Lawmakers updated Bermuda?s copyright laws with little substantive debate at Friday?s sitting of the House of Assembly.

The development provides protection for creators of original works and intellectual property

And it brings Bermuda well on the way to conforming with international standards.

Based on 1988 United Kingdom legislation, the 300-page Copyright and Designs Act 2004 amends the 1957 United Kingdom Copyright Act which was extended to Bermuda in 1962.

Government lauded the new law as an important stimulus for local artists? creativity and another feather in the cap for Bermuda as an international business jurisdiction.

?The Bill also makes fresh provisions with respect to rights of performers; devices designed to circumvent technical measures used in the copy protection of works in electronic form; criminalisation of the fraudulent reception of broadcast and cable transmissions; rights of authors of databases; design rights in original designs, the introduction of licensing bodies and schemes and a tribunal to deal with issues arising therefrom,? said Public Safety Minister Randolph Horton in introducing the bill.

He said copyright protection was vital to ensure that authors composers and other creators continued their work.

?Reward for the investment of time, thought, money and energy into the creation of a work is what spurs the author on to create more works. The publishing industry is totally dependent on the creations of authors and much time and money is spent in agreeing terms of contracts for the works created. If the author is not properly remunerated for his work, he is not encouraged to produce more.?

While the bill extends protection from 50 to 70 years after an author?s death, and allows creators and performers to seek damages when their rights have been infringed, it also provides some defences against copyright infringement charges.

And Mr. Horton said that copyright protection extended to international business as well as the entertainment field.

?In order for Bermuda to continue to attract such business, it is important to have in place effective laws for the encouragement of creativity and the protection of created works especially in the area of finance,? he said.

?Local and exempted companies control volumes of copyright materials and products which must be protected against illegal copying and other fraudulent use. Hi-tech companies that provide internet access to corporate and residential clients, for example, host numerous websites on their behalf and it is essential that adequate protection is afforded within the copyright legislation in respect of the designs and other copyright materials contained therein?.

Copying programmes for private viewing after their scheduled broadcast and copying for research purposes are legal under the bill.

Also excepted from the bill?s main thrust are ?fair use? of copyrighted material ? such as in criticism or news reporting ? provided that the author is given credit.

And certain organisations, such as the Society for the Blind, will be allowed to alter a work and make copies in its altered form for its members.

The bill also provides for the creation of licensing bodies and tribunals to deal with royalty agreements and disputes, but recognises that creators also have ?moral rights? to their work. Moral rights, Mr. Horton said, included the author?s rights to be identified as the work?s author and to object to ?derogatory? treatment of the work even after economic rights have been transferred, and the right not to have work falsely attributed to an author.

?Mr. Speaker, the government considered that the inclusion of moral rights in the bill will help to instil a greater sense of pride and accomplishment in our local authors of copyright works,? the Minister said.

He added that the bill was ahead of many other countries in the world by providing protection for ?database rights?.

?This is an important aspect of the bill in that it allows for computer databases to attract a right that prohibits unlawful extraction of data therefrom,? Mr. Horton said. ?This aspect of the Bill will be of particular interest to the technocrats that compile databases containing confidential information, for example which might not of their own accord attract copyright. The information could be protected by way of the new database right. Bermuda in this respect is ahead of many countries of the world as it is basically the countries of the European Union that have included the database right in their copyright legislation to date.?

Also included in the bill are ?design rights? defined as ?simple designs? which would not qualify for registration under the Patents and Designs Act.

?This design right does not apply to designs that play a functional role with respect to the item on which they appear. An example would be an electric plug which will fit a conventional socket but which is shaped to represent a cartoon figure. Only the part of the electric plug that is shaped like a cartoon figure will attract the design right. The idea behind the creation of the design right is to provide some remuneration for the creators of simple designs on functional items such as toys and industrial gadgets. It is anticipated that the attraction of design rights in simple designs would further stimulate creativity amongst artisans within our community,? the Minister said.