In these cases the Public Prosecutor (Ministère Public) shall prosecute; but the action may jointly be brought on the civil side, or carried directly before the jurisdiction of the Correctional Courts (seront poursuivies d'office par le Ministère public, sans préjudice de la faculté qui appartient à la partie civile de se joindre à la partie publique ou de porter directement l'action devant la juridiction correctionnelle).

Art. XXIX. The receipts and articles confiscated may be allotted to the Civil side (partie civile), in compensation for the wrong suffered.

Art. XXX.-Independently of official prosecutions and of their result, save where there exists "res judicata" in regard to the computation of the civil interests, the author, or his representatives (ayants cause), may sue for damages (pourront poursuivre en dommages et intéréts), before the Civil Courts, any persons who shall infringe their rights. They may, with the permission of the President of the Court of First Instance on request made to him, cause a description to be scheduled of the articles forming the subject of prosecution. It shall be lawful for the President in the same injunction (ordonnance) to restrain the persons detaining the said articles from divesting themselves of them, and to permit the plaintiff (requérant) to constitute himself custodian thereof, or even to put them under seal. This injunction shall be served by an officer of court (huissier) delegated for the purpose.

Art. XXXI.—In the case in which a copy shall have been lodged, in accordance with Art. XI., the receipt shall be annexed to the plaint (requête), which shall contain the domicile

chosen in the communes in which the descriptive schedule is required (élection de domicile dans les communes où doit avoir lieu la description). The experts named by the President shall take oath before him before commencing operations.

Art. XXXII.—The President may require of the plaintiff to pay money into court by way of security (consigner un cautionnement). In this case, the President's injunction shall only issue after proof of the security being lodged. Security shall always be required of a foreigner.

Art. XXXIII.—The plaintiff may be present at the taking of the descriptive schedule, if specially authorised by the President. Art. XXXIV.—If the doors are closed, or entrance is refused, proceedings shall be taken in accordance with Art. 587 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

Art. XXXV.-Copy of the descriptive schedule (procès verbal de description) shall be left with the detainer of the articles described.

Art. XXXVI.—If the schedule of description be not followed up within a week by entering a cause before the court within whose jurisdiction the schedule was taken, the injunction issued in conformity with Art. XXXIV. shall no longer remain in force, and the detainer of the articles scheduled may require the restoration of the original minute of description, and may restrain the plaintiff from making use of its contents and making them public, saving always the question of damages (le tout sans préjudice de tous dommages et intérêts).

[Commentary, Arts. XXIV.-XXXVI.-In order to prove effectual, the rights guaranteed by the new Law must have a carefully graduated penal sanction. With this object, after having defined the delict of piracy (contrefaçon), and laid down a scale of penalties for its repression, the law treats as forgery the act either of placing on a work of art the name of an artist who is not its author, or of imitating the signature of the real author, or the distinctive mark adopted by him in lieu of signature. The subsequent articles, after determining the penalties to which those who co-operate in such delicts render themselves liable, regulate the procedure to be followed whether by the Correctional Courts (tribunaux répressifs) or the Civil Courts. The articles concerning the latter jurisdiction are taken from the Patent Law of 24th May, 1854.]

Art. XXXVII.--The cause shall take precedence on the list as one of urgency (sera jugée comme affaire sommaire et urgente).

General Provisions.

Art. XXXVIII.-The rights guaranteed by the present law to the authors of works of literature and art are assured alike to native and foreign authors (sont communs aux auteurs nationaux et étrangers). They are only assured to either for the period of the duration of their rights in the country of the original publication; in no case can they exceed the period fixed by the present law.

Art. XXXIX.-The Government is empowered to enter into international conventions for the protection of literary and artistic property (propriété littéraire et artistique).

[Commentary, Arts. XXXVII-XXXIX.-The concluding articles of the new law are intended to determine the rules which shall govern foreign writers or artists, to reserve the rights of the surviving spouse (conjoint survivant), to authorise the Government to enter into international conventions, and to abrogate all previous legislation on literary and artistic property. In assimilating foreigners to natives, even without requiring reciprocity, the law lays down a new principle which has already been admitted by the Chambers, and which is justified by the received views of the greater part of the civilised world.]

Art. XL. The heirs of the author only exercise the rights which are allotted to them by the present law, under reservation of the rights of the surviving spouse (conjoint survivant).

Art. XLI.-Arts. III., IV., and V., of the Decree, 1319th January, 1791; the Decree, 19th July-6th August, 1791; the Decree, 19-24th July, 1793; the Law, 25th January, 1817; Arts. IV. and V. of the Decree, 21st October, 1830; and the Law, 1st April, 1870, are abrogated, together with all other provisions relating to the subject of the present law.

[Commentary.-As the conventions which may be entered into hereafter will only be concerned with the formalities of deposit necessary to secure copyright (la propriété), it would seem that the Government might be authorised to conclude them without the intervention of the Legislature.

The Report of the Committee of Legislation which is annexed to the Draft Law, will explain those articles on which we have not thought it necessary to dwell, and a résumé of our International Conventions, by throwing light on the various provisions regulating this subject, will complete the information required by the Chamber on the question submitted to its consideration.]

(Signed), The Minister of the Interior,
DELCOUR.