Acts, for a work first published in any foreign country, whether an arrangement for international copyright has or has not been made with that country. In Boucicault v. Delafield,1 and in Boucicault v. Chatterton,2 the plaintiff, while resident in England, claimed, under 3 & 4 Will. IV. c. 15, and 5 & 6 Vict. c. 45, the exclusive right of representing a manuscript play, which he had caused to be publicly performed in New York before its representation in Great Britain. He was not entitled to any privileges under the International Copyright Acts, for the reason that their provisions did not apply to the United States; and the court held that, because the drama had been first publicly represented abroad, he was barred by section 19 of 7 & 8 Vict. c. 12, from obtaining the protection to which he would have been entitled under 3 & 4 Will. IV. c. 15, and 5 & 6 Vict. c. 45, if the first performance of his play had been in Great Britain.3

United States.

The statute of the United States does not expressly prescribe that the first publication of a work entitled to copyright shall be in this country. Nor has this point been directly adjudicated, although it is settled that no coyyright can be obtained for a book unless a printed copy of the titlepage shall be deposited before publication, and two copies of the book delivered within ten days after publication. But there can be no doubt that the proper construction of the act

11 Hem. & M. 597. 25 Ch. D. 267.

A similar provision was made by section 14 of 1 & 2 Vict. c. 59, which was the first statute providing for international copyright, and which is now repealed. As each of these acts was passed for the purpose of extending protection to foreign authors whose works were first published in their own country, and whose country gave reciprocal privileges to English authors, the natural purpose of the provision above cited would seem to be simply to declare negatively that such foreign authors should not be entitled to copyright under that statute, unless they should comply with its prescribed requirements. This view is strength ened by the fact that no such provision

is contained in the general law of 5 & 6 Vict. c. 45; and it appears to have been the view taken by the courts in all of the cases, excepting Boucicault ". Delafield and Boucicault v. Chatterton, decided since the passing of the first International Copyright Act, in which it has been held that English copyright is defeated by a prior publication abroad. For those cases were, and the two cases just cited might have been, properly decided without reference to the International Copyright Acts. But it is immaterial whether section 19 of 7 & 8 Vict. c. 12, does or does not apply to cases governed by the general statutes; for it makes no change whatever in the law in those cases.

is the same as that given to the English statutes, and that an author forfeits his claim to copyright in this country by a first, but not by a contemporaneous, publication of his work abroad.1

A publication, to defeat the author's claim to copyright, must be one which has been made by his authority or with his consent 2

Place of Printing. The question may arise whether it is essential to the securing of copyright that the book shall be printed in the United States. On this point the statutes are silent, and there is no judicial light. Every requirement which the statute prescribes concerning the vesting of copyright may be complied with, though the work has been printed in a foreign country. Nor does the purpose or spirit of the law demand that the printing shall be done in the United States. The copyright laws were passed, not for the protection of mechanical industries, but for the encouragement of native authors, and the advancement of learning in the country. These objects are secured by the first publication here of works of literature and art; and hence such publication is made a condition precedent of obtaining the privileges granted. But printing is a thing distinct from publication, and whether it has been done in one place or in another is a question which does not affect the true purposes of the statute. If the protection of native industry were a legitimate object of the copyright law, it might with reason be claimed that all the material processes in the production of a book should be done in the country. Copyright would then be defeated, not only by printing the work abroad, but also by setting the types and casting the stereotype-plates in a foreign country, though the copies be struck off here. So, also, it would be essential that the binding should be done in this country; and the same principle, logically carried out, would require that the paper should be of home manufacture. It is not reasonable to suppose that such requirements are within the scope of the statute passed for the advancement of learning. It is clearly imma

1 See Wall v. Gordon, 12 Abb. Pr. De Witt, 2 Sweeny (N. Y.), 530, 551, N. S. (N. Y.), 349. on ap. 47 N. Y. 532; Shook v. Neuendorff, 11 Daily Reg. (N. Y.), 985.

2 Boucicault v. Wood, 2 Biss. 34, 39; Crowe v. Aiken, Ibid. 208; Palmer v.

terial where the work has been written, and the same principle should govern the question of printing.1

In England, the question is in the same condition as in this country. The statutes are silent, and the point has not been judicially determined; but there are dicta to the effect that the printing must be done in Great Britain.2

United States.

SUMMARY OF THE LAW.

