Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-10-29
INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT.
The Additional Work which It Entails ON
the Congressional Library.

the Congressional Library.
MR. sroFfoRp POINTS OCT THE GOOD RESULTS or
THE ARRAssENHSr AND WANTS ADDITIONAL
FoRcE-rHE EIroRriox WHICH ENGLAND pR.o-
TIcEs on AMERICAN ArTRoRs--soxE SRA rrsricS
4 INswoRTH r. sPoFFoRD. THE LIBRA
"a riAn OF Congress, will be 9 very happy man
officially II the closing session OF the dry
second gathering Of lawmakers does what the
opening session did not do-giye him en- In
creased clerical force 10 handle the correspond
ingly increased business which obtains IN his
branch Of the government machine.
Mr.. spofford has been the librarian since
1864. and saw the national collection OF books
grow from comparatively meager proportions,
until now every nook and Granny Of the west
center Of the Capitol is piled full with the con-
tributions Of aspiring authors. That state Of
affairs cannot be remedied, Of course, until the
new Congressional Library building is ready for
occupancy, but there must be dead halt some
where IL Congress does not allow an increased
force TO the Librarian within the next sin
months so.
The international copyright law Is RESPONSE
Die In the premises. great deal WAS said both
pro and con vhen the bill passed, and perhaps
something has been said since. But whatever
can be urged for or against the good results of
international copyright there Is no doubt that
the new regulation has materially increased
United States revenues without the expen6i-
ture OF a cent on the part Of the government.
The law prima facie has only been in operation
since the Presidents proclamation OF July I,
1881, and a second ediet included Germany in
the list on April IS, 1892. Still in that period
OF tribe more than fifteen months almost
$4,000 copyrights have been issued here 10
! fhne g.
designers. For the year ending December 81
last A, sos copyrights Of all classes we're sent
out from the librarians hands and 6 900 Of
these were of a foreign origin. That IN reality,
covered but six months results for applicants
from Great Britain, France Belgium and Swift
zerland, and since the beginning Of 1892 the
additional applications coming from Germany
nave SO largely increased the totals that Mr..
Spodord places a conservative estimate at
io,OOo cases for the work entailed upon his
ofhce since the law first took effect This num-
per VIII undoubtedly be increased largely by
the end OF the wear. and il is equally certain
that applicants FOR copyright will be very luoky
II they receive them within a few months after
the application is filed, for already the limited
clerical force is badly in arrears with the work
and the next few months cannot fail 10 make
matters worse.
An IMMENSE COR REsPoNpExcE.
The routine OF issuing domestic copyrights
.
librarians Office annually, and with an sddi-
tional foreign correspondence OF SC. 900 more.
TO say nothing of the labor OF issuing the neces-
sary documents and certificates, il IL not to be
wondered at, perhaps, that Mr.. Spofford finds
himself compelled TO speak very plainly to the
library committee. Any way, Congress must
| give him assistance this government will be
placed in a rather discreditable light before the
| foreign nations who are parties 10 the inter-
| national copyright agreement. Uncle Sam takes
the fees from foreigners for recording and GER
| tifying, and Mr.. Spofford argues that DELAYS
| through an inadequate clerical force are In
many cases inconvenient to the authors and
| publishers, who must necessarily wait until
| thoroughly protected before throwing their
| literary and artistic products upon the market.
So far the foreign contributions have included
| books, periodicals., dramatic compositions,
musical productions, photographs. chromos,
maps, points, designs, paintings, drawings and
| Autographs. But by far the heavier portion of
| the librarians business accessions have been in
| the nature Of musical compositions and graphic
art, the latter branch Of copyright In which
the foreigners already far surpass in number
| the domestic applicants. Not a few dramatic
copyrights have been issued also, but In CON-
parison to the aggregate amount OF foreign
| business the proportion Of books has been
/ notoriously small. 1t is gradually increasing,
however, and will soon reach, Mr.. Spofford
thinks, the normal rate book copyrights are en-
4
both sides of the water gradually become &C
cnstomed to the new regulation and adjust
themselves accordingly. English authors this
early in the race lead their French and German
| competitors in number, but Emperor William 8
subjects take precedence in the matter Of scien-
tifc works, and when the German authors have
had little more time perhaps the Fatherland's
showing Of Yankee copyrights will rival those
of any other nation in the combine.
| BENEFITS OF INTERNATIONAL coprR1aHr.
| Mr.. Spoford was asked yesterday to express
his opinion of the copyright law, and Is he is
in position to observe the practical workings Of
the act his views carry some force with them.
The FIRST great benefit from the international
copyright law" said Mr.. Spofford, lis the
gradual decline in price OF the standard for
| eign works. Heretofore when, for instance an
English publishing house was not protected in
it's editions of the best medical and scientific
works by foreign authors there was but one
course to pursue-charge an immense price TO
the limited market. which rarely extended be-
yond England proper and not generally TO the
continent. With the copyright law mutual on
both sides Of the Atlantic all this has consider
ably changed already, and I look for il to
change still more. These foreign houses have
gradually become encouraged TO establish
branches in New York, because the provisions
Of the law require that books copyrighted here
must be manufactured in the United States, and
I
for the publications. Heretofore il has
been q case Of small sales and big
profits, and now the publishers are content
with smaller percentage Of gain, because
larger sales are Q very reasonable possibility.
At any rate the intelligent and well-read por-
ton Of the people will profit by the arrange
ment, because Il is not only bound to bring
about, but already has brought about, better
editions Of various works geographically and
at considerably reduced prices. So far from
creating nonopoles. was urged against the
bill before its passage, the outcome has been
just the reverse, something which I think we
are in good position 70 determine upon here
at the Congressional Library, the Mecca Of
every prospective piece Of copyright literature.
but the best result, perhaps, from an
American standpoint" continued Mr.. Spofford,
lis the cleansing effect this international ar
rangement has had upon that pernicious type
of trashy literature which smaeks Of lola and
Du Boisgobey. 1t is a peculiar fact but most
of the cheap novels with which American
readers have been flooded in the last fifteen
| years were written by English aud French
authors. Unprotected by copyright on this
side, the innumerable publishing houses In the
United States who make . speciality Of cheap
books simply pirated the contents Of foreign
novels and then We'd with each other in cutting
down to the lowest price the trash they had
conglomerated under villainous covers and in
| type ugly enough to cause q reader ophthalmiA
Much of this literature has been Of an immoral
nature, and the effect upon youthful readers