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98 Tbe ^ PiiMiHIrs * Cfecular *Ffeb.i fr...
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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.
It Is To Be Hoped That One Of The Result...
i * mendations of the Royal Cojaimissioii of 1878 at the same time . Wfyat effect the change of
administration may have , it is impossible to say . Present appearances seem to indicate
that the Government will be so long over its difficulty in dealing with new men and old
acres , that there may neither be time nor opportunity for the consideration of such
trivialities as the complicated affairs—home or international—of authors , publishers , and the
reading public . I Fortunately , we have Mr . Gladstone ' s de ^
clared assurance of his interest in the subject . As an author as well as a statesman , he lias on
niore than one obcasion given vent to' his views upon questions relating to the legislation
of copyright . Only the other day , in the debate on the Queen ' s Speech , he said : —
* One word only I wislr ^ o say on the subject of the treaty of International Copyright . I was in my
youth a zealous follower of Mr . Serjeant Talfourd in his attempts to extend the range of copyright
privilege . I must own ithat reflection and experience hare led me to entertain in some degree *¦* doubts as ¦
to the particular . form . in which . an author . is to be secured that .... to which . he has .. the best possibl . » e claim I
—namely , a reasonable shara of the fruits of his intellectual labours . All I have to say at present
is tljtat the question is of enormous importance , especially in consequence of the almost
imrneasurable market which America offers for the ,, sale of English boots , and the rapfd extensionvof that
market thrp _ ugft the growth of population , and . of the importance of having our copyright law on such a
basis as . to make it possible for the American , Government to give us the benefit of something like
a community of market in that vast country for our literary « -w productions m * t - \ ¦ . My v m on-i ] mt y , reason ¦ for ., referring ... ¦ ¦ ^^
to this subject at the present- mdmetft is to express the hope tbat when the international copyright
treaty is concluded it may not be in any manner bound down to one particular •^ form of copyright JL . S- " law
now existing in this country , but that it •* may be left free as far as possible for Parliament to consider ,
- b w asis hen of the that proper copyri time ght and law , opportunity and whether arrive the nature , the
of with the advantag protection e be and modifier benefit ^ . ' g , ivei ¦ ... ) . " to the author . can
The * proper time and opportunity has arrived . ' Are we prepared to take advantage
of if ? There may never be an . occasion more favourable than the present for coming to a
proper understanding , at least with regard to our relations with our great customer on the
other side of the Atlantic . The progress that is being made iii America seems to Tbe so
spirited and well directed , as well as earnest that advantage should at once be taken of ,
the chance of working together so as to come to an amicable arrangement . In a little time
I the prevailing toot be ao demand vi for in reform the States in Copyri as it is ght at may ! ,. ! gorous ... m ; ) ^ , ; , ; ..., ' ,. ^ _ f , _ i . ui ., .. ¦ . ¦ , .,. ' ..., ' .. ... :. .
: _ ¦ 7 ? . * = - present , nor so influentially supported , Negotiations wtH therefore become far more
difficult and complex . -.- . . The proceedings ^* ^** wbefore the Senate Com-. _ j
mitte ' e , which met at Philadelphia on the 28 th ultimo give an urgent reason for immediate
actioiL being taken by the Government of this country . The Bill which Senator Hawley has
introduced seems to meet the exigencies of the American question admirably , and its vital
measures could hardly be objected to by this country , which is the most interested-of any .
The principle of Senator Hawley ^ s Bill , as explained by Mr . Howard Crosby , representing the
American Copyright League , are as folloiv : — ' This Bill does not propose to treat the foreign
author as clothed with tlie . same rights as his own country gives him . Some mistake the main point
of the Bill , and suppose that is its object . That would be injustice ., Suppose a foreign author—an
English author , for example ^ eould be allowed 100 years for his copyright to run , and we allow
only two years , it would be'manifestly unjust for us to allow the foreign author here in America ' to have
such a decided advantage over our own authors , ' The object of the Bill , therefore , is not to give
the foreign author the same rights as his own country gives him . It is to give the foreign author the
same right as We give the American authoT here . We wish the foreign author and the American
author to stand on the same platform here , provided viiacu . that Liiat-forei lwreigu gn nations iiatiuuu act auu > * in iu iij like _ . u manner uia . iiuec . with wiuu
ourselves ., ; v v . .,..,, , ¦• . * Another pointI would make * isthatthe
sub-X 1 . UUUUW 1 . ^/ V / ll ^ U , , JL . IT U UXVt 111 « U . IVV AO , UlJ-tUU ; 1 / J . f V > Jl « M ject is to be entirely separated from' the great subject of protection and free trade . It' has We really
uotJunfif { whatevor to do with th ^ t matter . who are kerejbefbre you to-day are some of us in politics
free t » - traders _ -1 , oth all ers of us are stron _ g protectioni _ .. _• .- ¦« st s , and this show ? that the subject of free trade and
protection has nothing to do with our claims-. Protection is the stopping of a certain article of goods ¦ «¦¦;
• mm j * « ™^ * but the hon-copyright system which we now have in our country is not simply the stopping of goods ,
but , after stopping them , the seizing them purselve s and selling them , for our own benefit . Hence there
is no connexion at all between the two subjects . c Another point which it is well to notice is that
ajl proper protection ^ which oiip nianufabturers need will be continuedby our regular tariff regulations .
The expenses now ; of packing and freig ht and the contingent expenses are > 15 per cent ., which ., added
to the 25 per cent , tariff , makes the , protection 40 per cent , so long as be this shall continue . American
manufacturer ^ will abundantly protected , if this law be enacted . '
The support givon to this Bill is very strong , and the opinions of the representative
authors , publisliers , and others who' signified approval of its aims are well worth , lisiiennig to . > / 1
' Mr . Clemens said , , that he had for years America received . a The larger royalty royalty paid in Jin Eng Eng land land on ; j tha ( Ge n neral in
98 Tbe ^ Piimihirs * Cfecular *Ffeb.I Fr...
98 Tbe ^ PiiMiHIrs * Cfecular * Ffeb . i fr 886 - ----- - - j- . —' - — . ' - ^ j ^ -i - ^ 1— - ' - ' ' ¦¦¦ ' *• i : . 1— - -1 / ¦ . - ___ ^ . _ ________ - 1 _ 1 ______ . . ¦ , - , __ _ . . 11 . ^^^^^^^^^^ . ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ B ^ BB
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Citation
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Publishers’ Circular (1880-1890), Feb. 1, 1886, page 98, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/pc/issues/tec_01021886/page/4/
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