WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION 
ORGANISATION MONDIALE DU COMMERCE 
ORGANIZACION MUNDIAL DEL COMERCIO 
Council for Trade-Related Aspects 
of Intellectual Property Rights IP/N/1/SWZ/C/l 
5 May 2004 
(04-2013) 
Original: English! 
ang1ais/ 
ingles 
MAIN DEDICATED INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAWS AND 
REGULATIONS NOTIFIED UNDER ARTICLE 63.2 
OF THE AGREEMENT 
SWAZILAND 
The present document reproduces the textl of the Copyright Act No. 36 of 1912, as notified 
by Swaziland under Article 63.2 of the Agreement (see document IP/N/l/SWZ/l). 
Conseil des aspects des droits de propriete 
intellectuelle qui touchent au commerce 
PRINCIPALES LOIS ET REGLEMENTATIONS CONSACREES A LA 
PROPruETE INTELLECTUELLE NOTIFIEES AU TITRE 
DE L'ARTICLE 63:2 DE L'ACCORD 
SWAZILAND 
Le present document contient le textel de la Loi nO 36 de 1912 sur le droit d'auteur, notifiee 
par le Swaziland au titre de l'article 63:2 de l'Accord (voir le document IP/N/1/SWZ/l). 
Consejo de los Aspectos de los Derechos de Propiedad 
Intelectual relacionados con el Comercio 
PRINCIP ALES LEYES Y REGLAMENTOS DEDICADOS A LA PROPIEDAD 
INTELECTUAL NOTIFICADOS EN VIRTUD DEL pARRAFO 2 
DEL ARTicULO 63 DEL ACUERDO 
SW AZILANDIA 
En el presente documento se reproduce el textol de la Ley de Derecho de Autor, N° 36 
de 1912, que Swazilandia ha notificado en virtud del parrafo 2 del articulo 63 del Acuerdo (vease el 
documento IP/N/l/SWZ/l). 
1 In English only'/En anglais seulement.JEn ingles solamente. JP /N/1/SWZ/CIl 
Page 2 
THE COPYRIGHT ACT 
Date of commencement: 1st July, 1912. 
An Act to make provision for the registration of copyright. 
PART I 
COMMONWEALTH COPYRIGHT 
Short title. 
1. This Act may be cited as the Copyright Act, 1912. 
interpretation. 
2. (1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires -
"architectural work of art" means any building or structure having an artistic 
character or design, in respect of such character or design, or any model 
for such building or structure, provided that the protection afforded by this 
Act shall be confined to the artistic character and design, and shall not extend 
to processes or methods of construction; 
"artistic work" includes works of painting, dra'wing, sculpture and artistic 
craftsmanship, and architectural works of art and engravings and photogra­
phs; "cinematograph" includes any work-produced by any process analogous to 
cmemato graphy; 
"collective work" means -
(a} an encyclopaedia, dictionary, year-book, or similar work; 
Cb) a newspaper, review, magazine, or similar periodical; and 
Cc) any work written in distinct parts by different authors, or in which 
works or parts of works of different authors are incorporated; 
"delivery", in relation to a lecture, includes delivery by means of any mechanical 
instrument; 
"dramatic work" includes any piece for recitation, choreographic work or 
entertainment in dumb show, the scenic arrangement or acting form of which 
is fixed in writing or otherwise, and any cinematograph production where 
the arrangement or acting form or the combination of incidents represented 
give the work an original character; 
"engravings" inClude etchings, lithographs, woodcuts, prints, and other similar 
works, not being photographs; 
"infringing" when applied to a copy of a work in which copyright subsists, 
means any copy, inCluding any colourable imitation, made, or imported in 
contravention of this Act; 
"lecture" includes address, speech, and sermon; 
:~r 
"literacy" work" includes maps, chac-ts, plans, tables, and compilation; "Minister" means the Prime Minister; IP /N/l/SWZ/CIl 
Page 3 
"performance" means any acoustic representation of a work and any visual 
representation of any dramatic action in a work, including such a represent­
ation made by means of any mechanical instrument; 
"photograph" includes photo-lithograph and any work produced by any process 
analogous to photography; 
"plate" includes any stereotype or other plate, stone, block, mould, matrix, 
transfer, or negative used or intended to be used for printing or reproducing 
copies of any work, and any matrix or other appliances by which records, 
perforated rolls or other .contrivances for the acoustic representation of the 
work are or are intended to be made; 
"work of sculpture" includes casts and models. 
(2) For the purposes of this Act (other than those relating to infringements of copy­
right), a work shall not be deemed to be published or performed in public, and a lecture 
shall not be deemed to be delivered in public, if published, performed in public, or delivered 
in public, without the consent or acquiescence of the author, his executors, administrators 
or aSSIgns. 
