OBSOLETE.

ACT OF 1846, CHAP. 178, § 10.

forming the services herein authorized and required, as he is entitled to for performing like services under existing laws of the United States. Approved June 30th, 1834.

ACT OF 1846, CHAPTER 178.

9 STATUTES AT LARGE, 106.

[Obsolete: Repealed by Act of 1859, § 6.]

Extract from an Act to establish the "Smithsonian Institution, for the Increase and Diffusion of Knowledge among Men."

SECTION 10. And be it further enacted, That the author or proprietor of any book, map, chart, musical composition, print, cut, or engraving, for which a copyright shall be secured under the existing acts of Congress, or those which shall hereafter be enacted respecting copyrights, shall, within three months from the publication of said book, map, chart, musical composition, print, cut, or engraving, deliver, or cause to be delivered, one copy of the same to the librarian of the Smithsonian Institution, and one copy to the librarian of Congress Library, for the use of the said libraries.

Approved August 10, 1846.

1. This act did not make the delivery of copies of a work to the librarian of the Smithsonian Institution, and to the librarian of the Congress Library, a pre-requisite to a title to a copyright for the work. Jollie v. Jaques, 1 Blatchf., 620-622.-NELSON, J.; N. Y., 1850.

2. The duty was enjoined only upon those who have already acquired the right, and no forfeiture was declared in case of a non-compliance. Ibid., 621

In Act supplemental to an act entitled "An act to amend the several acts respecting copyright," approved February third, eighteen hundred and thirty

one.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatuses of the United States of America in Congress assembled: Any copyright hereafter granted under the laws of the United States to the author or proprietor of any dramatic composition, designed or suited for public representation, shall be deemed and taken to confer upon the said author or proprietor, his heirs or assigns, along with the sole right to print and publish the said composition, the sole right also to act, perform or represent the same, or cause it to be acted, performed or represented, cn any stage or public place, during the whole period for which the copyright is obtained; and any manager, actor, or other person acting, performing or representing the said composition, without or against the consent of the said author or proprietor, his heirs or assigns, shall be liable for damages, to be sued for and recovered by action on the case or other equivalent remedy, with costs of suit in any court of the United States, such damages in all cases to be rated and assessed at such sum not less than one hundred dollars for the first, and fifty dollars for every subsequent performance, as to the court having cognizance thereof shall appear to be just :

IN FORCE.

ACT OF 1856, CHAP. 169.

Provided nevertheless, That nothing herein enacted shall impair any right to act, perform or represent a dramatic composition as aforesaid, which right may have been acquired, or shall in future be acquired by any manager, actor or other person previous to the securing of the copyright for the said composition, or to restrict in any way the right of such author to process in equity in any court of the United States for the better and further enforcement of his rights.

Approved August 18th, 1856.

1. The act of 1856 was passed to give to the authors of dramatie compositions the exclusive right of acting and representing, which they did not enjoy under the previous statutes. Roberts v. Meyers, 13 Mo. Law Rep., 397.-SPRAGUE, J.; Mass., 1860.

2. It assumes the doctrine that representation is not publication. The prior acts secured to authors the exclusive right of printing and publication; and it was only because publication did not embrace acting or representation that this act was passed, superadding that exclusive right to those previously enjoyed. Ibid., 397.

3. The previous acting or representing a play will not deprive the author of the right to afterward take out a copyright. Ibid., 397.

4. An assignee of the exclusive right of acting and representing a drama in certain places, may maintain an action in his own name, even after a representation by him, for an injunction to prevent its being represented by another within such places. Ibid., 400, 401.

5. And such action may be maintained although the author or assignee has only filed his title-page, and has not published the work or play. Ibid., 401. (CONTRA, post, 8.)

6. A legislative enactment securing generally to literary proprietors a copyright for a limited period, but containing no special provision as to theatrical representation, does not, in the case of a dramatic literary composition, include the sole right of representing it. Keene v. Wheat

ley, 9 Amer. Law Reg., 44.-CADWALLADER, J.; Pa., 1860.

7. The only act which affords redress for unauthorized theatrical representations is the act of 18th August, 1856; but this only applies to cases in which copyright is effectually secured under the act of 1831. Ibid., 45.

8. But under this act, an assignee of a dramatic composition cannot maintain an action for its unauthorized representation by others, unless he has performed all the acts required by law to secure a copyright, including the deposit of a printed copy. Ibid., 45, 46.

ACT OF 1859, CHAP. 22, §§ 6, 8.

IN FORCE.

ACT OF 1859, CHAPTER 22.

11 STATUTES AT LARGE, 380.

[This Act still in Force.]

Extract from an Act entitled, “An act for keeping and distributing all public documents."

SECTION 6. [Repealing act of 1846, § 10.] And be it further enacted, That the tenth section of an act entitled, "An act to establish the Smithsonian Institution for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men," approved August 10th, 1846, is hereby repealed.

SECTION 8. And be it further enacted, That all books, maps, charts, and other publications of every nature whatever, beretofore deposited in the Department of State, according to the laws regulating copyrights, together with all the records of the Department of State, in regard to the same, shall be removed to, and be under the control of the Department of the Interior, which is hereby charged with all the duties connected with the same, and with all matters pertaining to copyright, in the same manner and to the same extent that the Department of State is now charged with the same; and hereafter all such publications of every nature whatever shall, under present laws and regulations, be left with and kept by him.

Approved February 5th, 1859.

IN FORCE.

ACT OF 1861, CHAP. 37.

ACT OF 1861, CHAPTER 37.

12 STATUTES AT LARGE, 130.

[This Act still in Force.]

An Act to extend the right of appeal from the decisions of circuit courts to the Supreme Court of the United States.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That from all judgments and decrees of any circuit court rendered in any action, suit, controversy, or case, at law or in equity, arising under any law of the United States granting or confirming authors the exclusive right to their respective writings, or to inventors the exclusive right to their inventions or discoveries, a writ of error or appeal, as the case may require, shall lie, at the instance of either party, to the Supreme Court of the United States, in the same manner and under the same circumstances as is now provided by law in other judgments and decrees of such circuit courts, without regard to the sum or value in controversy in the action. Approved February 18th, 1861.

ACT OF 1865, CHAPTER 126.

13 STATUTES AT LARGE, 540.

[This Act still in Force.]

An Act supplemental to an act entitled "An act to amend

the several acts respecting copyright," approved February 3d, 1831, and to the acts in addition thereto and amendment thereof.