Hence, the publishers strongly feel that the theoretical advantage to be gained by certain authors through the adherence of the United States to the International Copyright Convention will be much more than offset, by throwing open the richest copyright market in the world to foreign authors without the necessity of registration, by the potent threat of strike suits and continued and harassing litigation which would face every publisher with an issue date to meet in order to satisfy his advertising contracts and by the increased difficulty on the part of the little known writer or illustrator to gain recognition. The usual argument which is advanced in support of the proposal presently before your committee is that, through the entry of the United States into the convention, authors, illustrators, and publishers will be able to gain protection in those countries which are members of the union without the necessity of complying with any of the local requirements. The National Publishers Association, Inc., approves the purpose of additional protection to authors, illustrators, and publishers. In this instance, however, the fact is that in those cases where a writer, illustrator, or publisher desires protection for a work which he intends to distribute in foreign countries, it is but a simple matter to acquire the desired protection in such countries under the present state of the law. Copyright protection in all countries which are members of the union can be gained merely through the original publication of the work in question in any one of the countries which are members of the union. Original publication is defined under the terms of the Bern Convention so as to include works which are published simultaneously in one of such countries. "Simultaneous publication" requires only that within 14 days of original publication in a nonmember country, the person seeking protection distribute or sell the work publicly within the boundaries of a member country. Publication made in this manner gives to the writer all the privileges and benefits which would accrue if the country of original publication, as the United States, were a member of the union. Thus, there appears to be no pressing reason for the adoption of the proposal before the subcommittee, and it appears to the National Publishers Association, Inc., that this proposal is a piecemeal approach to a highly complicated problem and that it would indeed work to the great disadvantage of most, if not all, authors, illustrators, and publishers of the United States. There is a further consideration which should be taken into account, particularly at this time. The immediate entry of the United States into the union would not gain any present or practical advantages for those persons in this country who would normally be supposed to be benefited, because of the existing war conditions in the countries which primarily constitute the union. With practically the whole of Europe in a state of war, and the minds of courts of law and governments on more pressing matters, it is difficult to see how authors in the United States could expect to receive the desired protection in the war-torn countries. The practical difficulties of enforcing judgments or decrees under such circumstances must be apparent. Yet the authors, illustrators, and publishers in such countries would, without effort, gain all the advantages in the United States, and correspondingly there would be presented to the authors, illustrators, and publishers in the United States all the very real disadvantages which would arise from our adherence to the union. It is urged that this committee take no such action as would require such drastic changes in the theory underlying the copyright law of this country-a theory which all American writers, illustrators, and publishers have relied upon since the passage of the first copyright law in the United States, and that such a change should be considered only in conjunction with a general revision and modernization of our copyright law and that, in any event, no changes affecting international copyright should be made until some semblance of peace and normalcy again reigns in the world. April 18, 1941. ROBERT E. COULSON. CHRISTIAN SCIENCE COMMITTEE ON PUBLICATION FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington, April 16, 1941. To the SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE, United States Senate, Washington, D. C. GENTLEMEN: I am authorized by certain official bodies of the Christian Science organization to ask that their approval of the proposed International Convention of the Copyright Union be made a part of the records of the hearing now being held before a subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. These bodies which have expressed approval of the proposal are: The Christian Science Board of Directors, the trustees under the will of Mary Baker Eddy, and the trustees of the Christian Science Publishing Society. These bodies have their offices at 107 Falmouth Street, and at No. 1 Norway Street, Boston, Mass. This letter is sent you in lieu of formal appearance before the subcommittee and is prompted by your assurance that this procedure is all that is necessary to insure representation in the hearing record. Sincerely yours, STATEMENT OF G. SCHIRMER, INC., MUSIC PUBLISHERS, OF NEW YORK CITY, WITH REFERENCE TO THE PROPOSAL THAT THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA DECLARE ITS ADHERENCE TO AN INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT CONVENTION I am presenting this statement on behalf of G. Schirmer, Inc., music publishers, New York City, who have been in business for nearly 100 years. If they have made any contribution to the cultural development of our country, it has been by disseminating the music of various countries from which the music of our own country has drawn the sap and the strength which today place it in the front rank of any national schools of music. This does not mean that the firm has drawn exclusively on the older musical cultures of Europe, but it has exercised its initiative