106 Literary Property a»d International Copyright. 



Parliament for protection, he says among other tilings, "That, with a 

 view to the collection of the materials and the acquisition of the local 

 information requisite for a work of such magnitude, it was unavoid- 

 ably necessary for your petitioner to visit in person the principal 

 countries in Europe", and purchase the works, in all its languages, 

 hearing upon so extensive a subject. 



"That during the last twenty-five years your petitioner has, with 

 this view, six times repaired to the Continent, and repeatedly visited 

 the principal parts of France, Italy, Switzerland and Germany; that 

 the cost of these journeys has already exceeded £1,500, and the expense 

 of the books found to be necessary for the compilation of the under- 

 taking has amounted to above £2,000. If your petitioner lives to 

 complete his undertaking, his total expenditure on account of it will 

 be about £4,000." 



Yet, according to the doctrine now under treatment, Sir Archibald 

 Alison, after twenty-five years of hard labor, during the best portion 

 of his life', and an expenditure of $20,000, to produce a great historic 

 work, acquired no property in it, and was entitled to no protection at 

 the common law. 



Inasmuch as a common-law property in unpublished works is quite 

 generally recognized, and protection for a limited period after publi- 

 cation is accorded by statute, it may seem unnecessary to discuss the 

 abstract question of literary property. Such discussion, however, will 

 serve to characterize some extraordinary features in the judicial his- 

 tory of literary property, and point to a just and rational solution of 

 important questions involved in the subject. 



The distinction between common-law right and statutory right has 

 already been noticed. The former is a right existing in literary pro- 

 ductions before publication, which possesses the same attribute of 

 perpetuity as any other species of personal property ; and. it is 

 thus recognized and protected by the courts both in England and the 

 United States. The latter exists only in works which have been 

 published, within the meaning, and according to the provisions of the 

 copyright law. The statutory right is limited to a term of years ; in 

 England forty-two years, or during the life of the author, and seven 

 years after his death, in case this should be a longer period ; in the 

 United States, to the term of twenty-eight years, with the privilege to 

 the author, if living at the expiration of the term, or to his widow or 

 children if he be dead, of having the right continued for the further 

 period of fourteen years. 



The most extraordinary feature in the whole matter is that, as the 

 the law is held, the two rights cannot co-exist in the same work; when 



