ART. V.-An Act to amend Title 60, Chapter 3, of the Revised Statutes of the United States relating to Copyrights.

HE Legislature of the United States has at length passed an

literary world of England into a ferment. Authors, Publishers, Printers, all sorts and conditions of men, from the virtuous member of the Cobden Club to the old-fashioned, unscientific Protectionist-all combine to differ as to its probable practical effect, and as to the exact view to be taken of its abstract principles.

The general tenor of the new law is no doubt already familiar to many a reader, but it may facilitate examination of the subject if we commence with a brief explanation of its precise terms, as amending the pre-existing American law on Copyright.

Previously to the passing of the recent Act, the Revised Statutes of the United States had granted copyright to any kind of intellectual work which is susceptible of protection according to American law, and which might have been produced by 'any citizen of the United States, or resident therein.' The duration of copyright is twenty-eight years, with a further extension of fourteen years; the protection so accorded being subject to certain formalities of registration and deposit. But Section 4971 of the Revised Statutes provided—

'Nothing in this chapter (that relating to Copyright) shall be construed to prohibit the printing, publishing, importation, or sale of any book, map, chart, dramatic or musical composition, print, cut, engraving, or photograph, written, composed, or made by any person not a citizen of the United States nor resident therein.'

Thus it was that the work of an alien author could under no circumstances, until the passing of the new Act, acquire protection in the United States, save under the condition of permanent residence; the words 'resident therein' in the abovequoted section of the statutes being construed to mean a fixed residence or domicile, acquired with the intention of permanency and not with the animus revertendi.' On this cardinal point the law of the United States differed from that of almost every civilized state. The new Act, however, repeals Section 4971 of the Revised Statutes, and permits the alien author of any object of literary or artistic property to acquire copyright in the United States, under the following conditions:

'He must on or before the day of publication in the United States, or in any foreign country, deposit with the librarian of

Congress

Congress a printed copy of the title of the book, map, chart, dramatic or musical composition, engraving, cut, print, photograph or chromo;' or a description of the painting, drawing, statue, statuary, or model or design for a work of the fine arts." He must also deposit two copies of the book, map, &c., or a photograph of the painting, drawing, &c.; provided that in the case of a book, photograph, chromo, or lithograph, the two copies of the same' must be printed from type set within the limits of the United States, or from plates made therefrom, or from negatives, or drawings on stone, made within the limits of the United States; or from transfers made therefrom.'

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During the existence of the copyright, the importation of any book, chromo, lithograph, or photograph so copyrighted, or plates of the same produced abroad, is prohibited, except two copies at a time, with the written consent of the proprietor of the copyright. In the case of books in foreign languages of which English translations only are copyrighted, the prohibition of importation applies only to the translations, and not to the original works.

Similar provisions to the above are made in regard to new editions which contain substantial changes. The right of dramatization of novels is secured, and manuscripts are protected from piracy. The Act is to come into force on the 1st of July, 1891.

The final section of the Act is, however, as follows:

'Sect. 13. That this Act shall only apply to a citizen or subject of a foreign State or nation, when such foreign State or nation permits the citizens of the United States of America the benefit of copyright on substantially the same basis as its own citizens; or when such foreign State or nation is a party to an International Agreement which provides for reciprocity in the granting of copyright, by the terms of which Agreement the United States of America may at its pleasure become a party to such an Agreement. The existence of either of the conditions aforesaid shall be determined by the President of the United States by Proclamation made from time to time as the purposes of this Act may require.'

It will thus be seen that the Act is not at once operative as regards Great Britain, or British subjects, and will not be so until the President's Proclamation has been issued to that effect, which can only be done under the conditions specified in Section 13.

A moment's consideration will show that an Act conceived in such a spirit must give rise to complex and doubtful issues. The magnitude of the interests at stake, the language common to both nations, and the struggle for commercial supremacy in

which they both are engaged, invest the subject with a real attraction for the student of political economy, but make any attempt to forecast its practical outcome a very hazardous proceeding. No such attempt will be made in the present paper, the object of which is merely to throw, if possible, some light on the general facts surrounding the question. We may perhaps incidentally unlock the door of an armoury long disused, in case we haply there may see some weapons of defence-rusted, it is true, from long disuse-and possibly, when examined by Sir Thomas Farrer with his customary acid re-agents, or with his Free Trade microscope of double-million magnifying power, showing traces of corrosion by the canker of Protection. Such old-world weapons may not beseem the hand of modern man; but there attaches to them at least an antiquarian interest.

It must at the outset be made clear that the copyright question between Great Britain and the United States presents few, if any, features in common with our copyright relations with any other foreign State.

