Printers and Newspapers Act 1911

Printers and Newspapers Act 1911

An Act to consolidate and amend the law relating to printers and newspapers

Be it enacted by His Excellency the Governor of Tasmania, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council and House of Assembly, in Parliament assembled, as follows:

1.   Short title

[Section 1 Amended by 25 Geo. V No. 78 ]This Act may be cited as the Printers and Newspapers Act 1911 .

2.   Interpretation

[Section 2 Amended by 25 Geo. V No. 78 ][Section 2 Amended by No. 30 of 1963, s. 2 ][Section 2 Inserted by No. 9 of 1982, s. 7 and Sched. 10 ]In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears –

Commissioner means the Commissioner for Corporate Affairs holding office under section 4 of the Commissioner for Corporate Affairs Act 1980 , and includes any person holding that office in an acting capacity;

newspaper includes every paper or pamphlet (other than those hereinafter excepted) containing any public news, intelligence, or occurrence, or any remarks or observations thereon or on any political matter, and published for sale periodically, or in parts or numbers at intervals not exceeding 31 days between the publication of any 2 such papers or pamphlets or parts or numbers; but does not include any document published in the course of his duty by the Government Printer or any document containing only matter wholly of a commercial nature.

3.   

4.   Printer's name, &c., to be printed on every published work

(1)  Every person who prints any paper or book for publication or dispersion, whether gratuitously or for money, shall print in legible characters on the front of every such paper if it is printed on one side only, and on the first and the last leaf of every paper or book if there is more than one such leaf, his name and the name of the place and (if it is a city or town) of the street or other part thereof in which his usual place of abode is situate.

(2)  If the paper or book is printed by an incorporated company, then in the place where the name and place of abode is required to appear, the company shall cause to be printed its name or some known abbreviation thereof, and its registered office or any place where its business is conducted.

5.   Printer to keep record of employer's name and address

Every person who prints any paper for or in the expectation of hire, gain, or profit, shall keep one copy at least of every such paper, and shall write or print thereon the name and the place of abode of the person by whom he has been employed to print the same.

6.   Printed paper to bear printer's name and address

[Section 6 Subsection (1) amended by No. 55 of 1965, s. 5 ][Section 6 Subsection (1) amended by No. 70 of 1984, s. 5 ][Section 6 Subsection (1) amended by No. 43 of 1991, s. 5 and Sched. 1 ]

(1)  [Section 6 Subsection (1) amended by 25 Geo. V No. 78 ]No person shall sell or offer for sale, or deliver or offer to deliver or leave in any public place or otherwise expose to public view, any printed paper on which the name and place of abode of the printer is not printed in the manner hereinbefore directed, or on which a fictitious or false name or place of abode is printed.

Penalty:  Fine not exceeding 10 penalty units.

(2)  [Section 6 Subsection (2) omitted by No. 70 of 1984, s. 5 ].  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  

7.   

8.   Exemptions from the foregoing provisions

Nothing in this Act shall extend to –

(a) the impression of any engraving;

(b) the printing by letterpress of the name or the name and address or business or profession of any person and of the articles in which he deals;

(c) any papers for the sale of land or chattels by auction or otherwise;

(d) any bank-note, bill of exchange, or promissory note;

(e) any bond or other security for the payment of money;

(f) any bill of lading, policy of insurance, letter of attorney, deed, or agreement;

(g) any receipt for money or goods;

(h) any legal instrument or proceeding in the Supreme Court, or in any inferior court;

(i) any papers printed by the authority of any department of the Government; or

(j) any circular or letter from any company, corporation, society, or association to the directors, shareholders, or members thereof, which bears the true name and address or place of business of the secretary or other officer thereof, or any circular, notice, or letter issued by any person and bearing his true name and address.

9.   All newspapers to be subject to this Act

[Section 9 Amended by No. 70 of 1984, s. 7 ]No person shall print or publish any newspaper unless and until the statutory declarations have been registered as hereinafter directed.

10.   Declaration by proprietor of intended printer, publisher, and place of printing of newspaper to be registered

[Section 10 Amended by 25 Geo. V No. 78 ][Section 10 Amended by No. 62 of 1976, s. 2 ][Section 10 Amended by No. 9 of 1982, s. 7 and Sched. 10 ]

(1)  Where any person desires to publish a newspaper, or where in any registered newspaper any change is at any time made in any of the particulars hereby required to be stated respecting the same, or on a written requisition from the Minister, the publisher of such newspaper shall deposit with the Commissioner a statutory declaration duly declared to and signed by the proprietors of such newspaper and by the persons intended to be the printer and publisher thereof respectively.

(2)  Such declaration shall be in Form 3 or Form 4 in Schedule 2 , as the case may require, and shall contain the statements therein specified.

11.   Declaration conclusive evidence of its statements

In all proceedings, civil or criminal, touching any such newspaper or anything therein contained, such declaration shall be conclusive evidence as against every person signing the same of the truth of all such matters as in accordance with this Act are therein set forth.

12.   Disclaimer declaration may be registered

[Section 12 Amended by No. 9 of 1982, s. 7 and Sched. 10 ]Where any person has made any such declaration, if he deposits with the Commissioner a statutory declaration stating that he is no longer connected with the newspaper in the capacity set forth in such first-mentioned declaration, he shall not, from the date on which he deposits the same, be taken by reason of such first-mentioned declaration only to be connected with such newspaper.

13.   Register of declarations open to the public

[Section 13 Amended by No. 9 of 1982, s. 7 and Sched. 10 ][Section 13 Amended by No. 70 of 1984, s. 8 ]The Commissioner shall cause to be registered all declarations deposited with him under this Act, and such register shall at all reasonable times be open without charge to public inspection.