The conditions on which copyright will vest in a work may now be summarized. In the United States, the title of a book must be recorded before publication, the copyright notice printed on the title-page, or the page next following, and two copies of the book delivered or mailed to the Librarian of Congress within ten days after publication. The first publication of the work must be in this country. If any work is published without compliance with these conditions, it becomes public property.

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Great Britain. In England, there are some special regulations in the case of prints, engravings, works of sculpture, paintings, and photographs; and special provision is made for protecting, on certain conditions, the works of foreign authors. first published abroad. Copyright will vest in any literary work of which a British subject is the author, on the sole condition that it is first published in the United Kingdom, or is published there on the day of its first publication elsewhere. Copyright will vest in the work of a foreign author on the same condition, provided he be anywhere within the British dominions on the day his work is published in the United Kingdom. It is immaterial where an English author may be

"It is difficult," says Mr. Curtis, to extract from the act any thing like a tariff protection to the mere arts of paper-making and printing. Literary labor and the advancement of the lit erature of the country were the great objects of encouragement." Law of Copyright (Boston, 1847), p. 144.

2 In Clementi v. Walker, decided in 1824, 2 Barn. & Cr. 861, the court expressed the opinion that the printing must be done in Great Britain. Lord St. Leonards gave expression to like

views in Jefferys v. Boosey, 4 H. L. C. 983, 986. In Page v. Townsend, 5 Sim. 395, it was held that the object of the legislature was not to protect prints "which were designed, engraved, etched, or worked abroad, and only published in Great Britain." But this decision was based on the special provisions of the statute relating to copyright in prints.

8 For the variation in these requirements in the case of works of art, see ante, p. 265.

at the time of publication. When copyright has once vested, protection extends throughout the British dominions.1 While valid copyright may be secured on these conditions, an action at law or a suit in equity cannot be maintained for piracy until the work has been registered in the manner prescribed by statute. But such registration may be made at any time before the action or suit is brought.

United Kingdom and British Dominions Defined. It is important here to note carefully the meaning of the terms used. The United Kingdom embraces England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland; while the British dominions include "all parts of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the islands of Jersey and Guernsey, all parts of the East and West Indies, and all the colonies, settlements, and possessions of the crown which now are or hereafter may be acquired."2 It will be noticed that the area within which the presence of a foreign author at the time of publication is required, and that throughout which copyright extends, are the same, namely, the British dominions; while the place of publication is restricted to a smaller territory, the United Kingdom.3

1 See Routledge v. Low, Law Rep. ities in any British possession shall be 3 H. L. 100.

25 & 6 Vict. c. 45, s. 2. 8 Colonial Copyright. The provisions of the general copyright law, 5 & 6 Vict. c. 45, apply to all parts of the British dominions. Section 17 of this act prohibits, under heavy penalties, any person without the consent of the owner of the copyright from importing into any English colony a book copy righted in Great Britain, and reprinted in any country out of the British dominions. A like prohibition was made in the Customs Act, 16 & 17 Vict. c. 107, s. 160, and is continued in the Consolidated Customs Act, 39 & 40 Vict. c. 36, s. 42, passed in 1876. By 10 & 11 Vict. c. 95, passed in 1847, and known as the Foreign Reprints Act, the Queen was empowered, by order in council, to suspend in certain cases the prohibition against importing English copyrighted books into the colonies. This act provides, "that in case the legislature or proper legislative author

disposed to make due provision for securing or protecting the rights of British authors in such possession, and shall pass an act or make an ordinance for that purpose, and shall transmit the same in the proper manner to the Secretary of State, in order that it may be submitted to her Majesty, and in case her Majesty shall be of opinion that such act or ordinance is sufficient for the purpose of securing to British authors reasonable protection within such possession, it shall be lawful for her Majesty, if she think fit so to do, to express her royal approval of such act or ordinance, and thereupon to issue an order in council declaring that so long as the provisions of such act or ordinance continue in force within such colony the prohibitions contained in the aforesaid acts, and herein before recited, and any prohibitions contained in the said acts, or in any other acts, against the importing, selling, letting out to hire, exposing for sale or hire,

DURATION OF COPYRIGHT.

In the United States, the statute grants protection in the case of all works for twenty-eight years from the time of or possessing foreign reprints of books. In 1875, the Dominion Parliament first composed, written, printed, or published in the United Kingdom, and entitled to copyright therein, shall be suspended so far as regards such colony; and thereupon such act or ordinance shall come into operation, except so far as may be otherwise provided therein, or as may be otherwise directed by such order in council, any thing in the said last-recited act or in any other act to the contrary notwithstanding."