The Sun.
London, England, 1833-03-13 00:00:00

Invs of copyright. A play, when published, might be
acted upon any stage without the consent of the author,
and without his deriving a single shilling from the profits

. _
of the performance. It might not only be acted at one
theatre, but at 100 theatres, and though perhaps it filled the
pockets of the managers, not a single penny might accrue
from its performance, however successful or however re-
peated, to the unfortunate author. It was to remedy such

a state of things that he proposed to bring in the present
Bill, and he begged to observe, that in the Committee
which sit Upon this subj,ct last session there was not a
single dissentient voice as to the injustice of the present
system, and as to the advantages which literature would
derive from a change in it such as that which be was
now about to propose.—(Hear.) By the Bill which he
was going to btjng in, it was proposed to allow to dramatic
authors the same copyright that was, by the existing law,
given to all other authera,—namely, for 2S years, or for
the life of the author. It also enacted that no play should
be performed at any theatre without the author's consent,
and that if played without his consent be should have the
right of applying to a court of law for damages against the
proprietor of the theatre where it was so played, the
maximum of the damages to be given to him to be 501.,
and the minimum 101, for every night the said play was
so performed. The evil of the existing system was pretty
abundantly evinced by the striking decline of the modern
drama, and he was quite sure that the result of the pro-
posed change in that system would be, that greater talents
and a higher order of genius would be enlisted in the ser-
vie of the stage, and that the dramatic literature of the
country would once more regain that exalted position from
which it had been degraded by the want of the necessary
encouragement and protection. It was but justice to his
Hun. Friend opposite (the Member for Dungarvon) to say
that he had been foremost in his efforts to procure such

protection for dramatic authors. In a late session his
Hon. Friend was the first to propose a measure similar to
the present, and be was therefore sure that as his Right
Hon. Friend had been the earliest and ablest advocate of
the interests of dramatic authors, be might count upon his
supporting the prt sent Bill. The Hon. Member con-
cluded by moving for leave to bring in the Bill.
Mr. G. LAMB said, that as far as he was acquainted
with the provisions of the Bill of his Hon. Friend, they
bad his approval, and he did hope that the consequence of
pa,sing such a measure would be to elevate dramatic lite-
rature from that depressed state in which, he was sorry to
say, it, as well as all other interests connected with the drama,
had been fur many years. It struck him that 101. would
be too large a minimum of damages to be given in some
cases. It would be too large, for instance, in the case of
a manager of a company of strolling players, but at the
same time it would be scarcely worth an author's while
to proceed againq a man of straw, such as a manager of
strolling players usually was. lie trusted there would be
no difficulty in passing such a measure as this through
Parliament.—Leave was then given to bring in the Bill.
DRAMATIC PERFORMANCES.

Mr. L. BULWER said be now rose to move for leave
to bring in a Bill " for licensing theatres, and for the
better regulation of dramatic performances in the cities of
London and Westminster, and within 20 miles thereof,"
and in doing so be should feel it necessary to trouble the
House with but a very few observations. The Bill which
he was now about to introduce was founded upon the re-
commendation of the Committee of last session upon dra-
matic performances, and be should read to the House the
paragraph from the report in which that recommendation
was contained :—" In respect to the licensing of
theatres, the Committee are of opinion that the laws
would be rendered more clear and effectual by con-
fining the sole power and authority to license theatres
throughout the metropolis (as well as in places of
Royal residence) to the Lord Chamberlain ; and that his,
the sole jurisdiction, should be extended 20 miles round
London (that being the point at which magistrates now
have the power of licensing theatres for the legitimate
drama). And as the Committee believe that the interests
of the drama will be considerably advanced by the natural
consequences of fair competition in its representation,
they recommend that the Lord Chamberlain should con-
tinue a license to all the theatres licensed at present, whe-

