Kinematograph year book (1946)

Digest of Acts. 169 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 tobave 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. (4) As soon as may be after the end of the week beginning at the commencement of this Act, and of each subsequent week, the Board of Trade shall publish in the Board of Trade Journal a list of films registered in that week. (5) The register shall, at all reasonable times, be open to inspection by any person at the offices of the Board of Trade, on payment of the prescribed fee, and any person inspecting the register may take copies of any entries therein. (6) The Board of Trade shall, on demand made in that behalf by any person and on payment of the prescribed fee, furnish that person with a copy of the entry in the register relating to any particular film, being a copy certified to be true by the officer of the Board of Trade having the custody of the register. (24) . — Applications for registration, and information to be furnished in connection therewith. (1) Every application for the registration of a film shall be made either by the maker of the film or by a renter who has acquired it for distribution in Great Britain, and shall be accompanied by the prescribed fee. (2) No such application as aforesaid shall be entertained unless the film which is the subject of the application has been trade-shown within the fourteen days immediately preceding the date on which the application is made: Provided that— a) a provisional application may be made before the film has been trade-shown, and in that case, if the film is trade-shown within six weeks after the date on which the provisional application is made, the provisional application shall thereupon be treated as if it had been made within fourteen days after the film was trade-shown ; and (b) an application made more than fourteen days after the film was trade-shown may be entertained by the Board of Trade if they are satisfied that the delay was due to special circumstances and was not intentional, (3) The applicant for the registration of a film, and if the applicant is not the maker of the film, the maker, shall produce to the Board of Trade such books and other documents relating to the film