New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-03-17
MP RoUTUEL1 ON COPYRIGHT

II is not posSible TO read Mr. DouIWeus
article on copyright in the current North
American Review without certain 1eehng
90 modification. He is an excellent repre-
.o,to+iva Of the best class Of our public men.
ua ,yas Governor of one OF the most ehlight-
oned States in the Union. He had long and
distinguished career in both houses Oh Con-
press and in the Cabinet as we'll II would De
natural to expect of him not only broad and
,tatesmanlike view of such question, but one
exhibiting a cordial sympathy with all intel
IectuaI aspirations But the article Is char
acterized, on the contrary, by the utmost mar
rowness and crudity, and seems TO recognize
no higher moral standard in this question than
that of the book pirate himself Mr.. Bout
Wells paper frankly argues, though not per-
hans in so many words, that we have the night
TO take books-foreign books, that is-wher-
aver we find them, and that the only question
N be considered concerning international copy
r;obt IL. whether we should not lose more than
ve should make by IL. Believing that this
would be the case, he approves the present
situation, because it gives us cheap English
books.
1t is discouraging to find representative OF
such a community as Massachusetts, promulgat-
ing sentiments that might be pardoned in an
ignorant man, on the ground that no was not
altogether responsible for the defects OF his
mental vision. The chief difficulty with Mr..
Boutwell, appears to be his inability to perceive
that the form in which an author expresses his
ideas Is as much his property as the house he
NAV own. Mr.. Boutwell, contends that, II this
were so, his right to IL would BIO perpetual, as
with other property, instead Of for only lin
tied period. The comparison is hardly fair
one. 1t ignores the peculiar nature OF tho
authors property in his books-its tmpalpable
character and the impracticability Of giving IT
perpetual protection. Most civilized States go
far toward recognizing the existence of right
to such protection by granting copyright dur
ing the lifetime Of the author and TO his heirs
for time. But, because owing to the peculiar
exigencies OF the case, the author valves his
natural right to perpetual copyright which was
once granted in some countries, and makes the
people his heirs after a certain period has
elapsed. Mr.. Boutwell, would make this con-
oession a justification for robbing him alto
gether, and setting him apart as the only work
er among men who Is not entitled to the fruit
Of his labor.
For Mr.. Boutwelrs reasoning is as hard
blow at National as international copyright
though he does not seem TO know II. II there
be no inherent moral reason for granting copy
right to foreigners, because book is D val
liable thing, and 10 take it by repnnting with
out the authors consent is theft, then there is
no such reason for granting 1t to native au-
thors. II it be right TO steal the foreigners
book because il can be had cheapest in that
way, then it is right to steal the book OF the
native author for the same reason. The same
logic would justify carrying of any piece OF
portable property, because bigger profit could
be made out of 1t il it could be had for nothing
than If it must be paid for. II is hardly an
exaggeration to say that Mr.. BoutwelPs reason
ing as applied to copyright would have justified
any man who reached the Office OF the Sergeant
alarms before him in drawing his salary as
Senator and making of with it. 1t is only by
series Of elaborate conventions and devices,
the products Of an artificial society, that those
bits Of printed paper are made to represent his
compensation for his labors as Senator 1t is
only by a series Of conventions and devices, no
more elaborate, that the authors percentage
Of the price Of each book is accumulated to
furnish his compensation for his labors as
author. Mr.. Boutwell, would have been in
dignant il a thief had snatched one Of those
bills out Of his hand. let that Is precisely
what happens to an author, whether foreign or
native when an unauthorized reprint Of his
book Is sold.
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