The Sun.
London, England, 1841-03-24 00:00:00

COPYRIGHT DESIGNS.

(From the Morning Herald.)
hneoWw,estth-eendeaoufsethbeeitno
just ott
chester calico-printers, who having for time past been es 01,.
boisterous about and in advancement of their own rights
tine'
being an inundation
the cif
flea! and corporate, are now, by way. of changing
crusading against the copyrights claimed in behoof.
h..mbierbrethren of the act, whose cause, however, it 10f 14e.;
fair to add, has been manfully taken up by these chiefs
th • country staled' indebted for such most advanced pos 0;0%5
craft, so ,:hose higher order of genius, talent, and enteirete;
it :las been enableu to take and maintain in that
.ing ;,".be
r:.•fathopsetrstufrlitanioo.
branch of cotton-manufactures, known as calico-printincf,•
some
subject of debate has been coneiderably narrowed, since' tinted
fourteen or fifteen days ago, its more eal.ent points vre!,coe.ieng the
unary this head. On the debate ifornediately "
fbs4* uhich
rely arks then made, Sir Robert Peel took the hi
1 i,ese into
became him perhaps above all men ;he the .s 9 `velied fa"
the scale of protection for copyright of designs fee eased with
brics as might naturally be expected from one peel ewe'
a refined taste for, and being a lover of, the arfor s
fore the friend and patron of artists: The claim beingo
twee
extension of the term of copyright in designs fecer Trade
months to twelve, and the President of the Board ° °'
,cede
having courageously intimated his willingness t ,ette f t
thirthy-three and a fraction per cene of this " jut", cosec
pattern designers, Sir Robert came forward to pree",e, of iles
promise for splitting the oifference, by which two thieuevce is
claim should be awarded, and the remaining thirds et'. Os
the spirit of conciliation between the contendin
proposition was to extend the cepyrigbt f ecesion
months to nine, and to: morrow eomes on the de 2
Ir.
the Commons' House between the short lentth of yard
bouchere, the better measure of Sir Robert, anti thee io theie
required y those calico printers, who neither pent you
neighbours' lands nor pirate patterns from his print ge,,eset
Great, however, was the dismay caused by the unantieller
movement of Sir Robert in advance ; all Market-styeet,lo'.so.
chester, Was up in arms, and Cannon-street in 73 sof'
Railways were put in requisition forthwith ; vvorshie e t are,
test" 6 If
men that hope to be, " pitchforked magistra
.an so,
and very common councillors and calico printers that e..,tes,
be, have hither ,sped, and here they are canvassing tote`,
parrtinies aro
earnestly as if orders for printed calicos, and besieging Perlis;
toe°
meut men in their houses with as much pertinacity as op $
buyers came to town in their taverns. One cannot er_soieers
Minister without encountering a deputation of the
one's
Calicot in possession of his bureau, nor attempt.teVail
morning's respects to a friend mid member withoutoeueopie
a prisoner in his own premises, among a posse sbee,
piping about prints, and choking him with ere. toc a stall',
chintzes. lhe business of the nation is brouge- of Fe
~.,t
still until the vital question be decided whether one $e;.,417.e;
suns, lacking the endowment themselves, may not reneee,
entitled to live and grow fat by stealing the brains et 'erstee
set ; upon the special and very plausible argument, of .oaaseee
intereA in the right to illicit pelf of scores of years' onJ bt
The claim by vested interest and long possession zut „etee°
good, only that neither law nor logic recognize the ga abow"
property in a title founded in fraud, and therefore call
mores.
zl3B°
'1 he argument has been stated before on more occasciee:os foe
one, and, it is hoped, so intelligibly, that it is not ne ea„rce
tb
reproduce it here, further than may be necessary to •
claim of the ingenious pattern designer and the fair tea Ta`Tbre
lico-printer to a twelvemonths' copyright, because e
,e, 0 tneenitio!
viation to nine Tr onths is less than justice, whilst tn
down to six mcnths is a denial of justice altogether. ,fooet
vention of a design for calico-prints is a combination °;4O, rle;
and talent, as is, though it may be allowed in a °Pedal°
gree, the. discovery. of a new principle in mechanies_t_es tr,
agent in chemistry, or an improvement in old procesleifgia...
adaptation of quasi inventions. If the latter be, as tPu t°ol
are, entitled to patent protection for a term of rare, !terse tie
former cannot be denied a copyright security for eweeil',
months. The protection for copyright in designs /9 n 0 put bat 95.