(3) For the purpose of this Act, a work shall be deemed to be first published within 
the parts of the British Commonwealth to which the copyright Act, 1911, of the United 
Kingdom extends, notwithstanding that it has been published simultaneously in some other 
place, unJess the publication in such parts of the British Commonwealth as aforesaid is 
colourable only and is not intended to satisfy the reasonable requirements of the public, 
and a work shall be deemed to be published simultaneously in two places if the time between 
the publication in one such place and the publication in the other place does not exceed 
fourteen days, or such longer period as may, for the time being, be fixed by Order in Council 
or notice under this Act. 
(4) Where, in the case of an uDpublished work, the making of a work has extended 
over a considerable period, the conditions .of this Act conferring copyright shall be deemed 
to have been complied with, if the author was, during any substantial part of that period, a 
British subject or a resident ,;vithin the parts of the British Commonwealth to which the 
Copyright Act, 1911, of the United Kingdom, extends. 
(5) F or the purposes of the provisioDs of this Act as to residence, an author of a work 
shall be deemed to be a resident in the pa..c-ts of the British Commonwealth to which that Act 
extends if he is domiciled within any such part. . 
Rights. 
3. (1) SUbject to the provisions of this Act, copyright shall subsist throughout Swazi­
land for the term hereinafter mentioned in every original liTerary, dramatic, musical and 
artistic work, if -. . 
(a) iD the case of a pub]jshed work, the work was first publisbed within a part 
of the British Commonwealth to ,;vh1ch the Copyright Act, 1911 of tJ.'1e 
United Kingdom (1 and 2 Geo. 5 ch. 46) applies; and 
(b) in the case of an unpublished work, the author was at the date of the making 
of the work a British subject or resident within any such part of the Brirish 
Com..TIlonwealth as aforesaid; IP /N/1/SWZ/CIl 
Page 4 
but ill no other works, except so far as the protection conferred by that Act was prior to the 
24th April, 1967, extended by Orders in·Council thereunder relatillg to self-governing domi­
nions to which that Act did not extend and to foreign countries. 
(2) For the purposes of this Act, "copyright" means the sole right to produce or 
reproduce the work or any substantial part thereof in any material form whatsoever, to 
perform, or ill the case of a Jecture to deliver, the work or any substantial part thereof in 
public; if the work is unpublished to publish the work or any substantial part thereof; and 
shall include the sole right -
Ca) to produce, reproduce, perform, or publish any translation of the work; 
Cb) in the case of a dramatic work, to convert it into a novel or other Don­
dramatic work; 
Cc) in the case of a novel or other non-dramatic work, or of an artistic work, 
to convert it into a dramatic work, by way of performance ill public or 
othenNise; 
(d) in the case of a literary, dramatic, or musical work, to make any record, 
perforated roll, cinematograph film, or other contrivance by means of which 
the work may be mechanically performed or delivered, 
and to authorise any such acts as aforesaid. 
(3) For the pw-poses of this Act, publication, in relation to any work, means the 
issue of copies of the work to the public, and does not include the performance in public 
of a dramatic or musical work; the delivery in public of a Jecture, the exhibition in public 
of an artistic work, or the construction of an architectural work of art, but, for the purposes 
of this provision, the issue of photographs and engravings of works of sculpture and archi­
tectural works of art shall not be deemed to be publication of such works. 
Infringement of copyright. 
4. (1) Copyright in a work shall be deemed to be infringed by any person who, without 
the consent of the owner of the copyright, does anything the sole right to do which is by this 
Act conferred on the owner of the copyright: 
Provided that the following acts shall not constitute an infringement of copyright: 
Ca). any fair dealing with any work for the purposes of private study, research, 
critiCism, review, or newspaper summary; 
(b) where the author of an artistic work is not the owner of the copyright therein; 
the use by the author of any mOUld, cast, sketch, plan, model, or study made 
by him for the purpose of the work, provided that he does not thereby repeat 
or imitate the main design of that work; 
(c) the making or publishing of paintings, drawings, engravings, or photographs 
of a work of sculpture or artistic craftsmanship, if permanently situate in a 
public place or building, or the making or publishing of paintings, drav'lings, 
engravings, or photographs (which are not in the nature of architectural 
drawings or plans) of any architectural work of art; 
(d) the publication in a collection, mainly composed of non-copyright matter, 
bona fide intended for the use of schools, and so described in the title and 
in any advertisements issued by the publisher, of short passages from publish­
ed literary vmrks not themselves published for the use of schools in which 
copyright subsists: IP /NI 1 ISWZ/CIl 
Page 5 
ProVided-that not more than two of such passages from works by the same 
author are published by the same publisher within five yeari, and that the 
source from which such passages are taken is acknowledged; 
(e) the pUblication in a newspaper of a report of a lecture delivered in public, 
unless the report is prohibited by conspicuous written or printed notice 
affixed before and maintained during the lecture at or about the main en trance 
of the building in which the lecture is given, and, except whilst the building 
is heing used for public worship, in a position near the lecture; but nothing 
in this paragraph shall affect the provisions in paragraph Ca) as to news­
. paper summaries; 
(f) the reading or recitation in public by one person of any reasonable extract 
from any published work. 