14.   Names, &c., of printer and publisher of newspaper to be printed therein

[Section 14 Amended by No. 70 of 1984, s. 9 ]At the end of every newspaper and of any and every supplement sheet thereof there shall be printed the Christian name and surname and place of abode of its printer and its publisher, and a true description of the place where the newspaper is printed and published respectively; and the omission of the same or of any part thereof shall be prima facie evidence of wilful default against any such printer or publisher.

15.   Proof of purchase of newspaper at defendant's office, &c., dispensed with

In any proceedings, civil or criminal, touching any newspaper or anything therein contained against any person who has made any such declaration as aforesaid, if any such declaration or a certified copy thereof is produced in evidence, and if a newspaper is so produced intituled in the same manner as the newspaper mentioned in such declaration or copy, and in which the names of the printers and publishers and the place of printing are the same as the names of the printers and publishers and the place of printing mentioned in such declaration or copy, it shall not be necessary to prove that the newspaper to which such proceedings relate was purchased at any house, shop, or office belonging to or occupied by the defendant or his servants, or where he or they severally carry on the business of printing and publishing, or where the same is sold.

16.   Discovery in cases of defamatory matter in newspaper

[Section 16 Amended by No. 9 of 1982, s. 7 and Sched. 10 ][Section 16 Amended by No. 70 of 1984, s. 10 ]Where in proceedings in the Supreme Court the plaintiff claims discovery of the name of any person concerned in the property of or in any newspaper as printer or publisher, or otherwise of any matter relating to the printing or publishing thereof, in order to enable him the more effectively to bring or carry on any action for damages by him alleged to have been sustained by reason of any defamatory matter concerning him therein contained, the defendant shall not be permitted to dispute such claim, but shall be compellable to make the discovery thereby required, but no discovery shall be used for any purpose in any other proceeding than that in and for the purposes of which the discovery is made.

17.   Where newspaper is published by company

[Section 17 Amended by 25 Geo. V No. 78 ][Section 17 Amended by No. 70 of 1984, s. 11 ]

(1)  Where an incorporated company desires to publish any newspaper, the provisions of section 10 shall be complied with on behalf of such company as proprietor by a director, secretary, or principal executive officer thereof, and the declaration in such case may be in the Form 4 in Schedule 2 .

(2)  In such case the declaration prescribed by that section shall be conclusive evidence against such company in the same manner in which by section 11 it is made conclusive evidence against a proprietor signing such declaration, and a declaration on behalf of such company under section 12 may be made in like manner, and section 15 shall apply to any company on whose behalf any such declaration has been made.

18.   

19.   

20.   

21.   

22.   

23.   Printing bogus Government notices, &c.

[Section 23 Substituted by No. 70 of 1984, s. 17 ][Section 23 Amended by No. 43 of 1991, s. 5 and Sched. 1 ]Any person who prints a copy of a proclamation, order-in-council, commission, order, regulation, or notification which falsely purports to have been printed by the Government Printer is guilty of an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding 10 penalty units.

24.   Omission of printer's name

[Section 24 Amended by No. 55 of 1965, s. 5 ][Section 24 Amended by No. 9 of 1982, s. 7 and Sched. 10 ][Section 24 Amended by No. 70 of 1984, s. 18 ][Section 24 Amended by No. 43 of 1991, s. 5 and Sched. 1 ]Every person who –

(a) prints any paper or book and omits to print therein his name and place of abode as required by this Act; or

(b) publishes or disperses, or assists in publishing or dispersing, whether gratuitously or for money, any paper or book in which the name and place of abode of the printer thereof is not printed as aforesaid –

is guilty of an offence and is liable on summary conviction for every such copy so published or dispersed by him (but not for more than 25 copies in the whole) to a fine not exceeding 10 penalty units.

25.   Printer not recording employer's name

[Section 25 Amended by No. 55 of 1965, s. 5 ][Section 25 Amended by No. 9 of 1982, s. 7 and Sched. 10 ][Section 25 Amended by No. 70 of 1984, s. 19 ][Section 25 Amended by No. 43 of 1991, s. 5 and Sched. 1 ]Every person is guilty of an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding 10 penalty units who –

(a) prints any paper or book for hire, gain, or profit, and neglects to write or print on a copy thereof the name and place of abode of his employer, or to keep such copy for 6 months next after the printing thereof; or

(b) refuses or neglects to produce and show the same to any justice who within such 6 months requires to see the same.

26.   Printing or publishing newspaper which does not comply with requirements of Act

[Section 26 Amended by 25 Geo. V No. 78 ][Section 26 Amended by No. 55 of 1965, s. 5 ][Section 26 Amended by No. 9 of 1982, s. 7 and Sched. 10 ][Section 26 Amended by No. 70 of 1984, s. 20 ][Section 26 Amended by No. 43 of 1991, s. 5 and Sched. 1 ]Every person is guilty of an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding 10 penalty units who –

(a) wilfully sells or delivers out or wilfully prints or publishes any newspaper in respect of which the declaration required by this Act has not been registered, either originally or as often as this Act requires; or

(b) wilfully prints or publishes any newspaper or supplement thereto whereon the several particulars required by section 14 are not printed as required by this Act, or whereon there is printed any false name, place, or day, or whereon there is printed any description of the place of printing or publishing such newspaper, differing in any respect from the description of the house or building mentioned in the declaration required by this Act as the house or building wherein such newspaper is intended to be printed or published.

27.   

28.   

SCHEDULE 1 - Repeal

Section 1 (2)

SCHEDULE 2

Form 1

Form 2

Form 3 - Declaration for Registration of Newspaper

Section 10

Form 4 - Declaration for Incorporated Company

Section 17