Kinematograph year book (1944)

134 The Kinematograph Year Book. (20) . -—Invalid at ion of agreements involving blind booking or advance booking. (1) Any agreement made after the commencement of this Act (whether in Great Britain or elsewhere) shall be invalid, if and so far as — ■ (a) in the case of an agreement made before the end of September nineteen hundred and forty-eight, it purports to impose on any exhibitor an obligation, either actual or contingent, to take delivery of a film to which this Act applies for public exhibition at a theatre in Great Britain, being a film which has not been trade shown at the time of the making of the agreement, or (£>) in the case of an agreement made before the end of March nineteen hundred and fortyeight, it purports to impose on any exhibitor an obligation, either actual or contingent, to take delivery of a film to which this Act applies for public exhibition at a theatre in Great Britain at a date later than six months after the date on which the agreement is made : Provided that the preceding provisions of this subsection shall not apply in relation to any agreement the making of which is unrestricted by virtue of the proviso to subsection (i) of section seventeen of this Act or the proviso to section eighteen of this Act, as the case may be. (2) Any agreement validly made before the commencement of this Act (whether in Great Britain or elsewhere) which, if made after the commencement of this Act, would be invalid under the preceding subsection, shall, if and so far as it relates to the delivery after the end of September nineteen hundred and thirty-eight, for public exhibition in Great Britain, of a film to which this Act applies, cease to have effect at the end of that month. (21) . — Information to be furnished by renters to Board of Trade for purposes of Part II. A renter shall, whenever requested so to do by a person authorised in that behalf by the Board of Trade, produce to that person such books or other documents, and furnish to that person such other information, with respect to any film delivered or to be delivered by him to any exhibitor in Great Britain for public exhibition therein, being a film to which this Act applies, as the Board may require for the purpose of the enforcement of this Part of this Act. PART III. REGISTRATION OF FILMS. (22) . — Prohibition of distribution or exhibition of unregistered films. (1) No person shall, in the period beginning at the commencement of this Act and ending with the thirtieth day of September nineteen hundred and forty-eight, deliver to an exhibitor in Great Britain for public exhibition therein any film to which this Act applies, unless, at the time of the delivery, the film is a registered film, and no person shall, in the said period, exhibit to the public at a theatre in Great Britain any film to which this Act applies, being a film which he knows, or ought to have known, not to be a registered film : Provided that this subsection shall not restrict the delivery or exhibition, in pursuance of a valid agreement for its exhibition at one theatre only on a number of consecutive days, of a film in respect of which a provisional application for registration has been made, if the film is trade-shown within six weeks from the date on which the application was made, and shall not restrict — (a) the delivery or exhibition of any film which has been exhibited in Great Britain to exhibitors or to the public before the commencement of this Act, other than a film which was first so exhibited after the end of September nineteen hundred and twenty-seven and is a film to which the Act of 1927 applies, or {b) the delivery or exhibition, in pursuance of valid agreements for its exhibition on not more than three days and at not more than three theatres, of a film which, at the time of the delivery or exhibition, has not been trade-shown. (2) If any person delivers a film in contravention of this section, he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding two hundred and fifty pounds ; and if any person exhibits a film in contravention of this section, he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds for every day on which he so exhibits the film. (23) . — Registration of films. (1) Upon application duly made to them, not later than the end of September nineteen hundred and forty-eight, for the registration of a film to which this Act applies, the Board of Trade shall, subject to the following provisions of this Part of this Act, register the film under this Part of this Act in a register to be kept by the Board for the purpose. (2) The register shall be so kept as to record, in relation to each film registered therein, — (a) the title and length of the film, the fact that it is a British film or a foreign film, as the case may be, and such other particulars (if any) with respect to the film as may be prescribed for the purpose of identification, and (b) such other particulars with respect to the film as are required by the following provisions of this Part of this Act to be entered in the register. (3) On the registration of a film under this Part of this Act, the Board of Trade shall issue to the person on whose application the film is registered a certificate of registration specifying all the particulars which, at the time of the issue of the certificate, are recorded in the register with respect to that film.