(2) Copyright in a work shall also be deemed to be infringed by any person who -
Ca) sells or lets for hire, or by way of trade exposes or offers for sale or hire; or 
Cb) distributes either for the purposes of trade or to such an extent as to affect 
prejudicially the owner of the copyright; or 
Cc) by way of trade exhibits in public; or 
(d) imports for sale or hire into any part of the British Commonwealth to which 
this Act extends, 
any work which to his knowledge infringes copyright ot would infringe copyright if it had 
been made within the part of the British COInrnonwealth in or into which the sale or hiring, 
exposure, offering for sale, or hire distribution, exhibition, or importation took place. 
(3) Copyright in a work shall also be deemed to be infringed by any person who for 
his private profit permits a theatre or other place of entertainment to be used for the perform­
ance in public of the work without the consent of the owner of the copyright, unless be was 
not aware, and had no reasonable ground for suspecting, that the performance would be an 
infringement of copyright. 
Term of Copyright. 
5. The term for which copyright shall subsist shall, except as otherwise expressly 
provided by this Act, be the life of the author and a period of fifty years after his death: 
Provided that at any time after the expiry of twenty-five years, or in the case of a work 
in wbich copyright subsists at the commencement of this Act thirty years, from the death 
of the author of a published work, copyrigl1t in the work shall not be deemed to be infringed 
by tbe reproduction of the work for sale if the person reproducing the work proves that he 
has given the prescribed notice in writing of his intention to reproduce tbe work, and that 
he has paid in the prescribed manner to, Or for the benefit of, the owner of the copyTight 
royalties in respect of all copies of the work sold by him calculated at the fate of ten per cent 
on the price at which he publishes the work; and, for the purposes of this proviso, the 
Minister may make regulations prescribing the mode 1...11 which notices are to be given, and 
the particulars to be given in such notices, and the mode, time, and frequency of the payment 
of royalties, including (if they think fit) regulations requiring payment in advance or other­
wise securing the payment of royalties. IP /Nil /SWZ/CIl 
Page 6 
Compulsory licence. 
,6. If at any time after the death of the author of a literary, dramatic, .or musical work 
which ha.s been published or performed in public a complaint is made to the High Court 
that the owner of the copyright in the work has refused to republish or to allow the republic­
.ation of the work or has refused to anow the performance in public of the work, and that 
by reason of such refusal the work is withheld from the public, the owner of the copyright 
may be ordered to grant a licence to reproduce the work or perform the work in public, as 
:the case may be, OD such terms and subject to such conditions as the High Court may think 
fit. 
Ownership of copyright, etc. 
7. (1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the author of a work shall be the first 
·owner of the copyright therein: 
Provided that -
(a) where, in the case of an engraving, photograph, or portrait, the plate or 
other original was ordered by some other person and was made for valuable 
consideration in pursuance of that order, then, in the absence of any agree­
ment to the contrary, the person by whom such plate or other orjginal was 
ordered shall be the first owner of the copyright; and 
(b) where the author was in the employment of some other person under a 
contract of service or apprenticeship and the work was made in the course 
of his employment by that person, the person by whom the author was 
employed shall, in the absence of any agreement to ih~ contrary, be the 
first owner of the copyright, but where the work is an article or other contri­
bution to a newspaper, magazine, or similar periodical, there shall, in the 
absence of any agreement to the contrary, be deemed to be reserved to the 
author a right to restrain the publication of the work, otherwise than as 
part of a newspaper, magazine, or sirnilar periodical. 
(2) The owner of the copyright in any work may assign the right either wholly or 
·partiaIly, and either generally or subject to limitations to Swaziland or any part of the British 
Commonwealth to which the Copyright Act, 1911, of the United Kingdom extends and either 
for the whole term of the copyright or for any part thereof, and may grant any interest in 
the right by licence, but no such assignment or grant shall be "valid unless it is in writing 
:signed by the ov,ner of the right in respect of which the assignment or grant is made, or by 
his duly authorised agent: 
Provided that, where the autbor of a work is the first owner of the copyright therein, 
no assignment of the copyright, and no grant of any interest therein, made by him (otbe["\l.:ise 
·than by will) after the passing of this Act, shaD be operative to vest in the assignee or grantee 
.any rights with respect to the copyright in the work beyond the expiry of t\.venty-five years 
from the death of the author, and the reversionary interest in the copyright expectant on the 
termination of that period sl"JalL on the death of the author, notwJrhstanoing any agreement 
to the contrary, devolve on his executor as part ef his estate, and any agreement entered into 
by him as to the disposition of such reversionary interest shall be nu]] and void, but nothing 
:in this pro·viso &lLa11 be construed a.s applying to the 2_ssignment of the copyright in a collective 
work or a liceri'ce to publish a work or part of a \.vork as part of a collective \vork. IP/N/l/SWZ/CIl 
Page 7 
(3) Where, under any partial assignment of copyright, the assignee becomes entitleci 
to any right comprised in copyright, the assignee as respects the right so asSigned, and the 
assignor as respects the rights not assigned, shall be treated for the purposes of this Act as 
the owner of the copyright, and the provisions of this Act shall have effect accordingly. 
