THE ENGLISH COPYRIGHT COMMISSION. 457 



rangement would be practically inoperative, so far as the anticipated 

 competition was concerned ? 



A. I think that, after a period of perturbation, a period of fightmg 

 and general disaster in the publishing business, there would arise a tacit 

 understanding among publishing houses, which would, in a large degree, 

 defeat the purpose of the measure ; and I say this on the strength of 

 definite facts furnished by trade-practices in America. These facts I 

 have from the before-named American friend, Professor Youmans, with 

 whom from time to time, when over here, I have had to discuss the 

 probability of pirated editions of my own books in America. My books 

 in America are published by a large house there, the Appletons ; and 

 they deal with me very fairly — pay me as well as any American authors 

 are paid. I have gathered from Professor Youmans that the danger of 

 the issue of rival editions of my books in America is very small ; be- 

 cause there exists among the American publishing houses the under- 

 standing that, when one house brings out an English book, other houses 

 will not interfere : the mere circumstance of having been the first to 

 seize upon a book is held to give a priority, such as is tacitly regarded 

 as a monopoly. That condition of things has been established through 

 a process of fighting ; for when it did at first happen that American 

 houses brought out rival editions of the same English book, or one edi- 

 tion, rather, after another, that, of course, was a declaration of war be- 

 tween the two houses, and immediately there was retaliation, and it 

 ended in a fight. The house attacked revenged itself by issuing, per- 

 haps, a still cheaper edition, or by doing the like thing with some work 

 subsequently published by the aggressing house ; and after bleeding 

 one another in this way for a length of time there resulted a treaty of 

 peace, and a gradual establishment of this understanding, that they 

 would respect each other's priorities. If that is what happened in 

 America, when the only claim that a publisher had to the exclusive 

 publication of a book was the claim established by prior seizing of it, 

 iind prior printing, much more will it happen here in England, among 

 publishers who have paid for their books, or who have entered into ar- 

 rangements with authors for half profits, or what not. Having estab- 

 lished certain equitable claims to these books, they will very much more 

 decidedly fight any houses that interfere with them, by issuing rival 

 editions. If the men who have ill-founded claims fight, still more will 

 the men who have well-founded claims fight. Hence there would occur 

 among the English publishers, when this system came into operation, 

 a period of warfare lasting, probably, for some 3'ears, and ending in a 

 peace based on the understanding that any publisher who had brought 

 out a book would be regarded as having an exclusive claim to it, and 

 would not be interfered with. The fear of retaliation would prevent 

 the issue of the rival editions. 



Q. (Sir Henry Holland). And therefore would prevent the pub- 

 lication by a rival publisher of a cheaper edition ? 



TOL. XIV. — 30 



