New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1875-09-15
THE FOUR FOGS.
LETTER FROM MR.. CHARLES READE.
FREE TgABE IN BOoKs-wAGEs OF THE AUTHOR
THE ENGLISH BOOK PUBLISHING sYsTEM-cHsAf

To the Editor OF The Tribune
SIR: Outside these letters. and Mr.. Reverdy john
sons admirable summary. international Copyright
and Stage-right are shrouded in four fogs, Legal
Moral Verbal, Arithmetical. read what is written
over the water and grope for q new idea. In vain )
1t is all antique verbal and arithmetica Fog
Verbal Fog A.--They can't get along without
calling Copyright and stage-right monopolies; yet
they dare not risk ESQ to ESQ upon that fallacy
and il is an irrelevant fallaoy here since lnterna-
tional Patent-rght is monopoly; and it cannot DE
used to defend the American legislature, because
that legislature for the last hundred years, has de-
clared Copyright to be property in the laws OF the
separate States and the laws of the Republic; winch
these ignorant citizens had better begin to read.
B.-But a more delicious piece of their verbal fog
il this-they say 1--WE shall not give up free trade
in books to please the Britishers." FREQ trade IN
books, quotha Why it docs not exist In the Union.
"Frce trade is not &" Freebooting" Free trade"
means buying and selling unburdened by lmposts.
Now there is so per cent duty on foreign DOCKS at
the American ports, and Freebootng in Copyrights
can never supply the place of Free trade for Copy
right is, in money. only per cent on retail
prices and as for Stage-rght that does not take
cent from the public. The prices of an American
theater are Just the same when play is paid for, or
stolen. BY theft of foreigners Stage-r1ght the
American public has lost a national drama; but IL
has never gained nor saved the mionth OF cent
since the country was colonized.
TIE AUTHORS FEE.
International Stage-right is not offered by those
who object to International Copyright. These fog-
arithmeticians draw distinction. Against inter
national Copyright and Stage-rght every one OF
their arguments rests on the notion that the main
expense of book. or of seat III thea'er, Is the
dramatist's fee and the Fee which copyright enables
fro, tba Ia YGte
and indirectly from the public purchaser. OF course
so impudent a falschood is never stated But why
Statement is not the weapon of liar nor of
self-deceyer. Both these perSonages convey
acknowledgements They never state.
Clear statement and detail the antidotes to Fog
But Just test their public arguments and see II You
can find one which does not convey, in fog OF words
and figures, that the authors fee is the nam ex-
pense of a book. One salaied writer not only takes
this ground but. as Piracy has deprived literary
Americans of their own Judgment, and made them
provincial fogechOes OF British muddloheadS, he re-
peats. with tTuo provincial crcduhty, Macauiays
Fog Epigram for the instruction OF ms countrymen'
This done. and very old London fog offered to New
York for modern sunshine, be liners fairly enough
because the inference is his orn.-that if domestic
copyright is so heavy tax on the public, State
should hesitate to extend the injustice TO foreign
nations Very we'll young gentleman: | have no
quarrel with you. II Macauiay is right You are
right.
But a second rate IhetOrcian may be babe III
logic. Macaulay, in this very speech, called Copy
right monopoly in books and that is verbal fog,
az have shown The only monopoly in books now
q DAYS is a trade monopoly held by publishers, and
established by custom, not law; which monopoly
American and British authors will he obliged to
break through, unless they get international Copy
right. AS for Copyright, IL is Nnguary open
property; why every man, ronida ana G"d' III the
Rcpablic or the Empire who can I'LL sheet ol paper
can create enjoy and bcqueath. copyright, though
a minor and in case of cO-oiTs It L. distrlbutabie
ike other personal property. Ii Is property
bounded only by nature.
Fog Epigrams are for our amusement. not our IN
struction. and Macsulay's is bottled essence OF
arithmetical Fog
"Copyright." SAYS be. "Is A TAN on READERS TO
GIVE BOUNTY to authors
Now we will let in a CLEAN of arithmetcal sun
shine on this. Writers human beings with stonl-
acls. They cannot write masterpieces, rs Dams
Sootus copied the Bible during the trpes of staYa-
ton They must be paid, c0pyr lit or no copy
right and an authors copyright has special opera
ZION on "a pirate, but not on the rcG'r. Whether IN
author is paid by wages or BY copyright Lis reAu-
neraton must equally fqll the public purchaser.
here is no difference. The Anslo-saXon nuddehead
is always doing ls. II is his great Intellectual eX-
cellence and InaAcs him the idcuie OF Europe.
TAXES AND BoCNrIES.
However the srea, vice Of hi, Fog r ram is
"FBAUDULENT sELEyTiO,"" Ii picks out d many
legitimate profits a single one and cCnc'als the
Others If jlst profits Oh human labor, &c., were
tdres, ,rkicb they d5e not every edition of a work
would represent the following ia'es:
/. The rg-pckci's profit. 2. Til paper merchant
and his men. 3. The printer and his men. I. The
binder and his men. 3. The publisher and his stan.
6. The author 7. The retail bcokselicr. 8. The
advertising column. These al taXc~ a"d bounties,
as much as is the authors remuneration. be il wages
or copyright To be sure, if any one Of these char
acters makes an ecccssre profit, compared with the
others, that might be called bounty. AID that
reminds news not Macaulays Fog cpigram pre-
coded by another which said, Publishers drink their
wine ont OF authors skulls ~
Well if any one gets bounty, excessive proiit,
il is not the copyrighted author and | don't
think it is the publisher The public result of these
c0pUrigh transactions Is this:
The paper merchants are rich.
The printers are rich.
The binders are well to do, but few.
The publishers are well to do But deny that they
owe that to books The returns from books ere petty
compared WITH tnOso from JouIuiS, "cehIco, anu
nonthlies. The authors the poorest creators OF
valuable property on the face of the earth.
To descend to details.-rhe retail dealer gets
TWENTY-FIVE PER CENT of the retail price. All that
authors of books class, eXtort by means of
Copyright is SEVEN PER CENT on the retail price,
which is ten per cent the publishers net returns
SO much for the comparative tax the reader pays to
the author and seven more traders and Their men.
Now for the bounty This can only De ascertaincd
by measuring the work done aga INST the remumera-
ton Price of "A book 10 the opprcsse reader say
IL or As Value of the paper, printing, binding. ad-
yertjsements ID cents, Whereabouts. OF the COM