Civil Remedies. 
8. (1) Where copyright in any work has been infringed, the owner of the copyright 
shall, except as otherwise provided by this Act, be entitled to all such remedies by way of 
interdict, damages, accounts, and otherwise, as are or may be conferred by law for the in­
fringement of a right. 
(2) The costs of all parties in any proceedings in respect of the infringement of copy­
right shall be in the absolute discretion of the court. 
(3) In any action for infringement of copyright in any work, the work shall be 
presumed to be a work in which copyright subsists and the plaintiff shall be presumed to be­
the owner of the copyright, unless the defendant puts in issue the existence- of the copyright, 
or, as the case may be, the title of the plaintiff, and where any such question is in issue, then-
Ca) if a name purporting to be that of the author of the work is printed or other­
wise indicated thereon in the usual mann~r, the person whose name is so 
printed or indicated shall, unless the contrary is proved, be presumed to be 
the author of the work; 
Cb) if no name is so printed or indicated, or if the name so printed or indicated 
is not the author's true name or the na.rne by which he is commonly known, 
and a name purporting to be that of the publisher or proprietor of the work 
is printed or otherwise indicated thereon in the usual manner, the person 
whose name is S'O printed or indicated shall, unless the contrary is proved, 
be presumed to be the owner of the copyright in the work for the purposes 
of proceedings in respect of the infringement of copyright therein. 
Rights of owner against persons possessing or dealing with infringing copies. 
9. All infringing copies of any work in which copyright subsists, or of any substantial 
part thereof, and all plates used or intended to be used for the production of such infringing 
copies, shall be deemed to be the property of the owner of the copyright, who accordingly 
may take proceedings for the recovery of the possession thereof or in respect of the conversion 
thereof. 
Exemption of innocent infringer from liability to pay damages, etc. 
10. "Where proceedings are taken in respect of the infringement of the cop)'Tight in 
any work and the defendant in his defence alleges that he was not aware of the existence 
of the copyright in the work, the plaintiff shall not be entitled to any remedy other than an 
interdict in respect of the infringement if the defendant proves that at the date of the infringe­
ment he was not aware and had no reasonable ground for suspecting that copyright subsisted 
in the work. IP IN/l/SWZ/C/l 
Page 8 
Restriction on remedies in the case of architecture. 
11. Cl) Where the construction of a building or other stmcture which infringes or which, 
if completed, would infringe the copyright in some other work has been commenced, the 
ovmer of the copyright shall not be entitled to obtain an interdict to restrain the construction 
of such building or structure or to order its demolition. 
(2) The other provisions of this Act which provide that an infringing copy of a work 
'Shall be deemed to be the property of the owner of the copyright, or impose summary penalties, 
:shall not apply in any case to which this section applies. 
Limitation of actions. 
12. An action in respect of infringement of copyright shall not be commenced after 
the expiry of three years next after the infringement. 
-Offences. 
13. (1) If any person knowingly -
(a) makes for sale or hire any infringing copy of a work in which copyright 
subsists; or 
Cb) sells or lets for hire, or by way of trade exposes or offers for sale or hire 
any infringing copy of any such work; or 
Cc) distributes infringing copies of any such work either for the purposes of 
trade or to such an extent as to affect prejudicially the owner of the copy­
right; or 
Cd) by way of trade exhibits in public any infringing copy of any such work; 
(e) imports for sale or hire any infringing copy of any such work; 
he shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding four rand for 
-every copy dealt with in contravention of this section, but not exceeding one hundred rand in 
respect of the same transaction; or, in the case of a second or subsequent offence, either to 
:such:tiDe or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two months; 
(2) If any person knowingly makes or has in his possession any plate for the purpose 
·of making infringing copies of any work in which copyright subsists, or knowingly and for 
his private profit causes any such work to be performed in public without the consent of the 
owner of the copyright, he shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not 
-exceeding one hundred rand or, in the case of a second or subsequent offence, either to such 
'fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two months. 
(3) The court before which any such proceedings are taken may, whether the alleged 
·offender is convicted or not, order that all copies of the work or all plates in the possession 
of the aUeged offender, which appear to it to be infringing copies or plates for the purpose 
·of making infringing copies, be destroyed or delivered up to the owner of the copyright or 
otherwise dealt with as the court may think fit. 
Appeal to High Court. 
14. iillY person aggrieved by a summary conviction of an offence under the foregoin§ 
'provisions of this Act may appeal to the High Comt. Application of section 14 of Customs Act, 1911 of United Kingdom. IPIN/1/SWZ/CIl 
Page 9 
15. Section 14 of the Customs Act, 1911, of the United Kingdom shalf, with the neces­
sary modifications, apply to the importation into Swaziland of copies of works made outside 
Swaziland. 
