Copyright (Virgin Islands) Order (Revised 2020)

The Government of the Virgin Islands issued this revised statutory instrument to extend and adapt the United Kingdom Copyright Act 1956 to local jurisdiction. The Order consolidates the original 1962 legislation with its 1985 amendment, systematically replacing UK-specific references with Virgin Islands authorities and currency while updating royalty rates, infringement time limits, and administrative procedures. It establishes the comprehensive legal framework for copyright protection, enforcement mechanisms, and fee structures applicable across the territory as of January 2020.

British Virgin Islands

British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission

VIRGIN ISLANDS COPYRIGHT ACT Statutory Instruments Revised Edition showing the law as at 1 January 2020 This is a revised edition of the law, prepared by the Law Revision Commissioner under the authority of the Law Revision Act 2014. This edition contains a consolidation of the following laws— Page COPYRIGHT (VIRGIN ISLANDS) ORDER 1962 3 S.R.O. 2185/1962 .. in force 11 October 1962 Amended by S.R.O.: 1988/1985 COPYRIGHT (VIRGIN ISLANDS) (AMENDMENT) ORDER 1985 11 S.R.O. 1988/1985 .. in force 1 February 1986

Published in 2021 On the authority and on behalf of the Government of The Virgin Islands by The Regional Law Revision Centre Inc. For information contact— Attorney General’s Chambers Government of the Virgin Islands P.O. Box 242 Road Town Tortola, VG1110 British Virgin Islands Tel: (284) 468 - 2960 Email: agc@gov.vg Printed on the authority and on behalf of the Government of The Virgin Islands by The Regional Law Revision Centre Inc. P.O. Box 1626, 5 Mar Building, The Valley, AI-2640, Anguilla Authorised Printers for this Revised Edition

LAW OF VIRGIN ISLANDS Copyright (Virgin Islands) Order 1962 3 Revision Date: 1 Jan 2020 [Statutory Instrument] STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS 1962 NO. 2185 COPYRIGHT THE COPYRIGHT (VIRGIN ISLANDS) ORDER 1962 Made 2nd October, 1962 Laid before Parliament 8th October, 1962 Coming into force 11th October, 1962 At the Court at Balmoral, the 2nd day of October 1962 Present, The Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty in Council Her Majesty, by and with the advice of Her Privy Council, and by virtue of the authority conferred upon Her by section 31 of the Copyright Act 1956, and of all other powers enabling Her in that behalf, is pleased to direct, and it is hereby directed, as follows:—

The provisions of the Copyright Act 1956 specified in Part I of the First Schedule hereto shall extend to the Virgin Islands subject to the modifications specified in Part II of that Schedule.
The Copyright (International Convention) Order 1957(1) as amended(2) the Copyright (International Conventions) (Argentina) Order 1958(3) , the Copyright (International Organisations) Order 1957(4) as amended(5) , and the Copyright (Broadcasting Organisations) Order 1961(6) (being Orders in Council made under Part V of the said Act) shall extend to the Virgin Islands subject to the relevant modifications specified in the Second Schedule hereto.
The Interpretation Act 1889 shall apply to the interpretation of this Order as it applies to the interpretation of an Act of Parliament.
This Order may be cited as the Copyright (Virgin Islands) Order 1962 and shall come into operation on 11th October, 1962. . (1) (1957 I, p. 474). (2) S.I. 1958/1254, 2184, 1960/200, 1961/1496, 2461. 1962/397, 628, 1641, 2183 (1958 I, pp. 358, 360; 1960 I, p.772; 1961 II, p. 3040, III, p. 4507; 1962 I, pp. 348, 631, II, p.1907; III, p. 2962). (3) (1958 I. p. 361). (4) (1957 I, p. 483). (5) S.I. 1958/1052 (1958 I, p. 361). (6) (1961 III, p. 4505).

