New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-12-05
NO LITERARY REVOLUTION.
WHAT PUBLISHERS SAY OF THE NEW cory
RIGHT BILL.
CHEAPER BOOKS AND A FAIR CoMfEiiii
AMONG AUTHORS FOR HIGHER PRICES.

CHEAPER BOOKS AND A FAIR CoMPEiiii''
AMONG HI FOR HIGHER PRiCLs'
Undoubtedly the Senate will pass the lnterna0ona'
Copyright bill with the House amendments.
~doubtcdly the President will sign IL. Then ,usooo
will be done. Expect not too great things. ho"ore',
for q little while. The law will not go into ono.
until July l, 1901. W York publishers agree "a'
there will be no sudden change In the situation Oh Nv
erary affairs. ,
There will be no revolution In the puDhsllns
business said Charles scribner yesterday. Inc
immediate effect Of the law-assuming that the OIL
becomes a law-will be the holding back OF new "orhS
TIL such time as a copyright may be had In b'th con"-
tries. Great Britain and the United states j haso
personal knowledge OF a number Of importah, MN
that are being withheld. II Stanley had not oeeh
an American citizen I feel sure that mo
book wcuid not have appeared till next summer
Being an American. Of course he could get a copy
right In this country. The English author woulo DC
debarred from that. ! do not expect to see any srea'
or noticeable change in the price Of books. The daS
Of the 10 and ID cent literature Is practically over
anyway, over. because publishers found that IL uu
not pay them to turn out books at such a price. 1
think we shall still have the 25-cent and the 'occh'
novels, as we have at present. You must nav"
noticed that the price of cheap books has steadily al
vanced in the last two or three years, and IL NAV Do
accounted for on the ground Of self preservation. PUB
fishers were not making anything out OF the cheaper re
prints. No, there was no combination among them 10
raise prices. Another immediate effect OF the nc"
law will be the impetus IL will give TO the prlntlhg
business. There will be no more shcll-plates, as inc
bill provides that the books published here must Do
put in type here. These shell plates are simply
electrOtypes, ready for the press, all tn#
they require after reaching here being tho
backing to bring them to the proper height for print
ing. The most important operation OF the bill VIII
be among authors. both native and foreign. We shaii
have a better class of literary work, because a"'horS
being sure Of higher remuneration, VIII devote moro
time and thought to their manuscript. The American
author will be on level terms with the British' anu
there will be greater incentive to do good work. INC
law will bereft all of us. I do not sec any reason
WHY there should I've a great increase In the publishing
business. Nor. on the other hand, should there DC
any decrease. The bill, as / take IL. will revolntiohlle
nothing. Its operation will be gradual"
zone Of the frs. things The new law will do" SAID
Henry Harper. Of Harper & Brothcrs, VIII DE 10
check or absolutely stop the importation OF cheap nc
prints, q business started and largely carried on by
foreign houses with establishments in this country
Canada. for instance, has been overrunning TIC couh'
try with paper editions OF standard works. a DAY or
two ago I saw a COPY of Ben Ilur' that had been pub
Ilshed in Canada selling for twenty five cents. Now We
do not publish any cheap copies Of General Wailaces
book, and the effect of this foreign reprint IS easily up
parent. vet under the existing law VIC are helpless.
The new bill is going to help publishers by Keeping
out these cheap reprints 1t is going to help printers
ny keepjnc ont electrotypes or shell plates and II Is
going to help American authors by enabling them 10
compete on fair terms with Foreigners We have done
a good deal Of the shell plate business, though mose
Of our books are set up in our own type. J thhh one
effect OF the bill will be to encourage the cAportauoh
TO Great Britain of plates made In this country. HOW
ever. the public will not notice any sudden change IN
affairs. 1t will take time for the new condition to
$3.50. .n1. Tn 4bo rrice NJ cloth editions there IS
not likely to be any change; only the cheaper mer*
ture will be affected.
4. Authors will derive great benefit nom the opera
tion of the new law. How? Well, take ior instance
william Black and W. ID. Howens, who, for the sake
Of argument. we will assume, are on equal terms 10
begin with. The country II flooded with cheap
reuints OF Blacks works. They can be bought
anywhere at % and so cents . copy. On the other
hand we are Obliged to keep up the price OF Ho"eils,s
hooks To-. say. 81 so n copy. We control their publi'
cation. but have absolutely nothing to say about tue
mblication OF BLACKS. Possibly many reauers
regard Blacks books as good as Howells's, IN winch
easc II stands to reason that In order TO save ~ 20
they will buy BlaGk's and let liowe1ss alone
HowelIs is The sufferer. 1t Is our rule To remuhcr'tc
authors on the royalty plan. and / tiink that u
now the custom with most American publishers 50
that the larger the sale the greater the remuneration.
To enlarge the sale OF Howells's books we must
bring their price nearer to the price at which biachs
are sold. that is. vi must reduce the one or
increase the other. This VIII undoubtedly
increase the price of Blacks books, and j believe IL VIII
fond 70 reduce the price of Howeils's. OF course, ii is
understood that the measure IS not retroactive. Every
foreign book issued prior to July ]. 1891. will be
pirated. Only those published after the law goes into
effect are protected. Then we may see a new work
of Black and a new work Of ilOwells selling on the
same counter at the same price. such competition
will benefit the American author. And ii will also
II L. xfI M, kn u,tro tn
receive on his books the royalty which IN a majority
OF instances Is now denied him.
Publishers then will have to sklrmish abroad for
desirable manuscripts, as managers skir1nish even now
for new plays suggested The Tribune reporter who
listened To Mr.. Harper.
The reply was: " OF course we shall have our agents
in London and Paris on the lookout for acceptable
works. As a matter Of fact, we have them there now.
So have other American publishers, and each tries
to get the first hold on a new work of importance.
Trade courtesy, however. controls such matters. IL
VIC find that the Appletons are trying TO secure a
certain work we never think of interfering"
1T looks like international copyright at last, after
f~fy-three years of effort, = said George Haven Putnam.
The first bill on the subject was introduced by
Henry Clay, in 1887, at the solicitation Of the Copy
right LeagIe, of which William Cullen Bryant was
president and G.. p. Putnam was secretary. ] feel
sure that the Sepatc will pass the Simonds bill, and. OF
course. the President will sign II at once. as he ad-
vocates IL I'm his message. We can only guess at the
effect of the new law, but i believe we can guess
pretty close. As regards authors, ] don't think that
either American or British need look for any sudden
or great increase in their income. ] am a little
nervous. however, about Q possible inunda
ton. Some time ago ! abandoned the
publication of American fiction, driven thereto by a
ruinous competition with cheap reprints Of foreign
works. our friends, Henry Holt & Co.. in this build
ing. dd the same. Whenever We received a manuscript
we returned II unopened. accompanied by q circular
letter informing the author that we did not publish
fiction and inviting him 10 write TO his Congressman In
behalf II the Copyright bill. When the bill becomes
a law. suppose all these hundreds Of authors come back
at me With their stories? What can | do!
IL think this bill will bring about a rapprochement
between British and American publishers that VIII
rebound to the benefit Of both. There will be 4 plan
ming among them for the control OF larger markets,
which will help authors. publishers and the reading
public. Authors will receive higher remuneration and
will do better work, because they can afford TO devote