8 SIE DANIEL WILSON ON THE 



Mail. Sir Daniel Wilson champions the rights of the atithor, but he is decidedly wide of 

 the mark when, in speaking of the new Canadian Copyright Act, he says : — ' The whole 

 aspect of the question is assumed to be the protection of printers and publishers on either 

 si le of the Atlantic' Those who recall the discussions when the petition of the new 

 Copyright Act was presented at Ottawa will remember that the protection of the printers 

 and publishers was only one of the reasons advanced for the passing of the Act. But, 

 while that is a most important reason, others were not wanting. Sir Daniel intimates 

 that a book is the production of its author, and is only produced after the expenditure of 

 much time, money and labour. Perhaps it would be better to say that these remarks 

 apply rather to the manuscript than to the book itself, for in many cases the author is but 

 one of the factors that enter into the making of a successful book ; the publisher, with 

 his wide and varied connection and ready facilities for handling, is frequently equally as 

 important a factor as the author, and occasionally even more so." 



He then refers to the well-known case of Archdeacon Farrar, who, having parted 

 with his copyright of " Life of Christ " to a publisher, at what we may presume had 

 seemed to him a reasonable price, instead of bargaining for an interest in the profits, 

 claimed— as I venture to think unreasonably — to share in the unexpectedly large results 

 of its sale. I have been assured by a member of one of the largest London publishing 

 firms, that notwithstanding all their experience, about one in every ten of their new 

 ventures proves a failure ; and as the Archdeacon would have thought it unreasonable, 

 in the latter case, to be asked to refund any portion of the money paid for his MS., it 

 seems reasonable that the publisher should retain the fruits of his successful speculation. 

 The case, therefore, is not in point ; but on the other hand it is instructive as an illustra- 

 tion of the uncertainties that the original publisher has to encounter, and the unfair 

 advantage enjoyed by the reprinter, who gets all the advantage of his experience, whereby 

 to select popular works involving no risk, and secured at no cost. But Mr. Lancefield 

 goes on to say : — 



" The law, therefore, very properly holds that so long as a work is in manuscript it is 

 the sole and exclusive property of the author ; but the moment it is put into book form for 

 sale to the public, that moment the author loses his exclusive right in it. He is granted 

 copyright for a term of years, after which his right lapses entirely. The principle that the 

 author's right lapses after a term of years is accepted by all nations granting copyright ; 

 and this brings us face to face with the fact that others besides the author have to be 

 considered in framing a Copyright Act. Author, publisher, and people must indeed all 

 be considered ; and, as a matter of fact, these very interests have all been carefully guarded 

 in the passing of the new Canadian Copyright Act." 



As the English author's copyright endures, under any circumstances, for forty-two 

 years ; for the natural life of the author, however prolonged, and for seven years after his 

 death, it is a little misleading — if it be in a sense literally true, — to say that "his right 

 lapses after a term of years." But a previous paragraph in the letter of Sir John 

 Thompson's adviser in the framing of the new Copyright Act is a highly significant 

 avowal of the ideas of "the trade" relative to the basis and extent of the claim to the 

 fruits of his industry by the literary workman. Authors are not likely either to under- 

 estimate the power of the printing press, or to undervalue its beneficent influence on 

 literature ; neither are they in any danger of underestimating the influence of the pub- 



