New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-02-24
DPIVdTTC COPYR{GH MT.


and Mr. Augustine DAILY with respect to the
performance of the play of "Charityh VIII
serve to call attention to the highly unsatiS-
factory condition Of the laws applicable to
dramatic property. We have 10 opinion to
express IN the personal questions involved in
this dispute but the legal aspect Of the'case
ia certainly n fair subject OF comment. Mr.
DAILY assures the public that be not only
added 10 Mr. Gilbert's play a character not
found in the original but he made a still
more important alteration by wholly changing
the moral quality OF the principal parsonage
These amendments seem 10 have been made
without consulting the author, and they were
made while the play, being still in manu-
script, was protected 10y the authors common
law rights. Whether Mr.. Gilbert acduiesced
in the improvement of his work 10y accepting
royalty on the performance is not material,
since if be did object it il not clear that he
had any remedy.
The right of an author to he productions Of
his pen. whether books or plays. Is guaran-
teed by the common law SO long as they are
not published. AS soon as they are published
however, the protection of the common law is
withdrawn. and the statute establishes copy
right in It's place. In England tie public rep
resentation of play is made by act of Pdrlia-
mcnt equivalent to the publication of "a book
and hence an English dramatic author can
copyright his piece at home whether he
chooses TO print 1t or not. the only condition
required being that it should be performed
first Ia his own country. For this reason Il
single representation of " The Pirates Of Pen
"zance " was MAIDEN England the day before 1t
WAS brought ont in New-Y0rk, and the
operetta ia now completely protected in
England by statutory copyright. a for
cign author cannot copyright anything
in America and if our statutes with regard
TO the effect of a performance were the same
as those of England, any foreign drama, once
acted, could be- safely pirated, whether printed
or not But fortunately performance here is
not held TO be equivalent to publication, SO That
while the play remains in manuscript the au-
thor's common-law rights survive IN the
United States, and the Courts will protect
them. When Mr. DAILY purchased Of Mr.. Gil
bert's agent the right to produce " Charity
in this country. the play bad not been printed,
and it was consequently covered here 10y the
common law. Not so fully covered, it would
seem, but that manager who secured
liberty to alter and arrange 1t. Perhaps
Mr.. Gilbert, if he had chosen to incur a great
deal of worry and expense, might have OBJ
tanned an injunction against the performance
of this corrupted version. But whatever
remedy he may have bad five or SIX years
ago. he has none now. "Charlty'- has been
included in volume of his printed plays,
and the commOn-law right in it has thereby
been destroyed, while the statutory substitute
Of copyright is not available here because the
author IL q foreigner In the United States
the drama is now public property. Anybody
may help himself to it-aTangc, improve,
condense, expand. deform it as he pleases-
and the helpless author can only scod.
This anomalous and absurd state of things
IL not only wrong to the foreign author but
il ia n misfortune TO American audiences.
There Is general desire for the publication
Of the libretto of the comic operetta which
ia now running at the Fifth Avenue Theatre,
and people would no doubt relish it more
keenly il they had in their hands the words
Of the songs but If the piece were printed
the authors would no longer have any control
over it. They cannot even print it in Eng
Land without sacrificing their right of property
in # here. "Pinaforen was published in
England, and therefore il is common prop
ery IN America "Thc SOrcerer" is a very
amusing work, by the same author and COM
poser. which the people of this country would
he clad TO see produced by Messrs. Sullivan
and Gilbert when THE Piratesr have run
their course, but if they should bring it ont
with success, unauthorized reproductions would
be made everywhere, and they would have
| no redress, for the common-law right in the
work has been extinguished by publication.
1t is only after much litigation that the right
of foreigner to control the representation of
his unpublished plays has been established in
our courts, and the law Is still somewhat loose
and obscure. IL has even been maintained that
| if a spectator can write out an unpublished
play from memory, provided he does not take
shorthand notes, he may print it with impu-