4 Copyright (Virgin Islands) Order 1962 Revision Date: 1 Jan 2020 LAW OF VIRGIN ISLANDS FIRST SCHEDULE PART 1 PROVISIONS OF THE COPYRIGHT ACT 1956 EXTENDED TO THE VIRGIN ISLANDS All the provisions of the Copyright Act 1956 as amended by the Dramatic and Musical Performers’ Protection Act 1958 and the Films Act 1960, except section 21B, sections 23 to 30, sections 32, 34, 35, 42 and 44 and the Fourth and Fifth Schedules. PART II MODIFICATIONS TO THE PROVISIONS EXTENDED The provisions mentioned in the first column in the following table shall be modified in the manner specified in the second column.

LAW OF VIRGIN ISLANDS Copyright (Virgin Islands) Order 1962 5 Revision Date: 1 Jan 2020 [Statutory Instrument] Provision Modification Section 7 For the references to the Board of Trade there shall be substituted references to the Administrator in Council. Section 8 In subsections (1) and (10), for “United Kingdom” there shall be substituted “Virgin Islands”; in subsection (2), for the references to a farthing there shall be substituted references to .3 cent in the currency of the United States of America, and for the references to three farthings there shall be substituted references to .9 cent of the same currency; for subsection (3) there shall be substituted the following:— “(3) If at any time the Board of Trade by order made under this subsection in its operation in the law of the United Kingdom prescribe for the purposes of this section either generally or in relation to any one or more classes of records, any different rate of, or minimum amount of, royalty the provisions of this section shall be construed subject to the provisions of any such order as is for the time being in force, provided that any reference in any such order to a sum of money shall be construed as a reference to the equivalent sum in the currency of legal tender in the Virgin Islands as provided by any law of the Virgin Islands.”; in subsection (4), for paragraph (a) there shall be substituted the following:— “(a) the minimum amount of royalty shall be .9 cent in the currency of the United States of America in respect of each of those works; and”; in subsection (11), for references to the Board of Trade there shall be substituted references to the Administrator in Council. Section 10 For subsection (5) there shall be substituted the following:— “(5) For the purposes of this section a design shall be taken as being applied industrially if it is applied in the circumstances for the time being prescribed by rules made by the Board of Trade under section thirty-six of the Registered Designs Act 1949, as extended by this section in the law of the United Kingdom.” Section 12 In subsection (6), for “United Kingdom” there shall be substituted “Virgin Islands”. Section 13 For subsection (3) there shall be substituted the following:—

6 Copyright (Virgin Islands) Order 1962 Revision Date: 1 Jan 2020 LAW OF VIRGIN ISLANDS Provision Modification “(3) Copyright subsisting in a cinematograph film by virtue of this section shall continue to subsist until the film is published and thereafter until the end of the period of fifty years from the end of the calendar year which includes the date of its first publication and shall then expire, or, if copyright subsists in the film by virtue only of the last preceding subsection, it shall continue to subsist as from the date of first publication until the end of the period of fifty years from the end of the calendar year which includes that date and shall then expire.”; in subsection (8), for “any such film as is mentioned in paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section thirty-eight of the Films Act 1960 (which relates to newsreels)” there shall be substituted “any film consisting wholly or mainly of photographs which, at the time they were taken, were means of communicating news.”; subsection (11) shall be omitted. Section 15 In subsection (4), for “Board of Trade” there shall be substituted “Administrator in Council”. Section 17 There shall be inserted, after subsection (4), the following subsection:— “(4A) No action in respect of an infringement of copyright shall be commenced after the expiration of a period of more than six years from the date at which the right of action accrued.”; subsection (6) shall be omitted. Section 18 In subsection (1), for the proviso there shall be substituted the following:— “Provided that where a cause of action in respect of the conversion or detention by any person of any such copy or plate has accrued under this subsection to the owner of the copyright, and notwithstanding that before he recovers possession of such copy or plate a further conversion or detention takes place, the owner of the copyright shall not be entitled to any rights or remedies under this subsection in respect of anything done in relation to that copy or plate after the expiration of six years from the accrual of the cause of action in respect of the original conversion or petention.”; subsection (4) shall be omitted. Section 21 In subsections (1) and (6), for “United Kingdom” there shall be substituted “Virgin Islands”; in subsection (7), for “forty shillings” there shall be substituted “5.6 dollars in the currency of the United States of America”; in subsection (7A) omit the words “level 5 on the standard scale” and replace them by the figure “£2000”;

