Proclamation 2819—Copyright: Philippines

Whereas Title 17 of the United States Code, entitled "Copyrights", has been codified and enacted into positive law by the act of Congress approved July 30, 1947, 61 Stat. 652;

Whereas section 9 of the said Title 17 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.;

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.;

Whereas section 9 of the said title further provides that "the existence of the reciprocal conditions aforesaid shall be determined by the President of the United States, by proclamation made from time to time, as the purposes of this title may require.";

Whereas the Philippine Copyright Law, No. 3134, approved March 7, 1924, provides by section 10(b) that the provisions of the said law shall extend to the work of a proprietor who is not a citizen of the Republic of the Philippines only:

When the foreign state or nation of which such proprietor is a citizen or subject grants, either by treaty, convention, agreement, or law, to citizens of the United States or of the Philippine Islands the benefit of copyright protection substantially equal to the protection secured to such foreign proprietor under this act;

Whereas in Republic Act No. 76, approved October 21, 1946, it is provided by section 1 that:

Existing laws or the provisions of existing laws granting privileges, rights or exemptions to citizens of the United States of America or to corporations or associations organized under the laws of any of the states of the United States of America, which are not enjoyed by citizens or nationals of any other foreign state or by corporations or associations organized under the laws of such state, are hereby repealed unless that affect rights already vested under the provisions of the Constitution or unless extended by any treaty, agreement or convention between the Republic of the Philippines and the United States of America.

And Whereas satisfactory official assurances have been received that on and after October 21, 1948, pursuant to the aforementioned Law No. 3134, as amended by the aforesaid Republic Act No. 76, citizens of the United States will be entitled to obtain copyright protection for their works in the Republic of the Philippines which is substantially equal to the protection afforded by the copyright laws of the United States and which is afforded on substantially the same basis as to the citizens of the Republic of the Philippines, including rights similar to those provided by section 1(e) of the said Title 17 of the United States Code:

Now, Therefore, I, Harry S. Truman, President of the United States of America, do declare and proclaim:

That on and after October 21, 1948, the conditions specified in sections 9(b) and 1(e) of the aforementioned Title 17 of the United States Code will exist and will be fulfilled in respect of the citizens of the Republic of the Philippines, and that on and after October 21, 1948, citizens of the Republic of the Philippines shall be 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.

Provided, that the enjoyment by any work of the rights and benefits conferred by the said Title 17 shall be conditioned upon compliance with the requirements and formalities prescribed with respect to such works by the copyright laws of the United States:

And provided further, that the provisions of section 1(e) of the said Title 17, so far as they secure copyright controlling parts of instruments serving to reproduce mechanically the musical work, shall apply only to compositions published and copyrighted after July 1, 1909, and reproduced for use on any contrivance by means of which the work may be mechanically performed.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States of America to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington this 21st day of October in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and forty-eight, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and seventy-third.

HARRY S. TRUMAN

By the President:

ROBERT A. LOVETT,

Acting Secretary of State.