St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-03-03
CoPTRIGRTTNG NEWSPAPERS.

The newspapers have secured the introduce
ton of bill in congress, giving them a
copyright for twenty-four hours upon all mat
ter used in daily publications. This bill has
been pretty generally received with acclaim
by the larger newspapers of the country, and
every one not in favor of it is
styled q "thief'' who is stealing news
and wishes to so continue. That style of
argument may be very pleasing to the papers
using it, but it is not convincing, partly be-
cause the papers applying the term, are them
selves, by their own criterion, most extensive
and inveterate thieves.
The GLOBE buys and pays for all of its
news, expending over thirty thousand dollars
per annum for the pure collection of news,
and hence would be interested, if such a law
was sensible or practicable, in having Il
placed upon the statute book. It is useless,
however, to cucumber the statute book with
egislation which cannot be enforced. l.
would be utterly impract;cable to enforce such
q law. If it was in existence the person
desiring to use the news Of the daily
papers in some other publication would
simply revamp it in a manner to give the
news in other language without identifying
it as the same publication. Different news
papers would, as they do at present, obtain
the same news for simultaneous publication,
each one working legitimately but independ-
emily. This would open the door for vexa-
tious and malicious suits among newspapers,
accomplishing nothing in the end.
As matter Of fact, paper that publishes
Heaus needs no copyright protection. The fact
that it gives the news first to the public Sc
cures it the business of the radius within
which it circulates, and gives it a 'protec-
ton" against any other paper, better than a
whole volume of general laws. The very
nature of the business of giving news to the
public, precludes copyright. The public buy
the paper because it has, or is supposed tc
have, the news. That is the basis of the
sale, and each purchaser buys it to do as he
wills-to carry it about as ''dead secret,'' OF
retail it to his neighbor The paper is offer
ed for sale on the ground that it has news to
give, and there is practically contract that
the publisher gives his news to purchaser
for consideration, and it then becomes
the property Of the purchaser.
The New EYork papers, owing to differ
ence in time, are enabled to publish by cable
the cream Of the news in the London papers
the same morning of the issue in that coun-
try. The Chicago, Louisville, Cincinnati
and st. Louis papers, owing to difference
in time, are enabled to take the New York
papers and publish the cream of their news
simultaneously The new York papers who
are bowling "stop theft are using the for
eign papers as we mention, and the Chicago,
Louisville, Cincinnati and st. Louis papers,
who are bowling ''stop theft are
doing the same thing with
the New York papers If these
papers are SO extremely virtuous on the
question of borrowing news" they might
york reform among themselves, without
awaiting the intervention of the strong arm
Of the law. They will have more ground to
ask for legislation if they show their own
zkirts are clear.
In reality no one is wronged by this.