LAW OF VIRGIN ISLANDS Copyright (Virgin Islands) Order 1962 7 Revision Date: 1 Jan 2020 [Statutory Instrument] Provision Modification in subsection (7B) paragraph (a) omit the words “the statutory maximum” and replace them by the figure “£2000”; subsections (7C) and (7D) shall be omitted; in subsections (7) and (8) for “fifty pounds” there shall be substituted “140 dollars in the currency of the United States of America”; for subsection (10) there shall be substituted the following:— “(10) An appeal shall lie to the Supreme Court of the Windward Islands and Leeward Islands from any order made under the last preceding subsection by a court of summary jurisdiction.”. Section 21A Subsections (5) and (6) shall be omitted. Section 22 In subsection (1), for “the Commissioners of Customs and Excise (in this section referred to as “the Commissioners”) there shall be substituted “the Treasurer” and for subsequent references in the section to the Commissioners there shall be substituted references to the said Treasurer; in subsections (2) and (3), for “United Kingdom” there shall be substituted “Virgin Islands”; in subsection (4), after “regulations”, where that word first occurs, there shall be inserted “subject to the approval of the Administrator in Council”; for subsection (6) there shall be substituted the following:— “(6) Any fees paid in pursuance of regulations made under this section shall be treated as monies collected on account of the general revenue.”; in subsection (7), for the references to the Customs and Excise Act 1952 there shall be substituted references to the Customs Ordinance 1892. Section 31 Subsections (1) and (2) shall be omitted; in subsection (4), for “United Kingdom” there shall be substituted “Virgin Islands” and for “in a country” there shall be substituted “in the United Kingdom or in any country other than the Virgin Islands”. Section 33 For subsection (1) there shall be substituted the following:— “(1) An organisation to which this section applies is one declared to be such by an Order in Council made under this section as part of the law of the United Kingdom which has been extended, in relation to that organisation, to the Virgin Islands.”

8 Copyright (Virgin Islands) Order 1962 Revision Date: 1 Jan 2020 LAW OF VIRGIN ISLANDS Provision Modification Section 37 Subsection (4) shall be omitted. Section 39 In subsection (8), for “section three of the Crown Proceedings Act 1947” there shall be substituted “section five of the Crown Proceedings Ordinance 1955”. Section 40 Subsection (3) shall be omitted; in subsection (4), for “either of two last preceding subsections” there shall be substituted “the last preceding subsection” and “or the programme to be transmitted, as the case may be” shall be omitted; in subsection (5), the references to a work shall be omitted. Section 41 For subsection (7) there shall be substituted the following:— “(7) In this section— “school” means a primary or secondary school within the provisions of the Education Ordinance 1955; and “duplicating process” means any process involving the use of an appliance for producing multiple copies.” Section 43 In subsections (2), (4) and (6), for “United Kingdom” there shall be substituted “Virgin Islands”. Section 46 Subsection (1) shall be omitted; in subsection (2), “(including any enactment of the Parliament of Northern Ireland)” shall be omitted. Section 47 The whole section except subsection (4) shall be omitted; in subsection (4), “or rules” shall be omitted. Section 48 In subsection (1), there shall be added the following definitions:— “Administrator” means the person for the time being holding the office of Administrator of the Virgin Islands and includes any person for the time being performing the functions of that office and, to the extent to which a deputy appointed under article five of the Virgin Islands Letters Patent 1959 is authorised to perform these functions, that deputy; “Administrator in Council” means, save as otherwise provided by Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom or by Instructions under the Royal Sign Manual and Signet, the Administrator acting with the advice of the Executive Council of the Virgin Islands, and to such extent as may be provided by any such Letters Patent or Instructions, in accordance with that advice, but not necessarily in such Council assembled;

