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hearing, 1909

25162), by Mr. Washburn January 15, 1909 (H. R. Fourth Conbill 26282). On January 20, 1909, a fourth public gressional hearing, specifically on "common law rights as applied to copyright," was given by the Copyright Subcommittee of the House Committee on Patents, to which had been referred the preparation of a final draft, which hearing was reported with the inclusion of a communication of Arthur Steuart, Esq., Chairman of the Copyright Committee of the American Bar Association, giving a careful analysis of the several common law rights possible as to copyright property. After this hearing there were further reintroductions of copyright bills by Mr. Washburn January 28, 1909 (H. R. bill 27310), by Chairman Currier February 15, 1909 (H. R. bill 28192), and in the Senate by Senator Smoot February 22, 1909 (Senate bill 9440).

The Currier bill was referred to the Committee of Passage of the Whole February 22, when a report (H. R. report act of March 2222) was presented. On February 26, amendments 4, 1909 were agreed to by the House Committee on Patents; on March 2 the bill had a further reading, and on March 3 was briefly discussed and passed by the House. Senator Smoot had reported to the Senate March 1, 1909, with a report from the Committee (Senate report 1108), and on March 3 the bill as passed by the House was brought before the Senate, briefly discussed, and passed. The exact votes were not recorded.

Roosevelt

It had scarcely been hoped at the beginning of Approval by 1909 by the friends of copyright that the act could President be passed during the short session, but the energy of Chairman Currier, complemented by Senator Smoot in the Senate, carried the bills through, and on March 4, the last day of the administration of President Roosevelt, himself an author of distinction and mem

Code of 1909

Hopes of future progress

ber of the Authors Club, he had the satisfaction of signing, as one of his last acts, a copyright bill completely codifying the law of copyright and greatly broadening international copyright. The copyright code, as in force July 1, 1909, is printed with an index and with the regulations adopted by the U.S. Supreme Court, as Copyright Office Bulletin 14.

The code of 1909 made the manufacturing clause more drastic, though freeing photographs from its provisions, by requiring in the case of books, periodicals, lithographs and photo-engravings that they should be completely manufactured within the United States, including printing and binding as well as typesetting, with requirement of affidavit from printer or publisher in the case of books; but made on the other hand a further approach to complete international copyright in freeing from the manufacturing clause "the original text of a book of foreign origin in a language or languages other than English," thus relieving a difficult situation which threatened retaliation and the rupture of copyright relations by Germany and other countries, and in extending protection to mechanical music reproductions on a reciprocal basis. The hopes of the friends of copyright will not, however, be fully realized until the manufacturing clause, with the affidavit provision, is repealed, and the United States enabled by Congress to join the family of civilized nations as a signatory power in the Berlin convention.

XX

COPYRIGHT THROUGHOUT THE BRITISH EMPIRE

systems

COPYRIGHT in America has been so much modeled on English and English statutes, decisions and precedents, that the American previous chapters have covered most of the points of copyright law in the United Kingdom. There are two essential points of difference, however, between the English and American systems. British copyright has depended essentially upon first publication, not upon citizenship; and registration and deposit, which are here a sine qua non, have there been necessary only (except in the case of works of art) previous to, and as a basis for, an infringement suit.

residence

A book first published in the United Kingdom First publi(England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland) has been cation and ipso facto copyright, under the act of 1842, throughout British dominions; and this protection was definitely extended, by the act of 1886, to a work first published elsewhere in the British dominions. This held whether the author were a natural-born or naturalized British subject, wherever resident; or a person who was at the time of publication on British soil, colonies included, and so "temporarily a subject of the Crown

bound by, subject to, and entitled to the benefit of the laws," even if he made a journey for this express purpose; or, probably but not certainly, an alien friend not resident in the United Kingdom nor in a country with which there was copyright reciprocity. Under the statute of Anne, it was decided by the Law Lords, in the case of Jefferys v. Boosey (overruling Boosey v. Jefferys), that a person not a British subject or resident was not entitled to copyright

Variations in copyright

terms

The new

because of first publication in England, but the statute of 1842 was construed to alter this. In the ruling case under the last-named statute, Routledge v. Low, in 1868, Lords Cairns and Westbury laid down explicitly that first publication was the single necessity, and that copyright was not strengthened by residence; though Lord Cranworth objected and Lord Chelmsford doubted whether this was good law. It was because of this doubt that American authors had been accustomed to make a day's stay in Montreal on the date of English publication of their books. This decision was accepted by the law officers of the Crown and became in 1891 the basis for the reciprocal relations proclaimed by the President of the United States.

The copyright term in Great Britain has differed for the several subjects of copyright, under the divers acts as stated in previous chapters, the general term being for life and seven years or for forty-two years, whichever the longer. Registration at Stationers' Hall has been requisite only (except in the case of works of art) as preliminary to suit, and infringement previous to registration was punishable. Deposit of one copy in the British Museum has been required within a stated time from publication, but only on penalty of fine and not forfeiture of copyright, and the four university libraries might demand copies. Under the international copyright acts, registration and deposit at Stationers' Hall for transmission to the British Museum was requisite for foreign works; but this was made unnecessary by the adhesion of Great Britain to the International Copyright Union.

The Copyright Act, 1911, as amended by the British code Lords, which became law (1 & 2 Geo. v. c. 46) on Crown approval December 16, 1911, provides a codification for the British Empire as comprehensive as

the American code. The act covers as Part I, Imperial copyright, Part II, International copyright, Part III, Supplemental provisions. The act extends throughout His Majesty's dominions, but is not to be in force in a self-governing dominion (Canada and Newfoundland, Australia and New Zealand, and South Africa) unless enacted by the legislature thereof, either in full or with modifications relating exclusively to procedure and remedies or necessary to adapt the act to the circumstances of the dominion, in case of which adoption the legislature may repeal the act or enact supplementary legislation with reference to works first published or whose authors are resident within the dominion. Thus the bill practically permits the self-governing colonies to legislate independently, each for itself within its domain. The act may also be extended by Orders in Council to English protectorates "and Cyprus." Its provisions are also made applicable (by Part II on international copyright) through Orders in Council to subjects or citizens of foreign countries, directly or through separate action by self-governing dominions, under conditions which practically cover countries within the International Copyright Union under the Berne-Berlin conventions, though these are not named in the act; and to countries having reciprocal relations, with authority to the Crown to withdraw any benefits of the act from citizens of countries not giving reciprocal protection. This code is based largely upon previous British practice, though with considerable extension and improvement.

Copyright under this code covers "every original Scope and literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic work," first extent published within the included parts of His Majesty's dominions, and in the case of an unpublished work, the author of which was "at the date of the making

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