226 



COPYKIGHT. 



ceived careful attention from the Commission. 

 This topic was considered under two heads : 

 first, in connection with the international copy- 

 right acts which have been in force in Great 

 Britain for forty years ; and, second, indepen- 

 dently of them. By these statutes the Queen 

 is authorized to extend, by an order in Council, 

 protection to the works of all foreign authors 

 whose government shall give reciprocal privi- 

 leges to British subjects. Treaties for this 

 purpose have been made with the following 

 countries: Prussia and Saxony, in 1846; Bruns- 

 wick, Thuringian Union, Hanover, and Olden- 

 burg, in 1847; the French Republic in 1851; 

 Anhalt and Hamburg, in 1853; Belgium, in 

 1854; Prussia (additional), in 1855; Spain, in 

 1857; and Sardinia, in 1860. The United 

 States has steadily refused to enter into any 

 agreement for the reciprocal protection of 

 American and English authors. Under an in- 

 ternational copyright treaty, a foreigner may 

 secure protection for his work in Great Britain 

 by registering it and depositing a copy in Lon- 

 don within a specified time. The copyright 

 thus secured may be for the full term accorded 

 to English authors, and it gives a remedy 

 against the unlicensed republication of the 

 work in the original language. The exclusive 

 right of publishing a translation, and, in the 

 case of a play, of representing it on the Eng- 

 lish stage, is also secured to foreign authors ; 

 but the .term of protection is limited to five 

 years, and the conditions imposed are more 

 burdensome than those to be observed in the 

 case of original works. To secure protection 

 for a translation, registration and deposit of 

 copies, both of the original and the translation, 

 are required to be made within a specified 

 time. At least a part of the authorized trans- 

 lation must be published, either in Great Brit- 

 ain or the foreign country, within a year after 

 registration of the original ; and the complete 

 translation must appear within three years. 

 In the case of dramatic compositions the trans- 

 lation must be published within three months. 

 French authors have complained that the period 

 within which a translation is required to be 

 published is too short, as " it is found to be 

 impossible to ascertain in the country of origin 

 in so short a time whether a work will be suffi- 

 ciently successful to warrant a translation." 

 The changes suggested by the Commissioners 

 are decidedly favorable to foreign authors. 

 They recommend that the existing require- 

 ments of registration and deposit, in the case 

 both of originals and translations, be abolished ; 

 that an unconditional right of translation be 

 reserved to the foreign author for three years 

 after the publication of the original ; and that, 

 if an authorized translation be published within 

 that time, it shall be entitled to protection for 

 ten years, instead of five, as at present. Wheth- 

 er a foreign author is entitled to copyright in 

 Great Britain independently of the special in- 

 ternational acts is a question on which English 

 judges have differed. But as the law now 



stands, an alien may acquire copyright by first 

 publishing his work in Great Britain, provided 

 he be within the British dominions at the time 

 of publication. The Royal Commissioners rec- 

 ommend that copyright be extended to foreign 

 authors on the same terms as to British sub T 

 jects, and that protection be granted to every 

 author, native or foreign, who will give the 

 British public the benefit of the first publica- 

 tion of his work. 



After considering the question of interna- 

 tional copyright between England and the Unit- 

 ed States, and the steady refusal of the latter 

 country to enter into a treaty for that purpose, 

 the Commissioners say: "Although it has 

 hitherto been the practice, we believe, of your 

 Majesty's Government to make international 

 copyright treaties only with countries which 

 are willing to give British subjects the full 

 advantage of their domestic copyright laws, 

 untrammeled by commercial restrictions, in ex- 

 change for the protection afforded to their 

 subjects by our own copyright laws, yet we 

 think it not unreasonable for the American 

 people to wish to insure the publication of edi- 

 tions suited to their large and peculiar market, 

 if they enter into a copyright treaty with this 

 country. On the whole, therefore, we are of 

 opinion that an arrangement by which British 

 copyright-owners could acquire United States 

 copyright by reprinting and republishing their 

 books in America, but without being put under 

 the condition of reproducing the illustrations, 

 or remanufacturing the stereotype plates there, 

 would not be unsatisfactory to your Majesty's 

 subjects; and that it would be looked upon 

 more favorably in the United States than any 

 other plan now before us. It has been sug- 

 gested to us that this country would be justi- 

 fied in taking steps of a retaliatory character, 

 with a view of enforcing, incidentally, that 

 protection from the United States which we 

 accord to them. This might be done by with- 

 drawing from the Americans the privilege of 

 copyright on first publication in this country. 

 We have, however, come to the conclusion 

 that, on the highest public grounds of policy 

 and expediency, it is advisable that our law 

 should be based on correct principles, irre- 

 spectively of the opinions or the policy of other 

 nations. We admit the propriety of protecting 

 copyright, and it appears to us that the prin- 

 ciple of copyright, if admitted, is one of uni- 

 versal application. We therefore recommend 

 that this country should pursue the policy of 

 recognizing the author's rights, irrespective of 

 nationality." 



Copyright was the subject of important dis- 

 cussion in France during the year. The In- 

 ternational Literary Congress, which met in 

 Paris in June under the presidency of Victor 

 Hugo, after elaborate discussion of the subject, 

 affirmed the following principles : " 1. The 

 right of the author over his works is not a legal 

 concession, but one of the modes of property 

 which the Legislature is bound to guarantee. 