and enterprise in fostering international cultural relations, including Latin American countries, to the point of having probably done more in this respect than any other American music publisher. This action has not been one-sided. We have been able to contribute to the musical culture of Europe, South America, and Australia through individual contracts with publishing houses in those countries, notwithstanding the fact that the United States have heretofore not adhered to any international copyright convention. That these contracts have been profitable to both parties is evidenced by the fact that the obligations of the parties have been strictly observed and the contracts have endured for long periods of time. Such infringements as we have suffered in foreign countries have not been substantial, and this in spite of the fact that music is a universal language which requires no translation as would an ordinary book. In fact, complete candor would require us to state that we have suffered more from real infringements within the United States in the form of the well-known song sheets which are to be found on sale in the streets of every city of the United States, not to mention the implied infringements as evidenced by the "borrowing" of copyrightable contributions which we have made in one form or another. From the foregoing it is not to be taken that we are opposed to the participation by our country in an international copyright convention. On the contrary, we recongize the desirability of automatic international protection for all intellectual properties, whether published or unpublished. Difficulty, however, arises as soon as a particular contract, covenant, or agreement which purports to furnish such international protection is offered for our approval. At the present moment we have to consider whether or not it is expedient and advisable for us to join what is known as the Bern or Rome International Copyright Convention. The question for us to decide is, Does this convention at the present time offer to our creators and publishers any security and protection beyond that which they now enjoy and, if so, are they required to pay for such supposed added protection by giving up any part of the securities and protections which they now may enjoy? The problem should be viewed realistically. When the distinguished former Librarian of Congress, Herbert Putnam, presented the final draft of our present copyright law to the Joint Senate and House Committees on Patents, he pointed out that it was not "an attempt at abstract and theoretic perfection, nor is it an attempt to transplant to this country theoretic or what might be charged to be sentimental provisions of foreign law * * * If the bill reveals some selfishness, it is perhaps condonable. It is the selfishness of men trying to protect their own property." If this statement, on the surface, appears to be somewhat materialistic, it is nevertheless particularly apt and timely in the light of the troubled conditions abroad. More than ever we should be vigilant and alert in our endeavor to protect the works of our creators from unfair competition here and unauthorized use abroad. Although American creators and publishers have for years enjoyed reasonable protection in foreign countries, the Rome Convention is offered in substitution of our present system, because the State Department believes that under such convention it can provide a more complete measure of enforcement of rights in any country where an infringement occurs. As we have already pointed out, we have not always succeeded in obtaining full protection for our property even in the United States; is there any reasonable expectation that the State Department will be able to accomplish in far-off places what we ourselves have often failed to accomplish at home? Moreover our adherence to the International Copyright Convention has been urged upon the ground that 40 or more of the civilized nations of the world are signatories. The fact is that today several of these countries have been characterized by our Government as aggressor nations, and most of the other signatories are either allies of or completely under the domination of such aggressor nations. The value of such international covenant has thus been greatly weakened. The value of any treaty depends upon the willingness of all the signatory parties to live up to its clauses. Judging by the course of events within the recent past, have we any firmer ground to believe that the provisions of an international copyright convention will be respected than have been the covenants directed to the maintenance of trade agreements and general peace? If we adhere to the international convention, we are undertaking to perform its obligations without any fair or reasonable epectation that the other signatories other than Great Britain and the British Empire will give to the convention the same respect. The proposal that we adhere to the International Copyright Convention must be examined in the light of its effect on our domestic law. It must be conceded that if this country proclaims its adherence to the Rome Convention, that convention becomes the law of this land and to the extent that its provisions are in conflict with our domestic copyright law, the provisions of the domestic copyright law must be deemed to have been repealed; and furthermore, so long as this Nation remains a party to the International Copyright Convention and respects its obligations thereunder, our Congress is rendered impotent to enact copyright legislation which conflicts with any of the fundamental provisions of the international convention. In other words, if we adhere to the copyright convention all provisions of our existing law with respect to the creation of copyright on publication, and of the obligations to affix a notice of copyright to each published copy of the work, and with respect of deposit of copies and registration of claim of copyright, are automatically repealed, and so long as our country remains a party to the convention, the hands of Congress will be tied, even in the face of any domestic urgency. Also, it will be necessary for our Congress to enact appropriate enabling legislation with respect to many other subjects affected by the convention. Until such enabling legislation is passed (which, in the light of past experiences, may mean many years), our domestic copyright law will be in suspense with a resulting confusion too terrible to envisage. And all of this without adding to any appreciable degree, if at all, to the protection which American authors and publishers now enjoy under the existing system of protection by reciprocal proclamations. We therefore respectfully urge that this committee report against the adherence by this country to the Rome International Copyright Convention. Respectfully submitted. G. SCHIRMER, INC. By FRANCIS GILBERT, Counsel. