The Sun.
London, England, 1837-05-19 00:00:00

thought to which those efforts I shall therefore
intrude, as briefly Ili I can,
on the patience of the •House
While I trace the history of the evil* of which they cern-
Plain, suggest the principles on which I think them enti-
tled to redress, and state the outline of the remedies which
may in some degree ameliorate their condition. It is in
deed time that literature should experience some of the bles-
sings of legislation ; for hitherto,
with the exception of the
splendid boon conferred on the acted drama by the Bill of
tnY Honourable Friend the Member for Lintoin, it has
received from it scarcely anything but evil.--( Hear.) If we
should now simply repeal all the Statutes which have been
Passed under the guise of " encouraging lng," and
leave it to be protected only by the principlesearn ofi the corn-
trionlaw, and the remedies it could supply, I believe the
relief would be most welcome. It did not occur to our an-
cestors that the right of deriving solid benefits from that
which springs solely from within—the right of property in
that which the mind itself creates, which, so far from ex-
hausting the materials common to ail men, or limiting the
resources of others, enriches and expands them—a right of
Property which, by the happy peculiarity of its nature, can
. only be enjoyed by the proprietor in proportion as it blesses
mankind—should be excepted from the protection which
is extended to the ancient appropriation of the soil, and the
rewards of commercial enterprise. England, as solemnly expoundedßy the common aw of'
by the majority of ,seven
to four of the Judges in the case of Donaldson v, Beckett,
and as laid down by Lord Mansfield, the greatest of them,
the author of an original ivork had for ever the sole right of
multiplying copiea, and a remedy by action, incident to every
right, against any who should infringe it.—(Hear, hear,
hear.) Ile incidental effect of the jurisdiction of the
Star Clianiber, while it restrained the freedom of the
press, at the same time preserved the copyright from
violation ; and this was one of the pleas urged for the
PoWer of licensing, for Milton, in his immortal pleading for
the liberty of unlicensed glosses of his printing, states, as one of the
several co the just retaining of each man
his
py, opp
which onents—"
God forbid should be gainsaid."—
In the special verdidt in " Miller v. Taylor" (1769) it was
found as a fact, " That before the reign of was usual to purchase from authors the perpetual
Anne it
copyright
of their books, and to assign the same from hand to hand,
for valuable considerations, and to 'make them the subject
of family settlements."—( Hear, hear.) In truth the claim
of the author to perpetual copyright was never disputed un-
til literature had received a fatal present in the first Act of
Parliament on the subject, the Bth Anne, c. 19, din
1709, in which the mischief lurked unsuspected for many
Years,
d before it was called into action to limit the right it
p!ossesse, and was probably intended, to secure. By that
A t the sole right of
r printing aede eprinting their works,
and
Was ecognised in authors for the term of fourteen years,
, if living at the close of that period, for another dope-
Ilia f the same duration piracy was made punishable
durig these times, by the forfeiture of the books il-
legall published, and of a penny for every sheet in the
Mende
custody
—one half to the use of the Queen's
414 L ajestY ; the other halfpenny, not to the poor au-
',nor, whose Poverty the sum might seem to befit, but to
the informer ; and the condition of these remedies was
the entering of the work at Station' Hall. Thi s Act
" for the encouragement of learning"ers also confers a power
°° the Archbishop of Canterbury and other great func-
jecttionaries to regulate the prices of books, which was re-
ed by the Lords, restored on conference with the Com-
fmons, and repealed in the following reign ; and also -
ee on slearning the benefit of a forced contributioncon of
e copies of every tvdrk on the best paper for the use of
certain libraries. Except in the last particular the Act
seems to have remained a dead letter down to the year
1760 ; no one, so far as I can trace, having thought it worth
while to sue for the halfpenny, and no tine having sug-
gested that its effect had been to restrict the common-law
right of authors to the term during which its remedies
Were to operate.—(Hear, hear.) So far was this con-
struction from being suspected, that in the interval of the
Court of Chancery repeatedly interfered by injunction to
restrain the piracy of books in which the statutable copy-
right had long expired.—(Cries of Hear, hear.) This
protection was extended, in 1735, to " The Whole Duty
of Man," the first assignment of which had been made
'''venty-eight years before ; in the same year to " The Miscellanies of Pope and Swift ;" in 1736 to " Nelson's
Festivals and Fasts ;" in 1739 to the " Paradise Lost ;"
and in 1752 to the same poem, with a life of the author,
and the notes of all preceding editions. Some doubt hav-
ing at length arisen, the question was in 1760 raised by a
sort of amicable suit, Tonson v. Collins, respecting the
"Spectator," in which the Court of Common Pleas in-
clined to the plaintiff, but, before giving judgment, dis-
covered that the proceeding was what they called collusive,
and refused to pronounce any decision. In 1766 an ac-
tion was brought, Miller v. Taylor, for pirating" Th's
Seasons," in the Court of King's Bench, before whomomson it
was elaborately argued, and who, in 1769 , gave judgment
in favour of the subsisting copyriht ; Lord ansfie, Mr.
