St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-03-15
NEWSPAPER COPYRIGHT.
Watterson Before the Senate Com
mite Has Difficulty to Explain.
Senator Hoar Puts Him Through a Course
Of Sprouts.
The Bill Will Have to be Radically
Amended if it Ever Passes.

WASHINGTON, March 14.-Henry Waiter
son appeared before the joint committee on
library this morning, and made an argu-
ment in support of the newspaper copy right
bill. In answer to the inquiry by members
of the committee, Watterson said: Misap-
prehension with regard to the scope of the
bill had grown out of the fact, that the orig
inal draft provided for exclusiYeness in pub
lished matter fer period of forty-eight
hours, which time was subsequently reduced to
twenty four hours. Both forms were impractic-
BILE and unnecessary, Watterson said, and pre-
sented bill granting copyright for eight
hours, which was all that was sought by the
promoters of the measure. Its object was
simply to prevent pirating of news and con-
current publication. He illustrated the pur-
pose of the bill, and the evil it was designed
to correct, by numerous examples. he said
it did not act as bar to the reproduction by
the afternoon newspapers of matter which
appeared in the morning papers, and could
not in the remotest degree affect what is
known as the country press.
1t simply provides, that from the hour OF
going to press, newspapers, or association OF
newspapers shall have the exclusive right to
the use of the matter they have bought and
paid for. For instance, if a newspaper goes
to press at three O'Clock, the eight hour term
expires at II. This makes no bar to the
publication of news from the morning pa
pers by the afternoon papers. Suppose for
instance, publish paper in New York and
l engage a Kinglake, and send him to Sou
dan. He, by enterprise, great outlay, and
good fortune, succeeds in furnishing me a
page of matter, describing great battle in
that country. That is skilled labor, that is
forecast. publish this matter at 3
o'clock in the morning, and newspaper
right along side of me, published at one
cent copy, in the present absence Of any
law, may for the simple cost of the setting
defeat my enterprise.
By Senator Hoar-Do you mean to pro-
tect the form or the statement of the
fact?
Watterson-"You cannot copyright a
fact. The mere statement that the king of
Prussia is dead could not be copyrighted, but
the full account, which might be embraced
in hundred or more words, should be pro-
tected''
Senator Hoar-"You understand that you
ecu ny luIS SCCuiitl III q Vim PNSA
ton, the method of the statement OF the facts
and not for facts themselves"
Watterson-.I understand that the clauses
in this bill which refers to 100 words, means
that the infringement shall embrace actual
words, not the substance"
Hoar-''You think that would be enough
to prevent the recasting and telling those
facts in different way For instance, you
FOL Sc
which is crowded with facts, let some other
man read that page and repeat those facts in
his own way. Historical facts are the uni
versal property of mankind, although Ban
croft may have spent great labor in discover
ing the facts"
Watterson. s'The time required to recast
page of Bancroft would practically defeat
the piracy for concurrent newspaper publica-
tion.''
Sherman-s'I would like to know to what
extent news is pirated. How can it be doneW
Watterson-'It is done every day. In the
city of New York, and every other city, you
find newspapers published half an hour or
an hour later than newspapers, for instance,
of the Associated Press, which are general
ly high priced newspapers, copying for con-
current publication from 100 to 1000 words
of matter from these higher priced papers.
Those newspapers habitually issue matter
which is paid for by others.''
Sherman-''How soon afterward?'
Watterson-"With greatly increased facil-
tiles for press work and type setting, it is a
mere matter of few minutes
Sherman-''And then they would sell that
edition of news on the street at the same
time?'
Practically at the same time. For in
stance, under the present absence of law, l
may open an Office in New York at O'Clock
in the morning, having my assistants and
type settlers all in readiness, and may obtain
early copies of the New York papers, and may
issue a newspaper, containing everything
good in all these papers, and undersell them
all. may issue this stolen property without
one line Of original matter"
Sherman-''That has been substantially
DONE That is the evil from which you de-
sire redressY
'sYes, sir''
Hoar-''My question goes to the possibili-
ty of giving redress. Suppose smalley tele-
graphs his paper a column Of matter OBJ
tanned at great expense, describing the fall
of Sebastopol at such al hour yesterday af-
ternoon, and how so many
fell on each side, etc.
Every fact in that is public property Now,
could not many intelligent men employed in
any city newspaper Office read that and in
ten minutes after reading it begin to dictate
as fast as it could be written down, or set up
a statement of every material fact, composed
and put together in their own way, so that
they would have avoided every legal prohibit
ton while availng themselves OF every fact
of news? You remember the constitution
gives us only the right to protect the author,
and not the discoverer of an historical fact. -
Watterson-'.I should say that would be
no infringement of copyright, because you
could never prove where these facts were OBJ
tanned l admit that after the fact is pub
lished the knowledge of the fact is public
property ! simply maintain that the meth
cd of collecting news which has cost me a
great outlay"
Hoar, interrupting, "now, is it not true,
that the real thing to be protected is the dis
coyery of tie fact itself! That is what the
newspaper man has labored at. Suppose
Smaiiey sends a column of matter to his
paper, and some inferior writer sends a
column of matter to another competing
paper, the first is an explicit, clear, accurate
account. It's value is enhanced by Smalley'
character as writer. Now, | think both
papers should be protected against each
other, If need be, in the irpeculiar methods OF
stating the case.
Voornees-''I would not give vote that
would crowd little fellows, or seem TO press
the smaller newspaper concerns OF the coun-
try. I didn't understand that that is the
purpose this bill; yet there is apprehension
all over the country to this effect. / received
three or four dispatches yesterday, and one
this morning, from men connected with
small dailies. who had learned that this hear
ing was to take. place. If l understood you,
this measure would mainly apply to big cities
where u good many newspapers are published
about the same hour in the morning!''
Watterson-''L me illustrate. Take a
case between east and west. There is a diff