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[H. R. 25872. In the House of Representatives. May 13, 1910]

Mr. GORDON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Patents and ordered to be printed.

House bill No. A BILL To amend section forty-nine hundred and sixty-four of the Revised Statutes of 25872 the United States.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section forty-nine hundred and sixty-four of the Revised Statutes of the United States be, and the same is, so amended as to read as follows:

“SEC. 4964. Every person who, after the recording of the title of any book as provided by this chapter, shall, at any time within the time limit of protection of any such copyright, before or after the passage of this act, without the consent of the proprietor of the copyright first obtained in writing, signed in the presence of two or more witnesses, print, publish, import, or knowing the same to be so printed, published, or imported, or shall sell or expose for sale in any manner, any copy or copies of such book, all copies of such book so found in the possession of, or traceable to the possession of such printer, publisher, importer, or other persons in violation of this act, shall forfeit every copy of such book so printed, published, imported, sold, or exposed for sale to such proprietor, his heirs, executors, administrators, or assigns, and shall also forfeit all plates and printed pages however set up or composed of such book, together with all such dies or plates of pictures or illustrations of whatsoever character, and pay such proprietor, his heirs, executors, administrators, or assigns, one dollar for each page, whether printed or illustrated, compiled in such book, as damages to be recovered in a civil action by such proprietor, his heirs, executors, administrators, or assigns in any court of competent jurisdiction against such printer, publisher, importer, salesman, or other person in violation of this act, who shall be jointly or severally liable to such proprietor, his heirs, executors, administrators, or assigns as provided for in this act."

SEC. 2. That this act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.

[H. R. 26760. In the House of Representatives. June 11, 1910]

Mr. PETERS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Patents and ordered to be printed.

House bill No. A BILL To amend "An act to amend and consolidate the acts respecting copyright." 26760

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the act of March fourth, nineteen hundred and nine, entitled "An act to amend and consolidate the acts respecting copyright," be amended by the insertion of the following after section eight (b) of said act:

"Provided, however, That when a work of art or a plastic work or drawing, copyright under this act, of which the artist or maker is a

citizen or subject of a foreign nation and not a bona fide resident of the United States, is sold without conveyance of copyright to a citizen of the United States, or to a company, association, or corporation organized under the laws of one or more of the United States, no provision of this act shall operate to prevent said purchaser from making or ordering to be made photographic or other reproduction of said work of art, plastic work, or drawing; but such reproduction shall not be used for any commercial purpose whatsoever, and the sale or commercial usage in any way of said reproduction shall constitute an infringement of copyright under this act."

Addendum No. 2

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEYS-GENERAL And of the TREASURY DEPARTMENT-COPYRIGHT ACT OF MARCH 4, 1909

CONTENTS

(a) ATTORNEYS-GENERAL OPINIONS; arranged by date:

No. 1, Nov. 17, 1909, Importation of Copyrighted Books, pp. 123-127.

No. 2, Dec. 22, 1909, Labels and Prints for Articles of Manufac

ture, pp. 127-130.

No. 3, Jan. 27, 1910, Post-Card Lithographs, pp. 131-136.

No. 4, Feb. 3, 1910, Renewal and Extension of subsisting copyrights, pp. 136–142.

No. 5, Feb. 9, 1910, Deposit of complete Book required, pp.

142-144.

No. 6, March 1, 1910, Reimportation of copyrighted Book rebound
abroad, pp. 144–146.

No. 7, March 19, 1910, Copyright Proclamation, pp. 146–149.
No. 8, May 2, 1910, Typewritten copies of a Book, pp. 149-152.

(b) TREASURY Department DECISIONS:

No. 1, Jan. 25, 1910, Importation of a Book upon abandonment of Copyright, p. 152.

No. 2, June 23, 1910, Importation of translation of American copyrighted Books, p. 153.

(T. D. 30136)

IMPORTATION OF COPYRIGHTED BOOKS

Section 31 of the act of March 4, 1909, prohibits the importation of any book copyrighted in the United States during the existence of such copyright, regardless of the law under which the copyright was obtained, unless the book was produced in accordance with the manufacturing provisions of section 15 of the copyright act.

TREASURY Department, November 24, 1909 SIR: Referring to your letter of the 28th ultimo, requesting instructions relative to certain religious books entitled "Key to Heaven," imported by the C. Wildermann Company per steamship Lapland, October 5, 1909, covered by entry No. 246131, which books have been returned by the appraiser as an illegal importation in violation of section 31 of the copyright law effective July 1, 1909, I have to advise you that the matter was submitted to the Attorney-General for an expression of his views, and to inclose herewith for your information a copy of the Attorney-General's opinion dated the 17th instant.

The Attorney-General holds that the prohibition against importations contained in section 31 of the act of March 4, 1909, applies to every American copyright in a book regardless of the law under which the copyright was obtained.

The books in question were not produced in accordance with the manufacturing provision of section 15 of the copyright act and the Department therefore holds that they are not entitled to importation, and you are hereby instructed to refuse entry of the same and to take appropriate action under section 32 of the copyright act.

Respectfully

(70199.)

COLLECTOR OF CUSTOMS, New York

CHARLES D. HILLES

Assistant Secretary

Nov. 17, 1909

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Washington, November 17, 1909

SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 11th instant, in which you state the following facts:

On October 5, 1909, there arrived at the port of New York per steamship Lapland certain books consigned to the C. Wildermann Company. These books were copyrighted by H. L. Kilner & Co. on January 5, 1909, and their importation was authorized by the copyright proprietor. They were printed from type set and plates made in the United States, and the printed sheets were sent to Belgium and there bound, and they were then reimported in the finished condition. The appraiser has reported that their importation is illegal under section 31 of the copyright act of March 4, 1909, in that they were not bound in the United States, and for that reason they have been detained by the collector; and you ask my opinion whether or not the holding of the appraiser is correct.

The portion of section 31 of the act of March 4, 1909 (35 Stats., 1082), here material, reads as follows:

That during the existence of the American copyright in any book the importation into the United States of any piratical copies thereof or of any copies thereof (although authorized by the author or proprietor) which have not been produced in accordance with the manufacturing provisions specified in section fifteen of this act, or any plates of the same not made from type set within the limits of the United States, or any copies thereof produced by lithographic or photo-engraving process not performed within the limits of the United States, in accordance with the provisions of section fifteen of this act, shall be, and is hereby, prohibited. Section 5 of this act provides that the application for registration shall specify to which of the following classes the work in which copyright is claimed belongs: (a) books, including composite and cyclopædic works, directories, gazetteers, and other compilations; (b) periodicals, including newspapers; and nine other classes are mentioned therein.

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