In copyright the United States are to us a little more than kin, and less than kind: our relationship in the matter being somewhat like that expressed by the attaché in a continental capital, who, being asked what people he had met at a certain reception, replied, "Oh! I met a few English people, a few Americans, and a whole lot of foreigners.'

In the matter of copyright a common language and kindred institutions form bonds of relationship closer than those of the rest of the world. Almost every civilized State, save the United States of America, has now for many years past recognized the abstract right of the alien author, whether of literary or artistic works, to some sort of protection; and the difficulty in international dealings has arisen in most cases, not from any disinclination to concede the right in principle, but from divergence of opinion as to the measure, method, or circumstances in which it ought properly to be granted. Inexhaustible variety may be discovered in the domestic laws of various States as to the duration of copyright, the actual objects of intellectual property which are susceptible of protection, and the proper formalities to establish a valid title to such protection as may be granted in each State.

We do not wish on the present occasion to enter upon any detailed examination of these difficulties as affecting any foreign country except the United States, but it may be observed in passing that the International Copyright Convention, which was signed at Berne on the 6th of September, 1886, does now in

practice

practice give a very effectual protection to the authors of literary or artistic works throughout the Union, which comprises amongst its members Great Britain with all her colonies, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, and other minor States.

The principles of this Union are of the simplest kind, being based on the theory of national treatment:' that is to say, in each State of the Union, works first produced in any of the contracting States enjoy the same protection as is granted to native authors, on the condition that such works have acquired a legal title to copyright in the country of origin, i.e. where the work was first published. Certain fixed conditions are laid down, defining the minimum of protection to authors which must be granted by the law of any State before it can join the Union.

The International Convention, it is true, is but a first step in the right direction, and many points in its phraseology and stipulations may hereafter be found susceptible of amelioration. The main point has, however, been gained in an international consensus of opinion that literary and artistic works are property, and as such entitled to protection from theft or misappropriation.

As regards the continent of Europe this is probably as far as it is possible to go at present. Thus has commenced the codification of international law in the matter of copyright; but further years of experience in the practical working of the convention are needful before the time arrives to select the best portions of the domestic law of each State, in order to frame a copyright code which shall be operative in all the States of the Union.

Now, between various countries speaking different languages, the question of translation naturally occupies a very prominent position in copyright negotiations. A book in a foreign tongue can never acquire more than a limited circulation in any State, and thus translation becomes the principal form of reproduction; standing in the same relation to the original work as an engraving does to a picture, and being of more international importance even than the right of protection extended to the original work. It would be obviously idle to acquire for the original work an extended term of protection, whilst translation, the principal form of reproduction, should be neglected.

In such a case it is obvious that the question of where the type is to be set for a book, is comparatively immaterial: the work set up in one State, in the language of that State, having small chances of circulation in the other State.

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Another principal factor in copyright as regards books is, the condition of the market in each State. Density of population, the extent to which the education of the masses may have been advanced, the financial capacity of the lower and middle classes to buy books: all these considerations have to be taken into account in negotiations affecting international copyright.

Now let us see how all this works in the case of Great Britain and the United States. The same language in both countriesthough spelled and expressed somewhat differently. Speaking the same language,' Mr. James Russell Lowell was once heard to say, 'naturally we cannot understand each other.' In England a dense population; books supplied by circulating libraries; prices of editions high; and individual book-buyers few and far between. In the United States, a scattered population; no circulating libraries; but individual purchasers of books on a very large scale at the lowest possible prices. The question of translation does not come in at all.

The motives which have induced the United States to change their former cynical policy of international spoliation are not far to seek. In the first place, the sympathies of the whole of the literary class. The budding author in the United States has never hitherto had a chance of coming into blossom. How can I possibly afford to give you anything for your manuscript, or even to take the trouble of reading it, far less risk the expense of production?' the American publisher has hitherto said to the unknown author. Why, sir, I can select from the best English authors, and publish their works for nothing, or at most, at the expense of a few pounds for advance sheets. You must not come to me to give you a start.' This it is which has stunted in its growth the literary youth of a country which might, under more favourable circumstances, have but few rivals in the arena of letters. In the second place, many of the American publishers find the game of piracy does not always pay, and that honesty may after all sometimes be the best policy. Some years ago a 'custom of the trade' prevailed in the United States which forbade the publishing trade at large to reprint a British work already pirated by any one American firm, which firm consequently kept the sale of this particular work entirely in its own hands. The fact that this trade usage has entirely disappeared for some years past, explains how it is that an American publisher may find it more profitable to pay for his literary wares, and so become a legal monopolist. In the third place, the reading public of the United States will not probably in the long run have to pay higher prices for their books in consequence of the operation of the new law. Under hitherto existing conditions

there