ther by himself or by the megistrates. The Committee
are also of opinion, partly from the difficulty of defining,
by clear and legal distinctions, ' the legitimate drama,'
and principally from the propriety of giving a full open-
ing, as well to the higher as to the more humble orders
of dramatic talent, that the proprietors and managers of
the said theatres should be allowed to exhibit, at their
option, the legitimate drama, and all such plays as have
received or shall receive the sanction of the censor." This
Bill was, as he had just said, chiefly founded upon that
paragraph of the report, in the first instance, as regarded
the throwing open the performance of the regular drama,
and, in the second place, in confining the authority of
licensing solely to the Lord Chamberlain, within the
district therein specified. The three objects which the
Bill had in view were-Ist, to afford to the public at
large the full advantage derivable from regular dramatic
representations ; 2d, to prevent the inhabitants of any
district from being subjected, against their will, to the an-
noyince of any theatrical speculations ; and, 3d, to guard
against the exercise of any kind of partiality on the part
of the licensing authority. With such objects in view,
the Bill proposed to enact, in the first instance, that if any
person should be desirous of obtaining a license for the ex-
hibition of dramatic performances at any theatre within the
limits of the Act, he must post a notice of such intention on
the outer door of such theatre 3 calendar months before the
annual licensing day at which auch application was intended
to be made—that copies of such notice must be at the
same time served upon the churchwardens and overseers
of the poor of the parish in which the theatre was situate,
and that he must insert a copy of the said notice once
a-week during the said three months in two of the daily
morning newspapers. The same provisions were made
applicable to the case where the theatre was not built or
finished at the period when the application was made ;
and it was further provided that in the latter case the per-
son so applying should deposit in the Lord Chamberlain's
office descriptive plans and particulars of the mode in
which it was intended to build, or finish the building,
exhibiting the extent, elevation, and mode of structure of
the said theatre, and the number of persons that it would
he calcul it d to contain; that such plans should lie in the
Lord Chamberlain's office, open to the public inspection,
trorn the time of their being there deposited until the
annual licensing day; and that in case a majority of
tl e persons interested in the property contiguous to such
theatre, or the proposed site thereof, should, in a petition
to be presented to the Lord Chamberlain two months
before the licensing day, signify their dissent to the licens-
ing of it, such license should not be granted, but that if
no such petition should be presented, the Lord Chamber-
lain should be obliged to grant the license as prayed for.
It was further provided that nothing contained in the
Act should be construed to affect the right of any person
to object to the licensing of any theatre by reason of any
thing which, by the common law, would, at the passing
of the Act, he considered a sufficient objection to the
licensing of such theatre. The Bill also provided that
where license was sought for a theatre, a certificate of
the stability and safety of such theatre, signed by three archi-
tects or surveyors, should be produced by the persons so
applying to the Lord Chamberlain ; and it also gave to the
Lord Chamberlain summary power in cases where plays
were performed at places not duly licensed, or in cases
where the proprietors of theatres exceeded the limits of
their licenses. It would be observed that no discretion as
to granting a license was vested in the Lord Chamberlain
where the provisions of the Act bad been fully complied
with, and where no memorial bad been presented within
the time specified against the granting of such license. As
to the office of censor, he for his part must say that he
thought such an office was perfectly unnecessary.—
(Hear, hear.) Undoubtedly the evidence which had been
given by the present censor before the Committee had
failed to convince him either as to the importance of the
functions attached to that office, or as to the discretion
with which they had been exercised; but as it might prove
fatal to the Bill if proposed to abolish that office, it pro-
posed to leave the authority of the censor just as it was
at present. The Bill provided the following graduated
scale of fees as payable to the Lord Chamberlain, or his
deputy, for the licensing of theatres and dramatic pro-
ductions :--

_
" For every original license granted to a theatre... £s 5 0
" For every
.renewal of a license to a theatre 2 2 0
" For examining every plan or entertainment of the
stage of five or more acts 2 0
" For examining every play or entertainment of the
stage of three or four acts 1 11 6
1' For examining every play or entertainment of the
1 1 0
stage of two acts
11 For examining every play or entertainment of the
0 10 6
stage of one act
" For examining every address, song, or other compo-
sition, not included in either of the above descrip-
t
ions
The Hon. Member concluded by moving for leave to bring
in the Bill.
Mr. G. LAMB did not mean to offer on this odcasion
any opposition to the Bill proposed by his Hon. Friend ;
on the contrary, be thought that the time was come when
some such measure should be passed with regard to
dramatic performances. It was extremely doubtful that
any good would arise from the interference of the Legisla-
ture in controlling the public in matters of taste. There
certainly was an idea in this town,_ and in other towns
where theatres were, that the neighbourhood of theatres
caused the introduction of a loose population, and, at all
events, their neighbourhood was often objected to by per-
I sons resident in the vicinity. It was, therefore, but right