(a) [To print, vend, etc., copyrighted works.] To print, reprint, publish, copy; and vend the copyrighted work; (b) [Translate, dramatize, etc.] To translate the copyrighted work into other languages or dialects, or make any other version thereof, if it be a literary work; to dramatize it if it be a non-dramatic work; to convert it into a novel or other non-dramatic work if it be a drama; to arrange or adapt it if it be a musical work; to complete, execute, and finish it if it be a model or design for a work of art; (c) [Deliver in public as lecture, etc.] To deliver or authorize the delivery of the copyrighted work in public for profit if it be a lecture, sermon, address, or similar production; (d) [Perform, exhibit, etc., if drama.] To perform or represent the copyrighted work publicly if it be a drama or, if it be a dramatic work and not reproduced in copies for sale, to vend any manuscript or any record whatsoever thereof; to make or to procure the making of any transcription or record thereof by or from which, in whole or in part, it may in any manner or by any method be exhibited, performed, represented, produced, or reproduced; and to exhibit, perform, represent, produce, or reproduce it in any manner or by any method whatsoever; (e) [If a musical composition mechanical reproduction royalty to owner by manufacturer.] To perform the copyrighted work publicly for profit if it be a musical composition and for the purpose of public performance for profit; and for the purposes set forth in subsection (a) hereof, to make any arrangement or setting of it or of the melody of it in any system of notation or any form of record in which the thought of an author may be recorded and from which it may be read or reproduced. . . Sec. 2. [Rights at common law not impaired.] That nothing in this Act shall be construed to annul or limit the right of the author or proprietor of an unpublished work, at common law or in equity, to prevent the copying, publication, or use of such unpublished work without his consent, and to obtain damages therefor. . . . Sec. 9. [Affixing notice of copyright.] That any person entitled thereto by this Act may secure copyright for his work by publication thereof with the notice of copyright required by this Act; and such notice shall be affixed to each copy thereof published or offered for sale in the United States by authority of the copyright proprietor, except in the case of books seeking ad interim protection under section twenty-one of this Act. Sec. 10. [Certificate of deposit of copies.] That such person may obtain registration of his claim to copyright by complying with the provisions of this Act, including the deposit of copies, and upon such compliance the register of copyrights shall issue to him the certificate provided for in section fifty-five of this Act. Sec. 11. [Works not reproduced for sale.] That copyright may also be had of the works of an author of which copies are not reproduced for sale, by the deposit, with claim of copyright, of one complete copy of such work if it be a lecture or similar production or a dramatic or musical composition; of a photographic print if the work be a photograph; or of a photograph or other identifying reproduction thereof if it be a work of art or a plastic work or drawing. . . Sec. 12. [Deposit of two copies.] That after copyright has been secured by publication of the work with the notice of copyright as provided in section nine of this Act, there shall be promptly deposited in the copyright office or in the mail addressed to the register of copyrights, Washington, District of Columbia, two complete copies of the best edition thereof then published. . . . Sec. 20. [Effect of accidental omissions of notice.] That where the copyright proprietor has sought to comply with the provisions of this Act with respect to notice, the omission by accident or mistake of the prescribed notice from a particular copy or copies shall not invalidate the copyright or prevent recovery for infringement against any person, who, after actual notice of the copyright, begins an undertaking to infringe it, but shall prevent the recovery of damages against an innocent infringer who has been misled by the omission of the notice. . . Sec. 23. [Duration of term.] That the copyright secured by this Act shall endure for twenty-eight years from the date of first publication, whether the copyrighted work bears the author's true name or is published anonymously or under an assumed name: Provided, That . . . the author of such work, if still living, or the widow, widower, or children of the author, if the author be not living, or if such author, widow, widower, or children be not living, then the author's executors, or in the absence of a will, his next of kin shall be entitled to a renewal and extension of the copyright in such work for a further term of twentyeight years when application for such renewal and extension shall have been made to the copyright office and duly registered therein within one year prior to the expiration of the original term of copyright: And provided further, That in default of the registration of such application for renewal and extension, the copyright in any work shall determine at the expiration of twenty-eight years