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BOOKS OF THE MONTH. 65
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Books Of The Month. Intending Emigrants ...
the French copyright commissioner , under M . Walewski , _jDroposes to give to authors a greater interest in their productions than has
ever yet been accorded in any country . M . Didot , the French publisherhas brought together ( says the PublishersCircular )
, ' " the various terms allowed in different countries , which present a singular variety . Almost all allow the author , or his assignees ,
to enjoy his books at least for life . Greece , once the nurse of literature and artis hard indeed upon her authors—classical
, Athens permitting only fifteen years from the date of publication . Thanks to the late Mr . Justice Talfourd , the English author is at
the other end of the scale ; he has forty-two years , and if he lives longera copyright for his lifetime , with seven years afterwards
, for his heirs . . . . The reasons why literary property is thus limited are well known to all who have given any attention to the
subject . . . . English legislators were of opinion that , as it wcrald be absurd for a remote descendant of Chaucer or Shakspere
to be claiming an absolute monopoly in their great ancestor ' s productions , including the right to forbid their publication altogether
on any whim or piece of fanaticism , they would not institute a system of giving copyright in perpetuity . This , however , is what French
statesmen propose to do . But M . Didot ' s proposition is to give the author copyright for life , with ten years afterwards for his heirs ;
after which time , and thenceforth and for ever , his descendants , or the publishers purchasing the work , are to have a right to five per
cent , on the selling price from any one who chooses to publish it . The difficulty of such a system will strike most persons . "
We observe that the Queen newspaper , ( an illustrated weekly _,, price sixpence , intended for circulation , among ladies , and which
year was , ) issued has been by sold that hy enterprisin auction , including g publisher copyri , Mr ght . and Beeton rig , ht la s f t
continuation , wood-blocks and back stock . This looks as if the providing of special literature for women's use were a difficult
matter , even when undertaken by an excellent man of business , backed by capital and a largo trained staff of workers ; and gives
the conductors of this journal increasing assurance that a slow and careful procedure is the only safe mode of dealing with questions of
woman's work and social interest . Better to wait five years and do it , than try to accomplish it by a coup and—fail ! It is ,
however , only fair to add that Mr . Beeton ' s English Woman ' s Domestic Magazine , intended for a _loiver class of readers , has long beea a
complete success . ¦
7 VOIi . IX . 3 ?
Books Of The Month. 65
BOOKS OF THE MONTH . 65
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), March 1, 1862, page 65, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01031862/page/65/
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