XIII

RIGHTS OF AN AUTHOR IN HIS W

Literary Property. The general term to express the ownership which an auth in his works, without reference to the whether he claims it under the protectio copyright or not, is "Literary Prop which accordingly, includes the owners unpublished or manuscript works, 1 etc. It is generally recognized th a person composes a literary work, does not choose to publish it, it is as much his property as is his real He may not have legal rights simply i ideas, but he does have a title to them c ered in reference to the outward form in they are clothed. This feature of commo protects an author from improper use original manuscript sent to a publish printer. In case of any improper use property the regular legal remedies fo violation of rights of property would be a cable, and the usual incidents of pro would attach; still, for special reasons, unpublished writings cannot be taken by itors in payment for debts. An owner of kind of property can sell it or dispose of

164

will, or it may pass to his representatives at his death in the ordinary course of succession.

The rights of an author in a letter addressed by him to a correspondent have been frequently considered by courts of justice, with the general decision that, while the author parts with the paper on which the letter is written, he still retains an ownership in its sentiments and expressions. By this divided ownership the receiver is entitled to the letter considered only as an autograph, while if he publishes the contents, he may be pursued by an action in court. The ownership of the receiver is corporeal, that of the author is incorporeal. In the same way if an author should address in writing a poem or other literary work to a friend, a distinction between the ownership of the paper and the poem would immediately spring up. This rule does not apply only to letters having a literary character, as such distinction could not be made and maintained, so that in general a letter or other literary production cannot be published by its receiver or any other person without the consent of the author, unless it may be to vindicate the receiver's character or to subserve the ends of public justice.

On the other hand, it is clear that an author of a manuscript may absolutely lose all proprietory rights of it by printing it and placing copies on sale without obtaining copyright.

It is then considered as dedicated to the public and becomes equally the property of any one who wishes to use it, and cannot be copyrighted in its original form by either the author or any one else.

Literary property may, in this state of ownership, be assigned, as is often done by a publisher's purchase of a manuscript from an author. This gives rise to a distinction between an author and a mere proprietor, a distinction constantly referred to in the copyright law. The sale of a manuscript will, unless specific stipulations are made to the contrary, give the purchaser all rights which the author of it, considered as an unpublished work, would possess. Whether the purchaser could take. out a copyright or not would depend on special conditions based upon the provisions of the copyright statutes.

Copyright. By the term "Copyright" is meant an exclusive right given by statutory law to an author or proprietor, to multiply copies of his work and place them on sale. Without this statutory protection the act of publication would be regarded by the courts as an act of dedication of the work to the public, and accordingly destructive of the author's right of property. The policy of the copyright law is to give the author or proprietor protection in the sale of his work for a specified period, and then to

throw its publication open to all. This theory is marked out in the United States Constitution, which gives power to Congress to secure to authors the exclusive right to their works for "limited times. The whole subject is under the control of Congress, and any legislation of a State affecting copyright would be inoperative and void. The result is that if an author does not choose to publish, his right to his manuscript is perpetual, and may be vindicated in courts of law on general principles of justice; if he prefers to publish, he brings himself within the purview of the law of Congress, must have his right only for such time as the statute provides, and must seek his remedies exclusively in the United States courts.

A digest of the new copyright law is given on page 178, but it may be said here that in general anything may be copyrighted that is the subject of literary ownership. More specifically, the term "Copyright" is used applied to books, maps, charts, dramatic or musical compositions, engravings, cuts, prints, photographs and their negatives, paintings, drawings, chromos, statues, statuary, and models, or designs intended to be perfected as works of fine art, and in determining whether one of the subjects can in any particular case be copyrighted, it is necessary to consider how far it is original with the professed author. There are some compositions of such a profound or intellectual

character that the question of originality cannot successfully be raised. On the other hand, there are works of a much humbler sort, but still of a highly meritorious and useful nature, compiled from material already existing in literature, and open for public investigation and use, and in which the only original feature is in the selection, arrangement, or combination of this material. Instances of this kind are found in every department of engineering work as well as in such works as grammars, arithmetics, geographies, maps, charts, etc. These, as far as they are the work of the compiler or author, are the subjects of copyright, but he has no exclusive right to the materials which he did not originate. Any other person may resort to them and prepare a work from them, but he must not make use of the copyrighted book as a mode for collecting his materials. His correct course is a resort to the original sources of information. An illustration of these principles may be drawn from the collapse of the Quebec Bridge and its subsequent investigation. A writer could have no copyright in the opinions and findings of the commission, as of these he is not the author, but he could lay claim to a statement of the facts of the case, as well as to an abstract of the opinions prepared by himself. The translator of a foreign work not the subject of a copyright here may have a copyright, as he is for practical