Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-01-24

PROSPECTS, of better protection fol-
American authors are hailed with salts
faction by many as the proposed new
copyright bill is passed by the House OF
Representatives. The old measure Is
described as archaic, while the VeStal
bill is praised because 1t creates more
definite property rights, puts this coun-
try into cooperation with other ma
| tions, and has the "divisible" feature
which provides that an author may
make separate contracts for the various
forms in which his creative work Is
placed before the public. There is some
criticism of restrictions on the tmporta-
ton of texts which may have value In
scholastic work.
"The Vestal bill has lain eight years
] in the House." says the Milwaukee SEN
tinel, with the query as to why any one
should believe that an author Is dif-
ferent from other craftsmen, in that
what he creates should be taken away
from him by international publishers,
while he is held powerless to demand a
reckoning" The Sentinel adds: If an
American merchant ship, lying in a
| foreign port, were raided OF its goods,
| the incident might start q war. But an
| American authors book may be taken
abroad and published. The VestM bill
would prevent this practice"
why it should have taken so long to
get this measure through the House it
is hard to say" declares the Baltimore
Evening Sun, for it does no more than
extend to the products of mans men,
tai labor the same protection of law
that now covers the products OF his
manual labor. If man has
made book, it is regarded as his book
only for a limited time and under many
restrictions. Indeed, 1t Is not his book
at all until he has gone through COM
plicated process of copyrighting. Even
under the Vestal bill the time limit re-
mains. Fifty years after the authors
death his books become common prop
erty. But under this bill the author at
least can hope that his widow will en-
Joy the fruits of his labor for the greater
part of her lifetime"
X X X
The measure would make consid-
cradle change in the theory of owner
ship" it is pointed out by the Kansas
City Times, which continues: Under
the present arrangement copyright is
regarded as single, indiViSible property
right. It belongs to the first regiStrant.
But many works really involve multiple
rights. A story, for example, may have
a magazine serial value, a book publi-
cation value, dramatization value and
motion picture production value.
If an author allows a copyright on his
story to be taken out by magazine
publisher, the book, play and motion
picture rights are lost to him, unless he
has made specific provision for their
return. And then neither he nor the
persons to whom he may later sell them
can sue for protection against infringe
ment."
Emphasizing the fact that "the United
States has until August l to accept the
invitation to join the international
Copyright Union" the Dayton Daily
News states: "At present AZ countries
are members of the union, which has
existed for more than four decades.
The United States is one of the minor
ity outside the pale, which includes
Russia, China, Mexico and Siam.
America has been asked to adhere to
the copyright convention signed in
Rome almost three years ago. The
country would share thus in the bene- |
flts of full legal protection for the
literary and artistic output Of its peo-
pie, uniformly provided by the member
countries. Authors hopeful OF foreign
TRANSACTIONS OF their work would most
hate to see the invitation refused, but
the bill is equally important to those |
whose following is counted only in this |
country"
1.-The new measure" declares the Bos- |
ton Transcript, contains one provision |
that is altogether hurtful: 1t forbids |
the importation of any British book, |
even single copy of one and on pay
ment Of duty, If an American publisher |
has applied for the right to publish 1t,
or even II he has declared that Ne in
tends to publish it. The effect Of euchl