New-York tribune., 1880-01-11
PJRICYA IND THE PIRATES.


parallel to the success of "The Pirates OF
penzance.n Seats are to be had only with DIM
entity: and everybody is trying to hum the
music and repeat the wit of the new play, III
which there is not dull line. The favor so
Iayished upon the piece is well bestowed. III
is an admirable example of type OF c0mpo-
sition quite unknown to any language but our
own. and as much superior to the sala-
cious French bOU6e and the harmless
buffoonery which serves for humor III
the opera houses of Italy and Ger
many, as it is to the punning extravaganzas
which it promises to displace from the Eng
lish stage. True wit in the design, fine and
delicate humor in the text, aud the
very spirit of mischief and drollery in the
beautiful and carefully written music-these
are qualities which give the joint productions
of Mcssrs. Sullivan and Gilbert a permanent
value. and entite them to consideration
which much more serious and pretentious en-
tertainments often fail to deserve.
Apart from the kindly feeling which pre-
walls here toward the two gentlemen who
have given us so much pleasure, there are
other reasons why we should he gratiiied
at the great success of the Operetta.
America owes Messrs. Sullivan and Gil
bert considerable debt in money. The
" "Pinaforer was takeR without their con-
sent, mutilated 10 suit the requirements OF I'M
perfect companies, furnished with hastily ana
cheapy prepared accompanimentS (moStly
very bad). and played from one end OF the
country to the other One theatre in this
city presented it to crowded houses for six
months. in spite of the rivalry of four or five
other companies which were running it at the
same time in The same town. Although many
"Pinafore " troupes after while broke up III
disaster. there can be no doubt that the
best of them were prosperous, and that
in some cases the managers cleared an
enormous profit Yet. so far as we know,
only one of these fortunate persons made
any return to the author and composer
of The work. Mr. Ford sent them check Tor
S5OO-less than the profit on a single perform
ance-and a music publisher transmitted an
eaual amount rs a share of the proceeds oil
the Diracy of the music and the librettO.
Small payments OF this sort are often disre-
sDcctfullv alluded TO as contributions TO the
conscience fund.- but while the law is III its
present state ii is unreasonable to expect in
better. They pay rather rs matter OF COM
plimcmt than OF business, and most OF
them would be glad to give the author
a fair equivalent for his work II he
could secure them in return any right
to what they had paid for. But as mat
ters now stand the author can control His
work only so long as il is not printed.
Enclishmen are rather too fond OF de-
nouncing Americans rs nation of pirates
because no international agreement has yet
bcen made for the protection of authors on
both sides of the ocean equally a conviction
that Americans enjoyed pillagng British
writers. and relished stolen book chiefly
from the reflection that they had been 'cute
enough to "do" somebody out of the price
of If. was at the bottom OF the intense dis
like to this country which Charles Dickens
displayed on his first visit here, and
which he never laid aside until he had
made 500, 900 by his American readings if,
indeed, he ever got over it at all. OF course
there was no ground then for such an in
iurious suspicion, and there is 10 ground
now. II must be remembered that copyright
is purely creation of statute law, and that
even in England the authors control over the
creations of his brain is not absolute. 1t is
limited in duration and in several other ways /;
no protection is gwen TO foreigners unless
they are living on British territory; no pro-
lection is given to natives il they have made
preyious publication in another country.
The dav before "The Pirates Of PEN
zancc" was produced in Ncw-York n
single representation of it was given in "a
T. - ,,,o.,iuo,ol H.,
taken to prevent the public from knowing Of
il. The company scrambled through II once,
and then dspersed but the authors were able
to save their copyright by showing that the
first performance" took place in England.
If by any accident this fictitious representa-
ton had been deferred, Messrs. Sullivan and
Gilbert would have lost all right to the opera
in their own country. Imperfect as the Eng
lisb law is now, it used to be so much worse
that piracy was practically not prevented at
all. When Handel was giving performances
of his own works in London, a rival man.
ooer. having obtained copies of them,
brought out the same compositions at another
theatre almost next door, This was the sort
of onposition he had to contend against in the
case of the oratorio Of Esther" and the
pastoral of "Acis and Galatea ,; and the
pirates did not scruple to make what changes
they pleased in the texts besides. How bold
and vulgar the piratical operations of English
booksellers were i'll the last century every
reader knows. The injustice OF which the
English author accuses American publishers
to-day is nothing by comparison with the
wrongs he would have suffered from London
publishers if he had happened to be born Il
little sooner.
The reform which must before long COM
pleic the tardy advance of both nations
toward an equitable adjustment of the laws
of literary property. will be fastened if our
friends on the other side of the water will