Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1884-03-15
Aancaster .gmtelligenrcr.
SATURDAY EVENING. MAR. is. 1884.
the News Copyright.

Mr.. Watterson yesterday advocated
before the Senate library committee the
passage Of the newspaper copyright law
which he has proposed, and seemed to
he greatly impressed with its necessity.
As now urged, 1t is greatly modified
from the original proposition, and the
protection asked Is limited to eight hours
from the time Of publication. Further
more, the protection demanded is not for
the substance of what is published, but
Tor the language in which II Is printed.
Such protection would seem to amount
to very little, but Mr.. Watterson thinks
II would suffice, because Of the delay in
reprinting, which would I've caused by
rewriting the news. Such delay, how
ever, would not he great, and the copy
right law as proposed would not be like
ly to be of any substantial benefit to Mr.
Watterson and his associates in the own
ership of Associated Press news, which
Is chiefly intended to be protected.
Mr.. Watterson's particular complaint
Is against those newspapers, of the
smaller and cheaper class, in the large
cities, which await the publication of
the large newspapers and at once clip
and set up for thei- own journals
the chief items of news they
find therein. He protests strongly
that the measure will not injure
In any way the newspapers published in
the smaller cities and doubtless it will
not, save the few near the large cities
that may get their news matter sent to
them in the early morning hours in stere
otyped form from the enterprisipg
people who now provide it in this shape,
taking IL from the early publications of
the large morning journals.
We do not see that Mr.. Watterson' 8
copyright law is going to be of any great
injury toeyen these enterprising people,
who will be quite content to steal the
substance of the news and to make such
change i'm its language as will enable
them to escape the penalties Of the
copyright law. Mr.. Watterson seems
to be making a great deal Of effort to
accomplish small result. The game is
hardly worth the candle. As Senator
Voorhees, suggested to him, the abuse he
complains OF is not grave enough to call
for the legislation he demands.
There was one point, moreover, which
he did not call to the attention of the
committee in his argument and that is
that the Associated Press is close cor
poration, which does not admit To the
advantages of its association all the
newspapers in the large cities which de-
sire those advantages and offer to pay
for them.
Membership of the Associated Press
is large part of the value of city
newspaper, because no one can get into
1t, but those who are already in. When
Congress is called on to protect the news
printed by these proprietors and asked
to prohibit the republication for eight
hours OF what they print, ought it. not to
first require that the associated press
journals shall sell their news to all ne VS.
papers willing to pay fair share of its
cost No one newspaper can afford to
collect the news for itself. Association
is necessary. The power of the Associa-
ted Press enables it to prevent additional
competition in newspaper publication,
because Of its ability TO refuse the news
to journals outside its association, into
which it will not admit them. Conse-
quently such journals are forced to wait
until the associated press journals are
printed and issued, before they can get
the news. Then they take it without
paying for 1t /; and Mr.. Watterson calls
this stealing, and thinks it great out
rage upon his proprietary rights. So it
would be, perhaps, if those he complains
OF were offered a chance to buy the news
and publish it on equal terms with their
big contemporaries but the Associated
Press has no moral right to demand from
Congress an unnatural protection for
news which it seeks unnaturally to
monopolze,