Work of joint authors. 
16. Cl} In the case of a work of joint authorship, copyright shall subsist during the life 
of the author who first dies and for a term of fifty years after his death, or during the life 
of the author who dies last, whichever period is the longer, and references in this Act to the 
period after the expiry of any specified number of years from the death of the author shall 
be construed as references to the period after the expiry of the like number of years from the 
death of the author who dies first or after the death of the author who dies last, whichever 
period may be the shorter, and in the provisions of this Act with respect to the grant of 
compulsory licences a reference to the date of the death of the author who dies last shall be 
substituted for the reference to the date of the death of the author. 
(2) \'Vhere, in the case of a work of joint authorship, some one or more of the joint 
authors do not satisfy the conditions conferring copyright laid down by this Act, the work 
shall be treated for the purposes of this Act, as if the other author or authors had been the 
sole authors or author thereof: . 
Provided that the term of the copyright shall be the same as it would have been if all 
the authors had satisfied such conditions as aforesaid. 
(3) For the purposes of this Act, "a work of joint authorship" means a work pro­
duced by the collaboration of two or more authors in which the contribution of one author 
is not distinct from the contribution of the other author or authors. 
(4) Where a married woman and her husband are joint authors of a work the interest 
of such married woman therein shall be her separate property. 
Posthumous works. 
17. (1) In the case of a literary, dramatic or musical work or, an engraving, in which 
copyright subsists at the date of the death of the allthor or, in the case of a work of joint 
authorship, at or immediately before the date of the death of the author who dies last, but 
which has not been published, nor, iD the case of a dramatic or musical work, been performed 
in public, nor iD the case cif a lecture, been delivered in public before that date, copyright 
shall subsist till publication, or performance or delivery in public, whichever may first happen~ 
and for a term of fifty years thereafter, and the proviso to section 3 of this Act sball) in the 
case of such a work, apply as if the author had died at the date of such publication or perform­
ance or delivery in public as aforesaid. 
(2) The ovvnership of an author's manuscript after his death, where such ownership 
has been acquired under a testamentary disposition made by the author and the manuscript 
is of a work which has not been published nor performed in public nor delivered in public, 
shall be prima facie proof of the copyright being with the ovmer of the manuscript. 
Provision as to Government publications. 
18. Without prejudice to any rights or privileges of the Government Ivhere any work 
has, whether before or after the commencement of this Act, been prepared or published by IP IN/l/SWZ/C/l 
Page 10 
or under the directions or control of the Government or any Government department, the 
copyright in the work shall, subject to any agreement with the autbor, belong to the Govern­
ment, and in such case shall continue for a period of fifty years from the date of tbe first 
publication of the work. 
Provisions as to mechanical instruments. 
19. (1) Copyright shall subsist in records, perforated rolls, and other contrivances by 
means of which sounds may be mechanically reproduced, in like manner as if such contri­
vances were musical works but the term of copyright shall be fifty years from the making 
of the original plate from which the contrivance was directly or indirectly derived, and the 
person who was the owner of such original plate at the time when such plate was made shall 
be deemed to be the author oftbe work, and, where such owner is a body corporate the body 
corporate shall be deemed for the purposes of this Act to resi-de within the parts of the 
British CommoDwealth to which the Custom Act, 1911, of the United Kingdom extends if it 
has established a place of business withiri such parts. 
(2) It shall not be deemed to be an infringement of copyright in any musical work 
for any reason to make within the parts of the Britisb Commonwealth to whicb tbat Act 
extends records, perforated rolls, or other contrivances by means of which the work may be 
mechanically performed, if sucb person proves -
Ca) that such contrivances have previously been made by, or with the consent 
or acquiescence of, the owner of the copyrigbt in the work; and 
Cb) that he has given the prescrjbed notice of his intention to make the contri­
vances, and has paid in the prescribed manner to, or for the benefit of, the 
owner of the copyright in the work royalties in respect of all such contri­
vances sold by him, calculated at the rate hereinafter mentioned: 
Provided that -
(i) nothing herein shall authorise any alterations in, or OIDlSSlOns 
from, the work reproduced; unless contrivances reproducing the 
work subject to similar alterations and omissions have been pre­
viously made by; or with the consent or acquiescence of, the owner 
of the copyright, or unless such alterations or omissions are reason­
ably necessary for the adaptation of tbe work to tbe contrivances 
in question; and 
(ii) for the purposes hereof; a musical work shall be .deemed to include 
any words so closely associated therewith as to form part of the 
same work, but shall not be deemed to include a contrivance by 
means of which sounds may be mechanically reproduced. 
