Forfeiture of articles. 54. (1) Any article, book, document, copy or contrivance seized pursuant to this Act shall be liable to forfeiture.
(2) The court trying any person accused of an offence under this Act may at the conclusion of the trial, whether he is convicted or not, order that article, book, document, copy or contrivance seized from that person be destroyed or in the case of infringing copies, be delivered up to the first owner of the copyright in question, his assignee or exclusive licensee, as the case may be.
(3) Where there is no prosecution with regard to any article, book, document, copy or contrivance seized in exercise of any powers conferred under this Act, the same shall be taken and deemed to be forfeited at the expiration of one calendar month from the date it was seized unless a claim thereto is made before that date in the manner hereinafter setforth.
(4) Any person asserting that he is the owner of any article, book, document, copy or contrivance seized under this Act and that the same are not liable to forfeiture may personally or by his agent authorized in writing by him give written notice to an Assistant Controller of his claim.
(5) On receipt of a notice under subsection (4), the Assistant Controller shall refer the notice to the Controller who may, after such enquiry as may be necessary, direct that such article, book, document, copy or contrivance be released or forfeited or refer the matter to the court for decision.
(6) The court to which the matter is referred shall issue a summons requiring the person asserting that the is the owner of the article, book, document, copy or contrivance and the person from whom they were seized to appear before it and upon his appearance or default to appear, due service of the summons being proved, the court shall proceed to the examination of the matter and on proof that an offence under this Act