to three month., which far from fulfilling its office act •ng onto{
premium upon greater effrontery in fraud. To bri itving
a new design, it takes the calico printer, in the eegorf his etre,
his rollers, the cutting of his blocks, the preparation
eis
lours, arid the preliminary processes of preparing n,ed style
some six weeks or two months for the more apPr°'.'t,, at the
(not six months as a elinisterial evening print has it', brie7
expiration of which period he begins to be enabled le th!'t
his finished goods te market. lhe moment the) aloe trzeetee
appearance, or even before, for the regular Pirit'n"yill
will bribe his workmen for an early pattern it is seen „-or
the public taste, the unprincipled calico printer se int
appropriates the pattern, and is able to produce it in less sot;
because he prepares it on inferior cloth,
the same nicety of finish, and as the design,. costs
celib,
nothing however dearly paid for by the accteuittsiess
printer, he is enabled to bring to market a showy bu, 0e View-
stantial article of the same design at a much lower ra'ewig,
precisely at the moment when a ready •sale was beg,bbe'
remunerate his more ingenious and enterprising j'ry
who had run all the risk and incurred all the prelinoleatore
penses. This, for connection's sake, is briefly the reai.:4 so fat
of the issue to be tried, or rather which has been tie._ f the
as the principle, the only question being the assessraeattbeo tit'
period of time for which injunction shall be served OP nt
scrupulous pirate. pr.etenoso ts bid
rrel'. bet
This is one of the points to be determined to-m°
there is another also, which concerns the mode of reg's*e. 141,
the new resign, which will be adverted to by-and-11 niestee'r:
in respect of the extent of protection as to time, by-and-h 1
remembered that the calicorinter, who invents, P
p the inventions of others, and therefore produces from, Pre
design only, trades with other markets besides his relied'
wares have to be purchased, and timely delithis ihs
meet seasons of foreign consumption, and this mus' "ui,roo 10
care for reasons which will be obvious. Thus, tornn poseil_dig
suajeet to one point of view, the printer may be ,00sTo
deal with the United States, where seasons and it 5 OP%
pretty much the same as in this country. He base ea'n
say, his spring styles arid designs. He will therefort the,;
selected his designs in the latter end of September, ge.itlt le
engraved and proceed to printing so as to be rend); ;rocsi.b
goods by the beginning or middle of November. I.lr. sybie„l
then must be to ship for the spring season in AmerP';'oos`t
commences as here, about the end of February or best se
March, and he must despatch quantities successivelYt
to meet this first branch of his traffic he is fully °els gee
the end of the year, when already three months et tost
designs are selected—are expired. He is then as
tection—from the period of registration, When 101.-
pga
hwtoa
so work rdiaet
March
decided
er fordobvieinfdoerfea vao
nuhyri s
or
fhe
aoclme springdreteami certain
n demand
speciale
a trade,mgelnetwhich.t o rll ea
sEbbduilboil
ojp
toaotiotilie
of his copyright are now gone, and the
only, of remuneration for his labours. Surely,
arrived when he can be said to have ma
prospect, 4131 be
therefuerei;
entitled to the other six months' exclusive right in his
property, of the value of which he has hitherto known e
but the large outlay and risk.dir
.
The question of registration seems hardly to admit of it s
11,-
pute. It must be close and not liable to inspection, or of ir
not be of the slightest service. If open, a calico peillt,eracat
slightest tact and experience, would easily and at a Peesita
50 as to
able to detect both design, style, and colours,
with such divergences as to escape the letter of the leevr,'
change of one flower for another, for example, wig'. ,boul,
to bear him harmless of piracy. And the registrationeeisott
be kept close for the whole ttrm of the twelve months, ',at l'e,e
when the printed desiens protected are exposed fereeetee;
precaution would seem so far useless, because under I'4 t ewe
of examining one design already publicly in the tre.'r;,',ee
calculating pirate would have the opportunity of exanu'eiftiou''
becoming acquainted with, a score more of newer in
which he would forthwith proceed to imitate.