from first publication. . . Sec. 25. [Infringement liability.] That if any person shall infringe the copyright in any work protected under the copyright laws of the United States such person shall be liable; (a) To an injunction restraining such infringement; (b) To pay to the copyright proprietor such damages as the copyright proprietor may have suffered due to the infringement, as well as all the profits which the infringer shall have made from such infringement. . . . Sec. 28. [Penalty for infringement.] That any person who wilfully and for profit shall infringe any copyright secured by this Act, or who shall knowingly and wilfully aid or abet such infringement, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by imprisonment for not exceeding one year or by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars nor more than one thousand dollars, or both, in the discretion of the Court. . . . Sec. 41. [Distinction between copyright and material object copyrighted.] That the copyright is distinct from the property in the material object copyrighted, and the sale or conveyance, by gift or otherwise, of the material object shall not of itself constitute a transfer of the copyright, nor shall the assignment of the copyright constitute a transfer of the title to the material object; but nothing in this Act shall be deemed to forbid, prevent, or restrict the transfer of any copy of a copyrighted work the possession of which has been lawfully obtained.1 1 [ESSAYS: G. H. Putnam, "The Question of Copyright" (reprinted in U. S. House Rep. 2401, 1890.) R. R. Bowker, "Copyright, its Law and Literature." T. Solberg, Report on Copyright Legislation (in Report of Librarian of Congress for 1903, Washington, 1904.) (1) What Things are Copyrightable 199. BANKER v. CALDWELL SUPREME COURT OF MINNESOTA. 1859 3 Minn. 94 APPEAL from judgment of District Court, Ramsey County. The appellant brings the action. The complaint alleges that the plaintiff is the owner of a certain set of abstract books and books of indexes containing complete abstracts of title to all the lands in the County of Ramsey, with the incumbrances and liens upon the same; that they had been prepared at great cost, labor, and skill, of plaintiff and others, and were of the value of five thousand dollars, and were chiefly valuable on account of the labor, care, skill, and expense, bestowed in preparing them. It then alleges the rendition of a judgment against the plaintiff, the issuance thereon of an execution to the defendant, as sheriff of the county, the levy of it, by defendant, upon the books of abstracts and indexes; and that, after the books came into his custody under said levy, the defendant, surreptitiously and clandestinely, and without the knowledge and consent of the plaintiff, caused copies of them to be made, and that defendant intends to sell said copies to one Heenan. It therefore prays for an injunction restraining the sale of the copies, and for a judgment that they be delivered to plaintiff. To this complaint the defendant demurred, on the ground that it does not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action. The Court sustained the demurrer, and judgment was entered for defendant, from which this appeal is brought. Points and authorities for appellant. The demurrer makes these points: 1. That plaintiff has no exclusive or right property in the books of abstracts and indexes. 2. That defendant, being legally in possession, under the execution had a right to copy them for any purpose. 3. That it does not appear that plaintiff has been or will be damaged by the acts of defendant. 4. That he is not entitled to the relief demanded. 1. First, the complaint states the plaintiff to be the owner of books American Bar Association, Reports of the Committee on Copyright and Trademark (Proceedings, 1906, 1907, 1908.) NOTES: "Common-law copyright." (C. L. R., VIII, 54.) "Copyrights: Common-law rights: Distinguished from statutory rights.” (H. L. R., IV, 198–204.) "Copyrights: Nature and basis." (H. L. R., IV, 204-205, 210, 212; XII, 553-556.) "Statutory copyright: Nature of right created." (H. L. R., XII, 553–556.) "Common-law rights: Distinguished from statutory." (H. L. R., XX, 143, 56.)] of abstracts and indexes, that they contain complete and perfect abstracts of titles to all the lands in Ramsey County, with the liens and incumbrances thereon, that they had been prepared at great care, labor, and skill, of plaintiff and others (those from whom he purchased), that they were chiefly made valuable because of such care. labor, and skill, and were of the value of $5,000. From these facts, the nature, character, and arrangement, of the contents of the books fully appear. The phrase, "abstract of title," has a well-settled legal signification. It signifies a "brief account of the title to real estate." Bouv. Law Dict. 42; Preston on Abstracts; 2 Sugden on Vendors, 57 to 88; Wharton Law Dict. 10. Second, the books, therefore, contain brief statements of everything affecting title to all the lands in Ramsey County, prepared (not copied), compiled and condensed, from original sources of information the original deeds or the records of the county. Plaintiff's rights are those of the author or compiler of an original