, 1879-02-22

r. ...s " teAtslAtAoH to Work the Acdlfcu
'rbc author treats IN detail Of ali the leg..la.
tioll. EnGIiat nlHl American, uon thc subject
o. % COPYRIGHT, giving Chg History Of cacl enact
PERHAPS fcsitcd scycrity, with what to thu guild
OF letters, Inns nways scGlnotl The tinnccountable
opposition of Mneaulnv to the extension OF The
| r;anta @ Of nnthnrs. l'eginna will! TIC ycnr
turing that anil several succeeding ycara to
large the pcrlui Of protection to sixty ycasd
alrr ilie' AUTHORS death. Petitions were Pre-.
sstSn,ea st,.a 70 par!iamcnt by tl!u must prom!nent
Wordsworth, Allison, Carlyle, IiosKi, Dickens,
Browning. Jcrrold, u,ul many Others, nll
praying an extension Ut tie statutory porIod
forth that ho had written tcrtnS books, hit iiMt
ills lnbor had hitherto brought ltln sn,all rec
osnpcnao, continued, that he Is by no means
sure s q It's eser ft!1tng recompcnsc, but thinks
tl,e laborcr, Will probably no ionEcr 6e In need
Of money. and tllose dear to him will till lc In
,iced OF -; anl Il concluded with prayer to tic
Mouso to forbid "cxtrancous persons, entirely
from him hts Email earnings, for sbacc vi sixty
years a. tho ailortest. After sixty years, unless
your i!onorablo House provide otl,t rwisc, they
tic chnn,pion Of tl,c bl, nSd won tl'e rratltule
| Of al !nen Of letters by bis rnlnt,t efforts In
their behalf. Thosa who arc accustomed 10
aueer nt the conservative tendencies OF tll,
measures q Inv reform, may find much
food for reflection In the eloquent speech
OF Tnlfoutd ~ suppurt Of illis measure
| ns reported In ilansarl's debates. Alacaulay,
| was cheay owing 70 his vigorous opposition
that tho bilt was defeated in 1911. II was Tai
fonrd, II We mistake NOT, WHO, nln1tnE t., Mnc-
snays h1s'y y e , III h i,n eIfasa % a tt !t
trusted md who. had eaten Of her bread, had
| lifted up Ills heel ngatnst her." In 1842, how
| ever, Macautay made partial ntonclncnt by aup-
porting bill which II that wear byralno n Inv,
extending tho term Of protection from twenty
eight to forty-two years after publication, At
Which period 1t has over since remained In E,,-
gland; The dnIaI!on a % Of sopyriElt Hinder t!s
Ensia J." essl ss ,so ss 5s Sas m m osa
period of twenty-cfgiIt years, with provision tor
renewal Of fourteen years to tho author, his
! widow. aud children.
The question of international copyright Is
ably treated, mud the various ciroris fl TINT
| direction made by Congress Irc rGEited IN dr.
tall. hlr. Dronu takes advanced ground in
favor OF q .Rcucrhl international copyright, md
contrasts the narrow and selfish s;ollcy of our
own country with the more liberal ind certainly
more honest legislation of England untl other
foreign nations IN tllts regard. Ills views upon
this topic deserve tho comnendation u every
honest nuthor ami publisher.
In the noru technical partg OF hts subject tho
author ID equally fortunate. While carefully
and accurately stating the law as 1t
Is upon MI 'ts branches, fo does not hesitate to
point out crroueous Interpretations, nnd ie cx-
presses a.vlgorots dissent from errors OF judi
cial reasoning nna construction wherever such
errors are apparcnt. Perhaps the most useful
portion Of tue book to authors md publishers Is
Chapter W. Of tl1c statutory requisites fr &C.
curing copyright. Wb!la most publishers
and lawyers arc presumed to 10 aware
Of: tic thrco. statutory. conditions 10 q
ya ya e1pylshf ns uef urasa e tapy D5sye"t It iT q:
titlc-page to the L!6rarian vi Congress in at-
vance Or pablteat!on; ep trnnsa''ttlng twu
Pintsa eop;ss ot s best edition 10 tho
and (3j printing notice Of tic entry Oh TIC
orally Known that each ot thsse conditions is
absolutely Indispensable to valid copyright.