(3) The rate at which such royalties as aforesaid are to be calculated shall ~ 
(a) in the C?se of contrivances sold \\;Jthin two years after the commencement 
of this Act by the person making the same, be two and one-half per cent; and 
Cb) in the case of contrivances sold as aforesaid after the expiry of that penod, 
five percent 
on the ordinary retail selling price of the contrivance calculated in the prescribed manner, 
so bowever, that the royalty payable in respect of a contrivance shall, in no case, be less than 
half a cent foi:each separate musical work in which copyright subsists reproduced thereon, IP/N/l/SWZ/CIl 
Page 11 
and; where the royalty calculated as aforesaid includes a fraction bf a quarter cent, such 
fraction shall be reckoned as a quarter of a cent: 
Provided that, if, at any time after the expiry of seven years from the commencement 
of this Act, it appears to the Minister that such rate as aforesaid is no longer equitable, he 
may, after holding a public enquiry, make an order either decreasing or increasing that rate, 
to such extent as under the circumstances may seem just, but any order so made shall be 
provisional only and shall not have any effect unJess and until confirmed by Parliament; 
but, where an order revising the rate has been so made and confumed, no further revision 
shall be made before the expiration of fourteen years from the date of the last revision. 
(4) If any such contrivance is made reproducing two or more different works in 
which copyright subsists and the owners of the copyright therein are different persons, the 
sums payable by way of roya1ties under this section shall be apportioned amongst the several 
owners of the copyright in such proportions as, failing agreement, may be determined by 
arbitration. 
(5) When any such contrivances by means of which a musical work may be mechanic­
ally performed have been made, then, for the purposes of this section, the mvner of the copy­
right in the work shall, in relation to any person who makes the prescribed enquiries, be 
deemed to have given his consent to the making of such contrivances if he fails to reply to 
such enquiries within the prescribed time. 
(6) For the purposes of this section, the Minister may make regulations prescribing 
anything which under this section is to be prescribed, and prescribing the mode in which 
notices are to be given and the particulars to be given in such notices, and the mode, time, 
and frequency of the payment of royalties, and any such regulations may, if he thinks fit, 
include regulations requiring payment in advance or otherwise securing the payment of 
royalties. 
(7) In the case of musical works published before the commencement of this Act, 
the foregoing provisions shall have effect, subject to the folJO\ving modifications and addi­
tions : 
Ca) the conditions as to the previous making by, or with the consent or acquie­
scence of, the owner of the copyright in the work, and the restrictions as to 
alterations in or omissions from the work, shall not apply; 
(b) the rate of two and one-half per cent shall be substituted for the rate of five 
per cent as the rate at which royalties are to be calculated, but no royalties 
shall be payable in respect of contrivances sold before the first day of July, 
1913, if contrivances reproducing the same work had been lawfully made, 
or placed on sale, within the parts of the British Commonwealth to which 
the Copyright Act, 1911 of the United Kingdom extends before the nrst 
day of July, 1910; 
(c) notwithstanding any assignment made before th~ passing of this Act of the 
copYlight in a musical work, any rights conferred by this Act in respect of 
the making, or authorising the making, of con1rivances by means of 'l-vhich 
the work may be mechanically performed shall belong to the author or his 
executor and not to the assignee, and the royalties aforesaid shall be payable 
to, and for the benefit of, the author of the work or his executor; 
{d) the saving contained in this Act of the rights and D.lterests arising from, or 
in connection \v11h, action Taken before the commencement of this Act shall 
not be construed as authorising any person \vho has made contri vances by 
means of which the work may be mechanically performed to sell any such JP /N/1/SWZ/CIl 
Page 12 
contrivances, whether made before or after the passing of tbis Act, except 
on the terms and subject to the conditions laid down in this section; 
Ce) where the work is a work on which copyright is conferred by an Order in 
Council relating to a foreign country, the copyright so conferred shall not, 
except to such extent as may be provided by the Order, include any rights 
with respect to the making of records, perforated rolls, or other contrivances 
by means of which the work may be mechankaIJy performed. 
(8) Notwithstanding anything in this Act, where a record, perforated roll, or other 
contrivance by means of which sounds may be mechanically reproduced has been made 
before the commencement of this Act, copyright shall, as from the commencement of this 
Act, subsist therein in like manner and for the like term as if tbis Act had been in force at 
the date of the making of the original plate from which the contrivance was directly or 
indiredly derived: 
Provided that -
(i) the person who, at the commencement of this Act, is the owner of such 
original plate shall be the first owner of such copyright; and 
(ii) nothing in this provision shall be construed as conferring copyright in any 
such contrivance if the making thereof would have infringed copyright in 
some other such contrivance, if this provision had been in force at the time 
of the making of the first-mentioned contrivance. 
Provisions as to political speeches. 
20. Nonvithstanding anything in this Act, it shall not be an infringement of copyright 
in an address of a political nature delivered at a public meeting to publish a report thereof 
in a newspaper. 
Provisions as to photographs. 