work. Seventh, the fact that the work is composed of materials not originated by the author, but which are accessible to everybody, does not prevent his having property in it, if the arrangement, compilation, condensing, and preparation, of such materials in the work are the product of his labour, care, and skill, and give value to the work. This is the case with maps, charts, scientific and text books, reporter's notes, translations, and works of the like kind. . . . Eighth, the books of abstracts and indexes are on a par with the works before referred to. It is not necessary that the method of arranging the materials should be invented by the author. It is enough that the work is the result of his care, labor, and skill, and is not copied from another work. Points and authorities for respondent: ... 4. Because it appears from the complaint that the books and indexes in question were copied and the contents thereof taken from the public records of the county in the register of deeds' and clerk's offices, and that the same only contained such facts and information as are contained in the public records of said county, which are by law open and accessible to the public, and, inasmuch as it does not appear that the plaintiff had acquired and possessed, or could acquire or possess, any exclusive right to, or property in, or control over, the information, facts, and matters therein contained, to the exclusion of others. 5. Because the defendant, having lawfully and rightfully become possessed, and being in the rightful possession, of the said books and indexes, might rightfully copy the same, or cause them to be copied, without any actual injury to the same, or impairing or detracting from the information and matters contained therein, for the purposes stated in the complaint, or for any other lawful purpose whatever. . . . 7. That the common-law doctrine of copyright for the protection of authors and literary writers does not apply to this case, inasmuch as it is not stated or pretended that the books, or their system, style, or matter, is the original or intellectual production of the plaintiff. Brisbin & Bigelow, and F. & C. D. Gilfillan, for appellant. M. E. Ames, for respondent. FLANDRAU, J. The character of the books for which a copyright or exclusive property at the common law is claimed in this case, is thus given in the complaint: "A certain set of abstract books and books of indexes, containing complete abstracts of title to all the lands situated in the said County of Ramsey, with the incumbrances and liens upon the said lands, prepared at great cost and expense, and labor, and skill, of the plaintiff and others, of the value of five thousand dollars." The Court below decided that the books were not of a character which entitled them to the protection given to works of originality, as "it may be inferred that said books are copies, condensed it may be, of the public records of the county." I do not know of a technical expression that is susceptible of, or has obtained, a more definite and certain signification than the one used to designate the nature of these books; "abstracts of title" has been the subject of treatises by learned commentators, and finds a place in almost all law dictionaries. See Preston on Abstracts; Lee on Abstracts. In Burrill's Law Dictionary, vol. I, p. 12, the following apt and clear definition of the term may be found: "In conveyancing, an abstract or summary of the most important part of the deeds and other instruments composing the evidences of a title to real estate, arranged usually in chronological order, and intended to show the origin, course, and incidents, of the title, without the necessity of referring to the deeds themselves. It also contains a statement of all charges, incumbrances, liens, and liabilities to which the property may be subjected, and of which it is in any way material for purchasers to be apprised. Abstracts of title constitute an important part of the learning of conveyancing, and in England have been illustrated by treatises expressly devoted to the subject." In describing a book which contained complete abstracts of title to all the lands in a county, it would seem to me tautological after stating such to be their contents, to enter into detail and give the particular arrangements of title and incumbrances, &c.; because, no matter what plan the compiler had adopted, if the books were abstract books, and presented a complete history of the title and incumbrances of the land comprised within them, the manner in which it was presented would not affect their character one way or the other. I think the description of the books as "abstract books and books of indexes," &c., given in the complaint, must be understood to mean that they were books of the character defined in the law dictionaries under the head quoted, and not mere copies of the records. That the making of a perfect abstract of the title to a piece of land, with all the incumbrances which affect it, involves a great exercise of legal learning and careful research, I presume no lawyer will dispute. The person preparing such an abstract must understand fully all the laws on the subject of conveyancing, descents, and inheritances, uses and trusts, devises, and, |