LAW OF VIRGIN ISLANDS Copyright (Virgin Islands) Order 1962 9 Revision Date: 1 Jan 2020 [Statutory Instrument] Provision Modification “Treasurer” means the Treasurer of the Virgin Islands.”; in subsection (4), for “United Kingdom” there shall be substituted “Virgin Islands”. Section 49 In subsection (2) for “United Kingdom” there shall be substituted “Virgin Islands”. Section 51 For subsection (2), there shall be substituted the following:— “(2)(a) Any provision of this Act empowering the Administrator in Council or the Treasurer to make regulations shall come into operation on the commencement of the Order in Council extending that provision to the Virgin Islands. (b) All the other provisions of this Act shall come into operation on 11th February 1963.”; subsection (3) shall be omitted. First Schedule In paragraph 2, for “section seven of the Act of 1949” there shall be substituted “section two of the United Kingdom Designs (Protection) Act 1930 of the Leeward Islands Legislature”. Seventh Schedule Paragraphs 25, 26, 40 and 41 shall be omitted; in paragraph 46, for “United Kingdom” there shall be substituted “Virgin Islands”. Ninth Schedule For the table therein set out there shall be substituted the following:— ENACTMENTS REPEALED Session and Chapter Short Title Extent of Repeal 1 & 2 Geo. 5. c. 46. The Copyright Act 1911 The Whole Act 18 & 19 Geo. 5. c. lii The Copyright Order Confirmation (Mechanical Instruments: Royalties) Act 1928. The Whole Act

10 Copyright (Virgin Islands) Order 1962 Revision Date: 1 Jan 2020 LAW OF VIRGIN ISLANDS SECOND SCHEDULE Modifications to the Orders in Council Extended by Article 2

Modification to all the Orders in Council:— |Any reference in any of the Orders to its commencement shall be deemed to be a reference to 11th February 1963.
Modifications to the Copyright (International Conventions) Order 1957:— (1) In Article 1, for “United Kingdom” there shall be substituted “Virgin Islands”. (2) In Article 2, for the reference to the making of the Order there shall be substituted a reference to its extension to the Virgin Islands. (3) In Article 3, for “United Kingdom” there shall be substituted “Virgin Islands”. (4) In the Fourth Schedule, paragraph 5 shall be omitted.
Modification to the Copyright (International Conventions) (Argentina) Order 1958:— In the Schedule, paragraphs 1 and 2 shall be omitted.

LAW OF VIRGIN ISLAN VIRGIN ISLANDS Copyright (Virgin Islands) (Amendment) Order 1985 11 Revision Date: 1 Jan 2020 [Statutory Instrument] 1985 NO. 1988 COPYRIGHT THE COPYRIGHT (VIRGIN ISLANDS) (AMENDMENT) ORDER 1985 Made 18th December 1985 Laid before Parliament 8th January 1986 Coming into Operation 1st February 1986 At the Court at Buckingham Palace, the 18th day of December 1985 Present, The Queen's Most Excellent Majesty in Council Her Majesty, by and with the advice of Her Privy Council, and by virtue of the authority conferred upon Her by sections 31 and 47 of the Copyright Act 1956 and of all other powers enabling Her in that behalf, is pleased to direct, and it is hereby directed, as follows—

This Order may be cited as the Copyright (Virgin Islands) (Amendment) Order 1985 and shall come into operation on 1st February 1986.
Part I of the First Schedule to the Copyright (Virgin Islands) Order 1962(1) (hereinafter referred to as “the principal Order”) is amended so that— (a) after the words “and the Films Act 1960(b),” and before the words “except sections 23 to 30,” are added the words “the Copyright Act 1956 (Amendment) Act 1982” “and the Copyright (Amendment) Act 1983,”; and (b) after the word “except” and before the words “sections 23 to 30,” are added the words “section 21B,”.

12 Copyright (Virgin Islands) (Amendment) Order 1985 Revision Date: 1 Jan 2020 LAW OF VIRGIN ISLANDS 3. The table in Part II of the First Schedule of the principal Order is amended so as to further modify section 21 and to insert a new provision, section 21A, as follows: “Provision Modification Section 21 After the entry for subsection (7) and before the entry for subsections (7) and (8) add the following entries relating to subsections (7A), (7B), (7C) and (7D):— “in subsection (7A) omit the words “level 5 on the standard scale” and replace them by the figure €2000”; (1) to which there are amendments not relevant to the Order. “Provision Modification in subsection (7B) paragraph (a) omit the words “the statutory maximum” and replace them by the figure “€2000” subsections (7C) and (7D) shall be omitted;” New Provision “Section 21A Subsections (5) and (6) shall be omitted.”