The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-01-24
COPYRIGHT OF PHOTOGRAPHS.
Proposed Amendment to the Law Which
Will Permit Extensive Mu1cting.


viii Permit Extensive Mu1cting.
From the New York Sun
An amendment has been proposed to
the copyright law in the interest of the
photographers that will enable them to
prosecute alleged infringements of their
copyright at any time after the in
fringement. 1t wipes out any time
limit for the beginning of the prosecu-
ton. 1t also gives to the nhotogra pher
the full amount of the penalty for the
violation of the law instead of divid-
ing the amount with the United States
government, as the law at present pro-
vides.
The present law has been used by
INSCRIPTIONS persons i'm the photo
graphic business for the purpose of
blackmail, and blackmailers havs been
very successful operating under it.
The amendments proposed will enable
them to be still more successful and
will give to them all the profits. The
amendments are particularly opposed
by the Lithopraphers' association. One
of the leading men in that associa ton
writes to the Sun of the proposed
amendments:
I'm so far as the photographic inter-
est is concerned they would be disas-
trous but in my o"inion they are
equally so to the newspaper interest,
and 1 understand that the League of
American Photographers, which is
pressing the amendments, has it's eye
particularly on the newspapers.
THE main objection to this amend
ment is that 1t substantially abolishes
the statute of limitations and practi-
cally makes penalty of $4,000 for in
fringing a photographers copyright.
For Illustration: A photographer pho
tographs the warship Brooklyn lying
out in midstream and has his photo
graph duly copyrighted. For $40
newspaper man can have the ship pho
tographed by any photographer; but
the reporter brings the publisher pho
tograph or the publisher finds one in a
shop which is not marked with the
copyright notice. This photograph may
have been one of the copyrighted pho
tographs, from which the notice of
copyright has been removed because of
some remount, or, indeed, it may have
been an uncopyrighted photograph
taken by some photographer other than
the one who took the copyrighted pho
tograph, The newspaper publishes it.
THE incensed photogra phic copyright
owner sees it and waits year or two,
and then sues the newspaper publisher
who has issued perhaps quarter of
million copies of his newspaper. The
action comes to trial, and the photo
grapher swears that the newspaper
publication is copy of his copyrighted
picture or photograph. Perhaps it is,
perhaps it isn't, but, in the meantime,
the newspaper has lost all trace of the
photograph from which the newspaper
cut was made, and is practically with
out evidence, except inadmissible sur
misses. Such state of things is reas-
onably probable, and numerous other
illustrations can easily be imagined,
where great hardship would be worked
and where the act could be used as a
bludgeon to eXtort money.
THE animus of the amendments is
perhaps to be found In the final amend
ment through which the United States
loses it's moiety of the penalty and the
entire penalty goes to the enterprising
photographer"
The law, as it is at present, says that
the person who publishes a copyrighted
picture without the written permission
of the owner shall further forfeit one
dollar for every sheet of the same found
in his possession, either printing, print
ed, copied, published imported, or ex-
posed for sale"
The law as it is proposed amending it,
would read shall further forfeit one
dollar for every copy of the same by
him either printing, printed, copied,
published imported or by him sold or
exposed for sale"
This would enable an INSCRIPTIONS
man who owned copyright which had
been infringed upon. say to the extent
of 500 copies. to induce or have others
induce the infringer. who might be an
innocent infringer, so far as intent is
concerned. to print 10000 more of the
pictures or papers containing the pic
lures. These could be bought up and
the infringer would be mulcted to the
tune of $4,000. Some INSCRIPTIONS
photographers have made a practice of
printing the notice of copyright in such
fine type, and in such out of the way
places that it is impossible to find it
without a magnifying glass. In the
case of photographs of persons photog-
raphers generally have copyrighted the
pictures without the consent of the
persons photographed, and those per-
sons have given a copy of the picture
to publishers to be printed with the full
consent to print. The photographer has
then sued the publisher who printed the
photograph.