New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-11-08
PLANS OF FRENCH WRITER'S
A TALK WITH EDWARD BRANDUs.
WHAT FOREIGN AUTHORS ARE EXPECTING FROM
THE COPYRIGHT LAW.

THE COPYRIGHT LAW.
Edward Brandus representative OF the french a."
thors in this country who arrived In New fofh a
,o sovs ,go met personaly many OF tile great French
writers during his sojOurn in Paris last summer
Most Of them however, were old friends, as MT. BRAN
dus Is the son of the wellkDown Pnriaan puDis'Nr,
Of that name and lived for many years III inc eaps
of the great transatlantic Republic
"Zola,r said Mr.. Brandus, In talking Win tribune
renorter ais living mt his beautiful homo IN Meuo,
near Paris. lie has the finest place there furmsheu
marniacently and filed with trophies and curos Vi
all kinds As is well known he makes immense SUMS
Of money from his books. lie told me, III lac" 'n"'
he received SO 600 for the right OF pubhsh'ns any e
OF his books in serial form. 1t may appear III ",'
shape In "The Figaro" some other great journal
He receives $4,000 for the right Of translation h'"
Spanish and even So 900 for the privilege oil ''''e
lating the work into Portuguese. There you see, =
81 600 and that sum does not include the recelp's
for translang the book into German, Russian i'aiah
or English. The receipts from the sale OF each Vi I
novels in France itself enormous, rs Is Wen ho"l
to ALL I don't think he ever made less than 92o'ooo
from any single book to which he mas attached Ills
name.
"Zoa, added Mr.. Brandos, "has Just hnished
new novel which is to bear the title OF La Debacle'
or THE Crash, He sold the right Of publication Ill
this country for SO O0O II Is interesting to note that
II is the first French book sold here since the passage
OF the copyright laws The novel relates an episode
OF the Franco Prssian war, and Is realistic ana po"
erful."
lola was enjoying the best of health when Mr.
Brandus last saw him, few weeks ago, although nc
WAS as usual working hard and steadily Ho
spends great deal Of time added Mr. Brahdus' J"
the bric-abrac shops Of Paris, as he mas passion io
collecting rare bits OF furniture, rare books ana inc hhe
He does not look like the traditional writer He re
sembes ono even less than the photographs show. A
fbn
him to be French paterfamilias Of the wealthy
middle classes lie Is n good father, too, and has
several handsome daughters who certainly 40 iot
speak as he writes and l fancy are not allowed 70
spend many hours some OF his books"
AS with Zola, Mr.. Brandus said, Paul Bourgeois
best friend was his publisher. mat ho
added, "is popularity Of the French writer's
They all get along well with their publishers
and one rarely hears OF disputes between
Them That is the way 1t should be, as the existence
of these iI,enal relations proves advantageous both
to the authors and publishers
George Ohnet,' continued Nr. Brandus, I" is not
so popular as he was few years ago. He seems,
strange to say, to have outllved his day His last
book, Dette de Haine,' was almost an utter failure
II Is said that than $4,000 copies were returned
unsoId to his publisher That, OF course, Is almost
disastrous. None of his books has had the success
of lie Matre de Forge He Is discouraged over the
ebb In his popularity, and is doing little work. He
old That, according to French traditions, should be
authors prime
NJ Alexander Dumas, according TO Mr.. Brandus.
Is also busy writing new play which will be given to
tile public In about one year. "Up to the present
time" added the speaker he has written compare
lively little Of the work. According to his custom,
however, he has the whole play mapped out In his
head lie knows almost beforehand what he intends
to write. This play, by the way may he Dumas's last
one. 1t is said Mt least 1t will be produced at
the Coincide Franchise next fall. The great author
is living quietly at Marty Paris, in his beaut
ful house., Monte Cristo, built by his father. AL
phonse Daudet, MT. Brandus said, had been In Ill
health for tme but he had employed his days
lndustriously in finishing two new books
Mr. Brandus is confident that the French Copyright
Company, the association of French authors will
be beneficial 10 both Americans and Frenchmen.
"In addition to the publication Of books
he added, 1--WE intend TO copyright music in all
its form4 l link, In fact that 1t will revolu
another M, SS point is to be decided We intend to
copyrighted whole. its Individual parts. scores
SONGS etc are also protected We nave also MADE
in Faee Sa aend 20 their interests ners
NJ. Bonasse I.ebel, the greatest publisher of
ssSS s has aR9 o@
pirates In the past They not only copyrighted his
Srsv1r That he told Se ursa hts even BUSINESS
greatly, as the work done In this country was In
0oS TO- 9a aSas Rd eve think the new
society will benefit American authors rs highly the
for we 50 as W ee DO % S% e s IN
We like also to show Frenchmen that Americans Intend
to uphold the letter and the spirit of the new law.
their treatment, As long as there was no law to
prevent their taking French works, americans did So
ever stole literary property besides the people Of the
United States.