21. The term for which copyright shall subsist in photographs shall be fifty years from 
the rtlaking of the original negative from which the photograph was directly or indirectly 
derived, and the person who was owner of such negative at the time when such negative 
was made shall be deemed to be the author of the work, and, where such owner is a body 
corporate, the body corporate shall be deemed for the purposes of this Act to reside within 
the parts of the British Commonwealth to which the Copyright Act, 1911 of the United 
Kingdom extends if it bas established a place of business within such parts. 
Provisions as to designs registrable under the Patent and Designs Act, 1907 oitlIe U.K. 
7') (1) This Act shaIJ not apply to designs capable of being registered under the Patents 
and Designs Act, 1907, of the United Kingdom; except designs which, though capable of 
being so registered, are not used or inten ded to be used as models or patterns to be multiplied 
by any· industrial process. 
(2) General rules made under section 86 of the said Patents and Designs Act, 1907, 
before the 24th April, 1967, for detem-tining the conditions under which a design shall be 
deemed to beo·used for such purposes as aforesaid shall be applicable. -IPIN/1/SWZ/C/1 
Page 13 
Works DJ Joreign authors first published in parts DJ the Brhish Commonwealth. 
23. If it appears to the Minister that a foreign country does not give, or has not under­
taken to give, adequate protection to the works of Swaziland authors, the Minister may, 
by notice in the Gazette, direct that such of the provisions of this Act as confer copyright on 
works first published withjn the parts of the British Commonwealth to which the Copyright 
Act, 1911 of the United Kingdom extends, shall not apply in Swaziland to works published 
after the date specified in such notice, the authors whereof are subjects or citizens of such 
foreign country, and are not resident in the British Commonwealth, and thereupon those 
provisions shall not apply to such works. 
Existing works (Schedules.) 
24. (1) Where any person is immediately before the commencement of this Act entitled 
to any such right in any work as is specified III the first column of the Schedule, or to any 
interest in such a right, he shall, as from that date, be entitled to the substituted right set 
forth in the second column of the Schedule, or to the same interest in such a substituted 
right, and to no other right or interest, and such substituted right shall subsist for the term 
for which it would have subsisted if this Act had been in force at the date when the work was 
made and the work had been one entitled to copyright thereunder: 
Provided that -
Ca) if the author of any work in which any such ri~'lt as is specified in the first 
column of the Schedule subsists at the commencement of this Act has, 
before that date, assigned the right or granted any interest therein for the 
whole term of the right, then at the date when, but for the passing of this 
Act, the right would have expired the substituted right conferred by this 
section shall, in the absence of express agreement, pass to the author of the 
work, and any interest therein created before the commencement of this 
Act and then subsisting shall determine; but the person who immediately 
before the date at which the right would so have expiJ:ed was the owner of 
the right or interest shall be entitled at his option either 
(i) on giving such notice as he~einafter mentioned, to an assignment 
of the right or the grant of a similar interest therein for the remainder 
of the term of the right for such consideration as, failing agreement, 
may be determined by arbitration; or 
(ii) without such assignment or. grant, to continue to reproduce or 
perform the work in like manner as theretofore subject to the 
payment, if demanded by the author within three years after the 
date at which the right would have so expired, of such royalties 
to the author as, failing agreement, may be determined by arbitra­
tion, or, where the \-'lork is incorporated in a collective work and 
the owner of the right or interest is the proprietor of that collective 
work, without any such payment; 
The notice above refeHed to must be given Dot more than one year nor 
less than six months before the date at which the right would have so expired, 
and must be sent by registered post to the author, or, if he cannot with 
reasonable diligence be found, advertised in the Gazette and in two news­
papers circulating in Swaziland. 
(b) where any person has, berme the twenty-sixth day of July, 1910, taken any 
action whereby he has incurred any expenditure or liability in connecLion IPIN/1/SWZ/CIl 
Page 14 
with the reproduction or performance of any work in a manner which at 
the time was lawful, or for the purpose of or with a view to the reproduction 
or performance of a work at a time when such reproduction or performance 
would, but for the passing ofthis Act, have been lawful, nothing in this section 
shall diminish or prejudice any rights or interest arising from or in connec­
tion with such action which are subsisting and valuable at the said date, 
unless the person who by virtue of this section becomes entitled to restrain 
such reproduction or performance agrees to pay such compensation as, 
failing agreement, may be determined by arbitration. 
(2) For the purposes of this sectjon, the expression "author" includes the executor 
-of a deceased author. 
(3) Subject to the provisions of section 18(7) and (8) and of section 27, copyright 
'shall not subsist iD. any work made before the commencement of this Act, otherwise than 
.under, and in accordance with, the provisions of this section. 