Justice Willes, and Mr. Justiceg Aston holdinMg thatld copy-
right was perpetual by the common law, and not limited by
the statute, except as to penalties, and Mr, Justice Yates
differing from them. In 1774 the question was brought
before the House of Lords, when eleven judges delivered
their opinion upon it--six of whom thought the corigh
limited, while five held it perpetual ; and Lord Mansfield,
who would have made the number equal, retaining his opi-
n, ion, but expressing none.—( Hear, hear, hear.) By this
?rare majority, against the strong opinion of the Chief
Justice of England, was it decided that the statute of Anne
has substituted a short time in copyright for an estate in fee,
and the rights of authors were delivered up to the mercy of
succeeding Parliaments.—(Hear hear.) Until this deci-
sion. copyright vested in the Universities had only shared
andthe Protection which it was supposed had existed for all,
,inaely resorted to the Legislature, and obtained an Act,
1 Geo. 111., c. 63, " for enabling the two Universities in
England, the four Universities of Scotland, and the several
(311eges of Eton, Westminster, and Winchester, to hold
ltli perpetuity the copyright in books given or bequeathed
° them for the advancement of learning and the purposes
of education ;" and the like privilege was by 41 Geo. 111.,
10
Immunities 7. extended to Trinity College, Dublin. With the
v this conferred on the Universities—or rather
With exemption from the wrong incidentally inflicted on in-
seek diva
,L'u
to als-I have no intention to interfere.
Neither do I
, relieve literature from the obligation, recently Ugh-
Tied by the just consideration of Parliament, of supplying
'on principal Universities with copies of all works at the
authors charge. I only seek to apply the terms of the Statute,
righ recites that the purposes of those who bequeath copy-
ht to the Universities for the advancement of learning,
Will be frustrated unless the sole printing and reprinting of
such works be secured in perpetuity, to the claim of indivi-
duals to some extended interest in their own. I only ask
that some share of the benefits enjoyed by the venerable nur-
seri
ose whose es of ]earning!)
and of genius should attend the works of
0 you
they have inspired and fostered, and of
!li se to whom fortune has denied that inestimable blessing,
but who look with reverence upon them, and feel themselves
I that reverence not wholly strano•ers to the great body of
associations they preserve._ acts
The next Act,
41 Geo. 111. c. 107, passed immediately after, does little
besides including Ireland in the general law of copyright,
conferring on Trinity College Dublin, the . privilege of,
English Universities, Prohibiting'
otirlie
inim.portat!on of
.b00k..,
from abroad, which, had beeu
United Kingdom, and increasine. II printed in the
tghcapeynalty on piracies
from ld. to 3d, per sheet. the
the year 1814 the sta-
tute 54 Geo. 111., c. 156, which is the Principal subsist fno-
Act on the subject of literary copyright, reciting " that i't
would afford further encouragement to literature if the du-
absolration of copyright were further extended," enlarges it to the
ute term of 28 years, and, if the author shall survive
time, secures it to him for the remainder of his life.
Since then the Legislature has extended its protection to two
Classes of composition which before were left in a condition
to invite piracy—to the acted drama, by the measure of
W Hon. Friend, 3 Wm. IV., c. 15, and to lectures, by 5 and 6
,'Ytn. IV. C. 65.—and have, by an Act of last Session,
lightened the load of one of the blesSings conferred by the
le.,egislature by reducing the copies which authors are pri-
vileged to render to five ; but .the term of twenty-eight
ars, with the possible reversion beyond that term for life,
rsitall authors have yet obtained in exchange for that inhe-
i: a,nce of which the statute of Anne deprived them. This
eLorn:ta.tion of the ancient rights of authorship has not been
LynsTensat.ed by uniformity in the interpretation of the law,
triplicity in the mode of proving the right, or of trans-
fere'
erring it, or by the cheapness or adequacy of the remedies.
li,o‘J,l,ear, hear.) The penal clauses have proved wholly
`,",less•( Hear.) Engravings, etchings, maps, and charts
which are regulated by other statutes—are secured to the
::authors for twenty-eight years ; but not, like books, for
171,ef hale.li Instead of the registration at Stationers'-ha11,,,T".
,,,T". been holden not necessary for the right of action
.-"e work must bear the date and the name of the pro-
transferr
but no provision is made in either case for cheap
the la Hear, hear.) Now, Sir, I propose to render
aw of copyright uniform as to all books and works of
hill!t, to secure to the proprietor the same time in each,_ to
gin on ,
The 8 e Plan :".,1 registration and ons mode of transfer.
the tm-ioners' Company having enjoyed the control over
the tegistration of books, I do not propose to take it from
trot°. if they are willing to continue it with the increased
-...14biel coMpensated by the increased fees which their
ulltn Cep will
be entitled to receive. I propose that, before
4 ttsi yh proceeding can be adopted for the violation of copy-
it_i the author or his assignees shall deposit a copy of the
Col*, Whether book or engraving, with the officer of the gi,e4V.anY. and cause an entry to be made, in a form to be
„,_ r; in the Act, of the proprietorship of the work—whether
by the
or limited—and that a copy of such entry, signed
• " officer shall be admitted in any Court as prima facie
4"ldenee f '
(Iv- sf 0 the property.—( Hear.) I propose that any
b_ Li
.er should be registered in like manner, in a form to
u gtven by the Act, and that such transfer shall be evi-