upon this topic, md demonstrates very clcarly
that tho omission OF either Of the conditions
named 1s 1ata! TO the copyright. In recent
conversation with the omplishcd Librarian Of
Congress- h!mEelf quite conycrsant with the
law OF copyrights, tic writer Of Llls nuticc WINS
Informed tint many authors mud publishers
omitted to forward printed copfcs Of title pAecs,
dccn'ing tlc Printed volume equivalent thereto;
md Mr.. spo!Guru named one Of tic largcst
American publishing houscs, whose uniform
practice 1t wns 10 omit forwarding the title
page. a peFusal Of Mr. Drona's pages vii! snt-
.,tyy s5y any ono Of the cx'ron' hnzaF Of this Drae~
A. Illustrative OF tile authors independent
method Of treatment may DO mentioned his
discussion Ut the toptca OF abridgmcnls uild
traua!atlons and his emphatic dsscnt from tl,c
existing law upon u!eae subjects. Willis It Is
the settled rule, both I'll EnElAild md AHlerlca,
TINT q bona jIds abrslgment is not d piracy, Ms.
Dsone, utter stattne the rule, a1d citing aal tho
reasoning OH which The doctrine ia based, and
demonstrates very clearly that It Ia untcnablc,
aud that the law should, although II does not,
protect tho a1tnor 1s1 from % an unauthorized
follows Of tic absurd doctrine t!lata translation
into q foreign languages Is not PIRACY, and
the necessity o1 q different rule is clearly dem
oustratod. Indeed, the rule i!as only tile sup
Thomas, . AIN. Inv Re-, ai0. decided by Mr.
Justice lricr In 1853. That was a bill Alcu by |
Mrs. Stowe to cnjoia tlle publication OF n Ger
relief was denied upon the narrow and unton-
ablc ground TINT the author can ctatm no It,
crary property, altcr publication. In Ills iicns
apart from tic outward sembancc in which
tecisd in the exclusive right to multiply copies
Of tho particular combination of characters III
which Ills Ideas arc clothed. "Unclo Tom md
Topsey," says .slr. Justice GrIer In lis
md saucho fanza.' Ali hcr conceptions
and Inventions may be used n1'l abused by |
tmltatofss,' plnywrights. ana poetastcrs. They
chased lcr book may cloths them In EnElsh |
logGercl, In German, or Chinese prosnn Tho |
caae has never been regarded with satisfaction |
by tho Legal profession, as,d tt Is hot too mncl,
to hope TINT tho authors admirable prcscnta-
t!on Of this branch Of Tue subject may INDUCE
change OF front when tho question shall 10 |
again presented for judicial tlccisIun.
TO tlle practirlag lawyer, Chaps. X. and XI., Of
the remedies In Inv a'ld III equity for infringe
ment, will uroye the most ya!,ab!o a,A instruct.
iyo portions Q, the work. CHIP. NJ, OF thu
remedies IN equity, Is esrerlaliy full a,.d ex-
hausttye ~ tts ttcatnsnt Of the entire range mud
Scope Of equitable remedies pertaining
to infrnagcncats. The, advantages oi
consist In the doublu rrmciy IN
equity By Injunction aga!nst further infrlngc~
OF which nlethols OF rGllci eau b. l1Ati in n ac-
t,ou at law for dalnatcs. la nracttro, therefore,
resort IL usually llad To equity anil Mir. Drone's
presentation OF this branch ot tl,u subject must
provo equally valuable to tho bencli utlsl bar,
embracing, al !. dOss, an exhaustive discussion
ut tlEe question nj t!tec, ,ncanB Of determining
piracy, lnttrlocutory aA tual ntnActIons, f0rni
0f tiIu Injunction, accOilit at profits, discovery
aud tho rule Of damages.
Mr. Dr0ntfs concluding. cllQptcrs are {1cyDtcu