PART II 
Il'-TTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT 
25. (1) The Minister may, by notice in the Gazette, direct that this Act (except such 
parts, if any, thereof as may be specified in the notice shall apply: 
Ca) to works first published in a foreign country to which the notice relates, 
in like manner as if they were first published within the parts of the British 
Commonwealth to which the Copyright Act, 1911 of the U.K. extends; 
Cb) to literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, or any class thereof, the 
authors whereof were at the time of the making of the work subjects or 
citizens of a foreign country to which the order relates, in like manner as 
if the authors were British subjects; 
Cc) in respect of residence in a foreign country to which the notice relates in 
like manner as if such residence were residence in the parts of the British 
Commonwealth to which that Act extends; 
:and thereupon, subject to the provisions of this Part of this Act and of the notice, this Act 
. shall apply accordingly: 
Provided that-
Ci) 
Cii) before making a notice under this section in respect of any foreign 
country (other than a country with wt.Jch the Government has 
entered into a convention relating to copyright), the Minister shall 
be satisfied that that foreign country has made, or has undertaken 
to make, such provisions,if any, as it appears to hh"TI expedient 
to require for the protection of works entitled to copyright under 
the provisions of Part I of this Act; 
the notice may provide that the term of copyright within such parts 
of the British COITL."1lonwealth as aforesaid shall not exceed that 
conferred by the law of the country to which the notice relates; 
Ciii) the provisions of this Act as to the delivery of copies of books 
shall not apply to works first published in such country, except 
so far as is provided by the notice; IP/NI1 ISWZ/CIl 
Page 15 
(jv) the notice may provide that the enjoyment of the rights conferre<i 
by this Act shall be subject to the accomplishment offficn conditions 
and formalities (if any) as may be prescribed therein; 
(v) in applying this Act as to ownership of copyright, the notice may 
make such modifications as appear necessary having regard to the 
law of the foreign country; 
(vi) in applying this Act as to existing works, the notice may make such 
modifications as appear necessary, and may provide that nothing. 
in those provisions as so applied shall be construed as reviving. 
any right of preventing the production or importation of any 
translation in any case where the right has ceased by virtue of section 
5 of the International Copyright Act, 1886 of the United Kingdom. 
(2) A notice under this section may extend to all the several countries named or 
described therein. 
(3) An Order in Council made under section 29 of the Copyright Act, 1911 of the 
United Kingdom and in force on the 24th April, 1967, shall have the same force and effect 
as a notice under this section. 
PART IH 
S1:JPPLEMENTARY PROVISIONS 
Abrogation of common law rights. 
26. No person shall be entitled to copyright or any similar right in any literary, drama­
tic, musical, or artistic woik, whether published or unpublished, otherv"ise than under and in 
accordance with the provisions of this Act, or of any other statutory enactment for the time 
being in force, but nothing in this section shall be construed as abrogating any right or juris­
diction to restrain a breach of trust or confidence. 
Power of the j'vfinister. 
27. (1) The Minister may publish notices altering, revoking, or varying any Order in 
Council or notice made under this Act, or under any enactments repealed by this Act, in so 
far as the same are applicable in Swaziland, but any notice published under this section shall 
not affect prejudicially any rights or interests acquired or accrued at the date when the notice 
comes into operation, and shall provide for the protection of such rights and interests. 
(2) Every notice made under this Act shall be published in the Gazette and shall be 
laid before both Houses of Parliament as soon as may be after it 1S made, and shall have 
effect as if enacted in this Act. 
Saving of University Copyrights. 
28. Nott-Jng in this Act shaH deprive any of the universities and colleges mentioned 
in the Copyright Act, 1775, of the United Kingdom, of any copyright they dready possess 
under that Act, but the remedies and penalties for infringement of any such copyright shall 
be under this Act and not under that Act. IP/N/1/SWZ/C/l 
Page 16 
SCHEDULE 
EXISTING RIGHTS 
Existing Right Substituted Right 
{o) In the case of works other than dramatic and musical works: 
Copyright. 
{b) In the case of musical and dramatic works: 
Both copyright and performing right 
Copyright, but not performing right 
Performing right, but not copyright Copyright as defined by this Act. * 
Copyright as defined by this Act. * 
Copyright as defined by this Act, except the 
sole right to perform the work or any 
substantial part thereof in public. 
The sole right to perform the work in public, 
but none of the other rights comprised in 
copyright as defined by this Act. 
For the purposes of this Schedule the following expressions, where used in the first 
,column thereof, have the following meanings: 
"copyright", in the case of a work which according to the laW in force immediately 
before the commencement of this Act has not been published before that 
date and statutory copyright wherein depends on publication, includes the 
right at common law Cif any) to restrain publication or other dealing with 
the work; 
"performing right", in the case of a work which has not been performed in public 
before the commencement of this Act, includes the right at common law 
Cif any) to restrain the performance thereof in public. 
*In the case of an essay, article, or portion forming part of and first published in a review 
magazine, or Oi.1er periodical or work of a like nature, the right shall be subject to any 
right of publishing the essay, article, or portion ill a separate form to which the author 
is entitled at the COImnencement of tbis Act, or would, if this Act had not been passed, 
have become entitled under section 18 of the Copyright Act, 1842, of the United King­
dom.