There is no occasion to pursue further truths $o see'„
easily comprehensible. In concluding, however, it, ie2eeee
well to show what is the opinion in other countriese'flon;
ing men, as to the most dui able and desirable kind °and t„
facture for a nation. It is etident that excellence, pan
reputation of excellence, in any branch of industry d
facture, must be more conducive to its permanence anojactl,
perity, even if less quantities be produced, than the Phi. p,t or°,
of immense masses, where the object is not the big"- ere °_,‘"
of finish, substance and quality of material, but the ntwefe.-
periority in cheapness of price for the poorest, and, t,."sitig of
the least secure, of consumers abroad. Without ensannes
this head at present it may be well to look to the 0,-sio
,e4is
judicious foreigners on the subject. M. Ed. 0111°,°' ode-A4l
telligent writer, in an articleentiiled, Expo.sition des
d'zndustrie Alsacienne a Malhouse en 1836, contain; .00 sae
Revue d' Alsace for June of that year, a clever publicetleatioet
unfortunately discontinued, has the following obserdifeeref
well worthy of attention, on the relative merits of the d gear"
systems acted upon by the calico printers of Alsace an
rally elsewhere in France, and in Great Britain. isre
" The English, with whom printing by rollers is te 101(0
in use, seek to produce masses of printed fabrics et theeerfee'
tate po3sible, without troubling themselves to aimat orb
Lion in the art. The Alsacians have sought succe6sAbsY in tea
means; they produce less, but a severe taste pee"eencl
choice of their designs, their colours are more solid' prod ld
quality of the cloth superior. In foreign
marts lee
stores encumbered with English goods ; at first sight ' i
that
seem as if we should be overwhelmed b their masses; Wee'',
should not be able to make sales exceptyat enormous 5,a jou'
Fortunately their wares are not intended for le coo;
destination an the end as ours; they are calculated
sumer of small means (a petite bourse) ; this is the Puitipl'ht
class, it may be said; and it is thus that business is PI std the
after by the higher class of consumers (classes vises)' :ount;
dealings are all the more sure and satisfactory on the tfeglisne
Taking all things into consideration the position of thee% lees
is not to be envied ; ours presents more certain gus."- has
stability." g
M. Nich. Kcechlin (Enquete sur divers prohibitic#co'ierle:
the following remarks on the comparative degrees al of the
of Alsacian and English cotton prints and fabrics, 2P
seat en
successful re of cometition run with us :
Naguereac les mousselines Anglaises imprimees enttaani't
on
fraude et trouvaient chez nous un debouche inWerte-at Fris
n'en voit plus paraitre aujourdhui. L'Alsace
l'avance sur ce genre d'impression par l'elegance d „ate 5
par la nettete derTession, par la solidite des conleueVarche
mousselines imprimees sent recherchees sur tout eetlele:
du monde, y compris ceux de l'Angleterre. La R"sslles 6P;
magne, is Suisse, l'Angleterre cherchent en Alsace pi ee
a telleentdeseoes
mites, les coloristes, et je ne connais pas de chilniste-
coloristes Anglais venus erf France." fete
It would be well if' quantity or masses of prod
less looked to and superiority of taste and qualitY mot% ore
competition of countries less advanced in manufactures tad
to be apprehended in ruder than more finished fabris-'eiteru-
verses of trade, from over supply or the falling off in_urreoceetri
demand from whatever cause, are less liable of 0%9
and less extensively prejudicial in their conseque.P.,e'oisp7,
they do occur, where the quality of the commodity
plf
for the consumption of the easy classes only. Tlwrabooluri;
may be decreased by adverse circumstances, but no h -.lolat'°v
stopped, as in the case where from some sudden '`chaocelo
abroad the masses of cheap and inferior goods alga, genius
find only masses of non-consuming paupers. A ra,„%ie tee
production of the choicer fabrics would employ et I". rope
an equal number of hands with the four or fivefold &tie is ref
of the lower quality article, since a vast deal uu:re„,. piece: of
quired for working out an equal number of yee",rs he ;ude'''
the prime than of the common run of goods- -bon, es I.
nations can weave common calicos, and do weave t
_to pro'
Peru and India, but ages may intervene before they e°
duce a French muslin print of the first order.

../ '
THE LARGEST _.----_ ,17
do DP'...,
importance,
the other
o outward tswhai to
d
The - it Cow-
Mammoth,_,,.. building by the Great Western Ship wore
i__pony, at Bristol, will exceed 3,600 tons (about 600,
..00
ul
cool°
forb her
being
built of iron will admit of her carrying tiob
iannedxh;srtmenecev)o.3ageTrbcer
groaving
at ter of oi. ..
A ,BrICI:
imPortanc from the
~e, - iii
coal). Her • She w •
engines are of 1,000 horse posver. _Ei is
be enabled to carry an unusual quantity of canvas., Paw,
expected to make the passage of the. Atlantic in ten
—Bristol Paper. 1 noir
P •
OST-OFFICE ROBBERIES. ----t WOUlti an 00
that the provincial postmasters have proclaimed 0131.1.00
against the Evening Nail, in consequence of the el roo
we have brought against them ; for this 113011100 P.lO of
brought us several fresh complaints of the abstractio
b the/
newspapers. We tell the gentlemen that, althoug
_e of-
may elude our v'gilanee for a time, we will catch soweo.
them 3et ; and we pledge ourselves, though the P 5 of 0
tion of each individual case involve us in on onti4Y io,
hundred pounds, to carry it to the completiefi, a'd
ti° the
filet, and to the fullcst extent the penalties w
p hicio
law imosee.--Dublin Evening'Mail.