The Washington critic., 1888-02-25
WRGT is A COPYRIGHT?
An Hour in the Congressional Li-
brary at the Capitol
THE RIGHTS OF AUTHORS
Newspaper Copyrights and the
Ownership Of Private Letters.
What isa oopyriel,tq

Washington correspondent of the
Boston Globe, / stepped aside from
the crushing throngs that tramp all
day long from.end to end of the Cap
-itol, and sought relief yesterday in
the quiet, iTon-bound precincts of the
closely packed Congressional library.
Behind the first desk stood dark
skinned, gray -haired'an gray-whisk-
cred man of spare build, studious
face and pleasant voice. This is
Ainsworth Rand Spofford. He is
THE LIBRARfAN OF CONGRESS.
Mr.. Spofrord is a New Hampshire
man by birth, but became Cincin-
natl editor. He is now 83 years of
age. This rapidly multiplying library
has been his mistress and companion
for twcnty-seven years. There are
600,0 ,000 books and 100000 pamphlets
piled around him, but he could almost
shut his eyes and produce any work
that you would name. lie isa liberal
education for both houses of Con-
gress, and makes himself, beside, n
book of ready reference for the whole,
American nation. He answers every
question that is addressed to him.
When my turn came in the endless
procession of conundrums that were
being propounded to him, | asked;
'wHAT IS A coPYRIGHT?H
"Isn't that rather broad ques-
ton ?" he returned, with smile.
at is just about broad enough to
cover my ignorance. / frankly
answered.
"Well, in q word, there are two
copyrights-the common-law copy
right and the statute-law copyright.
Everything that is written, every ex-
preston in writing is perpetually
copyrighted under the common law,
while the statute law is framed to
guard for limited period the sole
right Of o person to multiply or pub
lish copies of any work Of literature
or art that he may own and may have
previously entered in our records
here"
'In the light of answers and book
references looked first at the law
under which every letter that is writ
ten belongs always to the writer and
not to the person addressed. OF
course, the latter holds the letter it
self, but its statements or sentiments
are the property of the person who
wrote them. You have no more right
to distribute or publish copies OF a let
ter written to you by another than
you have to publish Mr.. Howells's
latest story, Mr.. Prang's latest chrome
or Mr.. Harrigans latest play. The
- ...,.llaf. EAkl- H..
Prang's chrome that you may have
bought is yours TO do with as you
please; but you know that it would be
unlawful for you to make new copies
on your own account and dispose OF
them in your own way. So 1t is with
letter."
THE LAW IN THE CASE.
The Revised Statutes support tn,
common law in this respect, and de
clare:
Every person who shall print or publish an
| manuscript whatever, without tho consent o
| the author or proprietor first obtained df sucl
| author or proprietor Is a citizen of the lnitet
states or resident thereinl shall be liable 4
| the.author or proprietor for all damages DC
oasioned by such injnry.
= No transfer of copyright property i
| recognized unless it is expressly stip
ulated in writing. Therefore, Will,
the writer OF d letter may intenC
when he sends you the matter t,
make you the proprietor of all ther'
is in it, yet you cannot lawfully pub
lish the letter unless you can prove
your property by formal deed.
Like all American copyrights thii
principle applies only to letters from
citizens or residents ofethe United
States. There are international copy
right treaties, but this country ha'
none. In Germany they allow an.
one to copyright his work provided h
causes il to be recorded at Leipsig ant
published by some firm doing busi
ness in the Prussian Empire. Franc
will issue copyright to anybody il
the world if he viii first deposit tw
copies of his work with the Ministr.
of Interior at Paris. English la'
requires that the author seeking
copyright must be on Britisl
soil at the time of publica
ton, which must first be mad
by some publishing house within
| Victoria's dominiohs. First of all, Ii
must send the title of his matter
Stationers' Hall, London. with an en-
trance fee of five shillings. The Eng
lish courts have lately held the pres
ence of the author on British soil
not necessary, 1t has not been long
however, since Mark Twain went t
Montreal and waited there quite
while for his London publishers t
bring out q book of his that was the
in press. Foreigners sometimes pre-
vent American piracy by selling thei
manuscript to a publisher in tn
country, who copyrights the work
just as if they had been written {
made in the United States.
HOW COPYRIGHTS ARE OBTAINED.
Any citizen or resident, no matte
whether he originated or bought til
thing, or no matter what that thin
contains, can get copyright by sen'
ing to the Librarian of Congress I'll
printed title of his projected or con
pleted book, map, chart, dramat
or musical composition, engravin
cut, print, or photograph, or desert
ton of his finished or unhnishC
, painting, drawing, chrome, statue
: model, or design for work of Il
fine arts. This must be mailed or d
f liyered to the Librarian before Il
publication or distribution of IL
work that is sought to be becopyrighte
2 With it q fee of so cents must be G
closed for the registering of the tit
/ or description, and if certificate
> desired another fee of 80 cents VI
( procure that. The fees all go to u
s Treasury. The Librarian receives
salary Of $4,000 year.
. There is a popular notion that Il
I Librarian exercises some discretion
: copyrighting, but he has no more
+ do with the subject and treatment