Section 24 of the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2000 protects the broadcast signal — a right in the transmission itself, separate from any copyright in what is transmitted.
Section 24(1) — the exclusive rights
(a) the re-broadcasting of the broadcast;
(b) the communication to the public of the broadcast;
(c) the fixation of the broadcast;
(d) the reproduction of a fixation of the broadcast.
“Broadcast” means the communication of a work, performance or sound recording to the public by wireless transmission, including transmission by satellite.
“Fixation” means the embodiment of sounds or their representations from which they can be perceived, reproduced or communicated through a device.
The definition of broadcast is confined to wireless transmission — over the air, including by satellite. A transmission delivered by wire is not a broadcast; it falls within the wider concept of communication to the public, defined in section 2 as transmission by wire or without wire.
That distinction runs through the Act. The author’s rights in section 6(1)(i) and (j) separate broadcasting from other communication to the public for the same reason.
The consequence for section 24 is that the protected subject matter is the over-the-air signal of a broadcasting organisation. Under section 3(7), the Act applies to broadcasts of organisations headquartered in Papua New Guinea and to broadcasts transmitted from transmitters situated here.
What each right covers
| Right | Typical use it controls |
|---|---|
| (a) Re-broadcasting | Another station picking up and re-transmitting the signal over the air; a satellite or terrestrial relay |
| (b) Communication to the public of the broadcast | Showing a broadcast to an audience — a bar screening a televised match, a hotel distributing a feed to rooms; and cable or online retransmission |
| (c) Fixation | Recording the broadcast off air |
| (d) Reproduction of a fixation | Copying that recording, and distributing copies of it |
Communication to the public is defined by reference to persons outside the normal circle of a family and its closest social acquaintances. Screening a broadcast in a commercial venue is a communication to the public of the broadcast, and needs the broadcaster’s authorisation.
And it is only one of several permissions needed. The same screening may engage:
- the copyright owner’s public performance and communication to the public rights in the programme — s 6(1)(h) and (j);
- the section 23 remuneration obligation, where commercial sound recordings are performed; and
- the performers’ rights, subject to section 21(2) for audiovisual fixations.
The right is in the signal, not the content
A broadcaster’s section 24 right subsists in the broadcast even where the broadcaster owns no copyright in the programme — a live sports transmission, a relayed feed, a licensed film.
Conversely, the section 24 right does not give the broadcaster any rights in the content. A person who wants to use the programme needs the copyright owner’s permission as well; a person who wants to use the transmission needs the broadcaster’s.
Where the broadcaster made the programme itself, it will usually hold both — as author or, for an audiovisual work, as producer under section 18(5)(a), or as employer under section 18(4).
Section 24(2) — the term
The right is protected from the moment when the broadcasting takes place until the end of the fiftieth calendar year following the year in which the broadcast takes place.
Fifty calendar years from transmission — the same measure as for performers (s 21(6)) and producers (s 22(2)). Protection begins at the moment of broadcast; no fixation, publication or registration is needed.
Section 25 and the encryption provisions
Section 24 opens “Subject to section 25”. Under section 25, the broadcaster’s rights do not apply to (a) short excerpts used for reporting current events, to the extent justified by the purpose of providing current information; (b) reproduction solely for scientific research; (c) reproduction solely for face-to-face teaching — except for performances and phonograms published as teaching materials; and (d) cases where, under Part II, a work may be used without the author’s authorisation.
Paragraph (a) is what allows one news service to show a short clip from another’s coverage. It works alongside section 13(b), which permits reproduction and broadcasting of short excerpts of a work seen or heard in the course of current events.
Broadcasters get an additional protection from section 29. It is unlawful to manufacture or import for sale or rental any device or means susceptible to enable or assist the reception of an encrypted program, broadcast or otherwise communicated to the public including by satellite, by those who are not entitled to receive the program.
Under section 29(2), such devices are assimilated to infringing copies, and the conduct is treated as an infringement to which the section 26, section 27 and section 28 remedies and sanctions apply — including the offence carrying up to ten years’ imprisonment or a fine of K100,000, or both.
Dealing in unauthorised decoders for pay-television is therefore both a civil wrong and, where done wilfully or by gross negligence for profit, a serious criminal offence.
Sources
- Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2000 — ss 2, 3, 6, 13, 18, 21–29
Before relying on anything here, read the current text of the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2000 and check for later amendments. If a decision matters to you, get advice — start with the Office of the Public Solicitor, or find a firm in the law firms directory.