Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-02-01
TO PROTECT AUTHORS
Provisions of the New Copyright
Bill.
REPORTED BY COMMITTEES
Librarian Putnam Tells of Results of
the Conferences.
SOME LIVELY CONTROVERSIES
Satisfactory Compromise Reached by
the Composers and the Pub
fishers Of Music.
REPORTED BY COMMITTEES
SOME LIVELY CONTROVERSIES
BY WILLIAM F.. CURTIS.

BY WILLIAM r. CURTIS.
written for The Star and the Chicago Record
Herald.
The two committees on patents have COM
piled with the recommendations of the
President in his annual message, and have
agreed upon a bill to revise the copyright
laws which will be reported to the Senate
and House of Representatives simultaneous
1y. The two committees have given three
joint hearings to the persons and interests
affected by the proposed law, two In New
York and one in Washington. at which
were represented authors. publishers, dram
atists. playwrights, newspaper managers.
magazine companies, painters. sculptors,
architects, photographers publishers of ar
tistic reproductions, composers and pub
fishers of music. printers and photographers,
educational institutions. public libraries. the
American Bar Association and other legal
organizations. the International Advertis-
Ing Association, the librarian of Congress,
the registrar of copyrights. the commits
stoner of patents. the Department of JUS
tice of the government and the customs
division of the Treasury Department. All
of these persons and organizations were al
lowed to express their views, suggest and
object, advise and criticise, and seldom
was subject more thoroughly ventilated
from all points of view. If the committees
go wrong il will not be for lack Of in
formation.
There were some lively controversies The
most difficult task of the committees has
been to settle a three-cOrnered fight be-
tween the composers and publishers of
music and the mechanical piano men.
which was satisfactorily compromised by
inserting a provision permitting the use of
all musical compositions by mechanical de-
vices just the same as If they were per-
formed with the hands or sung by the
voice, except in public performances for
profit.
Extending the Copyright Term.
The bill extends the term of a copyright
for a period of thirty years after the death
Of the author. with the provision that in
the twenty-seventh year after a book has
been copyrighted the author shall file no.
tice OF his desire for the full term. Accord
ing to DIR. Herbert Putnam, the librarian
Of Congress, who presided at all the hear
ings, and has kept closely in touch with the
development of the movement, this Will
shorten, instead of extend, the present
term of copyright whenever an author dies
within twelve vars after the publication
of his work.
"Our first suggestion" said Dr. Putnam,
twas to follow the English law, which pro-
vides an alternative term of forty-two years
as minimum, but it was withdrawn be-
cause that arrangement does not seem to
be popular in England, and also because
we were convinced that the American peo-
PIE would prefer the provision as 1t stands
The existing term of Copyright is
possible forty-two years. The bill intro
duced last May provided fifty years for a
large number of articles, but for original
work il added fifty years more to the re-
mainder of the lifetime of the author after
publication, so to permit a term Of the
remainder of his life and fifty years after
his death. Such a term exists in France
and fourteen other countries, and the
authors of this country thought it was little
enough II also Endorsed by all the
other groups represented in the confer
enceS. The House committee, however. de-
oided to recommend a term of thirty instead
of fifty years beyond the life of the author
by providing an initial term the same as
at present. At the end of this copyright
Is to terminate absolutely unless in the
have it extended to the full period. How
the committees reached this conclusion will
doubtless be explained In its report, but
the considerations which would appear to
support it are these:
Aim of the Law.
THE law ought to assure an author pro-
vision for his old age and enable him to
provide for his children until they reach
the age when they are likely to be self
supporting, or, II daughters. married. In
the second place, the community ought to
be assured of the benefit of his own revision
of his works as long as he lives. At the
same time copyrights ought not to be tied
up when they do not require so long
term. The conventional term in tesla
mentary requests is twenty-one years
after death, which makes provision for
children during their minority. Thirty
years. which is the present term In
several of the European countries seems
to be ample, although young men en-
tering professions today are not usu
ally self-supporting until their twenty
sixth year and the average age of marriage
Is advancing But for the benefit of the
public it was thought that there should be
a requirement that, after a reasonable pc
Rod OF years, the owner of copyright
should give some positive notice that he
desired to extend the protection. The COM
mittee proposes that such notice shall be
given in the twenty-seventh year. and that
otherwise the copyright shall conclude in
the twenty-eighth year
DR. Putnam and Mr.. Solberg, the registrar
of copyrights, say that their experience
teaches them that not more than one-ffth
of the owners would seek this extension.
The proposed bill omits all distinctions ex-
cept as regards photographs. for which 1t
provides fiat twenty-eight years. and
posthumous works. for which 1t provides
thirty years Compilations. TRANSACTIONS.
thing else are included in the same class.
Not a Public Burden.
"A term extending thirty years beyond
the life of an author may seem a consider
able enlargement of the existing term, but
1t isn't necessarily So said DR.. Putnam.
The average of life is about sixty years
Assuming that the average work of value
is produced in middle nfe-when the author
II forty years oid-its total term would be
but fifty years. and the present clause
gives a possible forty-two years. There will
be objections to any enlargement of the
term. but believe that many OF them are
based on misapprehensions. The most IA
miiiar is that the public ought not to be
deprived of a work so long, but 1t Is not
the copyright that deprives the public of a
book The copyright gives the book to the
public. An author is not compelled to
publish his manuscript. What induces him
to do so is the assurance that he will get
a profit out of its sale. The moment he
publishes it the public gets the benefit of
the work and continues to do so through
out the term of copyright. The public
does not get the work any more freely
or completely after the term expires only
while the copyright lasts a part of the
price goes to the author.
The authors royalty usually Is from ~
TO Is per cent of the published price of the
book, and that IL certainly not burden
upon the reading public. The question Is
not between the author and the public; II
IL between the author and those publishers
who wish to print and sell his works for