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, To the SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS, United States Senate, Washington, D. C. GENTLEMEN: In reply to your letter of April 12, asking if it is our desire to be heard before the Subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, or to submit a statement or brief to the subcommittee, in connection with the hearings which opened on April 15, 1941, on the proposed International Convention of the Copyright Union, I shall appreciate it if you will include this letter as a part of the record of the hearings before the subcommittee. When the convention was being considered in former hearings, the question arose as to the possible effects of the adoption of the convention on the employment of printing-trades workers in the United States. Such a subject is of course within the range of problems regularly handled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of Labor as a fact-finding agency. Upon request by the Department of State, the Bureau of Labor Statistics therefore undertook to obtain available information on the subject. We have gone over the estimates formerly made and have found no reason for making any significant modification. An estimate of the amount of labor employed in manufacturing books in English by non-American authors required information relating to the amount of manufacturing of the specified types of publications; and from the Library of Congress were obtained estimates of the number of books published, the average size of the volumes, and the average size of the eaitions. An approximation of labor cost in manufacturing such books was then obtained from the Government Printing Office. These two sets of estimates, together with figures of hourly rates of pay in the printing trades, regularly collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, made possible an approximation of the amount of labor expended in the manufacturing process. The amount of labor thus employed varies from year to year with the number and types of books published and with the nature of the processing. The amount of basic data available for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1937, made possible a comparatively adequate estimate for that year. If it is assumed that all of the non-American books in English printed in that year under the copyright provision were printed from type or plates, the amount of employment required was about 410 man-years, assuming a 40-hour week and a 50-week year per worker. Insofar as an offset process was used, this estimate would be reduced. These figures, it is recognized, are not exact measurements but approximations. which are derived, however, from the best available information. It is important to note that the figures are estimates of the amount of labor actually employed in manufacturing books in English by others than Americans under the copyright provisions. If it is expected that the demand will be considerable, economic considerations alone may suffice to cause the printing of American editions, even if manufacture in this country should be waived as a condition of copyright. It is possible, also, that the removal of the manufacturing requirement would lead to the printing in this country of some books that are not printed under existing law. Books printed abroad might then be imported merely to test the demand without sacrificing copyright privileges, and if the demand appeared to be considerable, American editions might be issued, whereas at present American editions are issued only when publishers are willing to take chances on an untested market demand. In addition, and perhaps more important, the removal of the manufacturing requirement might stimulate reciprocal relations to such an extent as to increase the export of American books. Very truly yours, A. F. HINRICHS, Acting Commissioner of Labor Statistics. Hon. WALTER F. GEORGE, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, Chairman, Committee on Foreign Relations, Washington, D. C. MY DEAR SENATOR: A letter dated April 4, 1941, from Mr. Carey R. Sutlive, assistant clerk of the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, addressed to Mr. James L. Brown of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, advising that the subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations would open hearings on the proposed International Convention of the Copyright Union on Monday, April 14, 1941, was inadvertently delayed. understanding that this hearing was postponed until this morning. It is my In view of the fact that it will not now be feasible to have a representative of this Department appear before the committee, I consider it pertinent to state that the Department of Commerce, in a letter dated April 6, 1935, to the Honorable F. Ryan Duffy, chairman of the subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, and in a subsequent letter dated August 6, 1937, to the Honorable Key Pittman, chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, expressed itself as favoring the entry of the United States into the International Copyright Union. At this date I see no reason for this Department to change its view in this matter. Sincerely yours, WAYNE C. TAYLOR, Acting Secretary of Commerce. X |