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I St. Duns tan's House, Fetter Lane, I L...
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96 Great Russell St., W.C. ¦¦ Feb •^ ¦¦W...
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St. Dunstan's House, Fleet Street, Londo...
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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.
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R-Wsf" The Privileged Libraries And
I Trusting that you may be able to concur in I this viewI amGentlemenyours 'faithfully
I , , , G . W . ECCLE , 28 . I Messrs . Sampson Liow & Co .
I P . S . —I may add that only last week one of I the largest houses in London acceded to a similar
I repetition or claim .
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H ^ M ¦ ' - - ' " . . .. ' ' . .... . : :: ^ ' % . . ri $ .- } M ' . vy ' . ; -. : WP ; -. ; . ^ . - - 5 ' : ] : -:
^ ¦^ HfiV __— - ¦ . ^ f ^ mtam ^ mmm ^ mm ^ mmm ^^ m ^ mm—mi ^^ m ^^ m—mmmmi ^ m ^ pmm ^—tMiMlltiM ^ mttmmi ^^^ if ^ BBt
I Apriri , 1889 - The Publishers' Circular Sl #
I St. Duns Tan's House, Fetter Lane, I L...
I St . Duns tan ' s House , Fetter Lane , I London , E . C .
I " Feb . 20 , 1889 . I Dear Sir , —We are by no means satisfied that
I the counsel ' s opinion you refer . to is a fair inter-I pretation of the Act . Literally , that opinion may I h be ¦ correct b h ¦ but if d a court of uity were to take
I into m ^ p \ j ^^/ ^_* r consideration ^^ ^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ; w *^ ^ um v »» m * the ^* r ^^ ^ w ^ sp - » ^ p * irit ^^ - *^ eq ^ kar ^ and v « «^ p ^ ^^ * J object ^^ ^^ of an I H Act JK ^^^ » - _ i * ^ J of ^ fe ^ ^^^ ^ Parliament HV ^^ " ^ H ^^ V ^^ fc ^^ ^ . ^^^ ^ H ^^^^ ' ^^^ ^^^ r ^ p ^^ the ^ i ^ " ™ ^ ^^^ ¦ sole to " ^*~ ^^ " ^^ B ^ 1 ^ and ^^^ ^^ B ^^ H ^^ t ^^ V onl - ^ . ^ ^^ " ^— y W ' reason *—^^ r - ^* - — ^ — ™ ' for ¦
I the existence of which is to protect copyright in I books , we can hardly think it would authorise the I British Museumand other Libraries to claim
gratuitously books , to which that Act extends no I protection The Thfi claim « 1 a ! im you votl now nnw make mairfi is is for for four fnur copies monies
each of a number of books , most of them very expensive , all unprotected by the Copyright Act ,
and of which only very few copies have been imported ; and the claim is made simply because , for the convenience of the British public , they
bear our names on the title-page , although by the Trades Marks Act of last year they necessarily bear also the name of the foreign publisher I
We have reason to believe that many very expensive French and German books are imported into this countryand that . the names of the importers
are in some , form or other stamped on the covers . Such books are protected by international law , but we are under the impression that they are
not claimed by the authorities under the Copyright We Act canno . t help thinking that , notwithstand / -
ing a strict literal interpretation of the Act , it would be more dignified on the part of the great Libraries not to insist upon the delivery of
noninflicting copyri g ht a boohs tax upon imported the importer in small of numbers from ten , thus to
fifteen injustice per if cent not , of the the illegality full publish of such eid value a olaim . The is
, , self-evident . —Yours faithfully ,
SAMPSON LOW & CO .
96 Great Russell St., W.C. ¦¦ Feb •^ ¦¦W...
96 Great Russell St ., W . C . Feb Wr . 271889 . ¦¦
¦¦ •^ ' ^ p- W ™^^ V , » " ^~ ^^ ^ " ^ " ^ ^ received Gentlemen a letter , —I fro beg m the to inform Librarian you of that University 1 have
Library o . nnv of nf , vour Cambridge letter letter to to , to me me whom on on tne the I su subiect had oject forwarded of 01 ioreign foreign a your
book copy s bearing your names on the title-page . Professor Robertson Smith writes that he does
not waiving |_ find the in legal jour rig letter hts of any the sufficient ¦• - ¦ Library — — — — ——— reason but that for
before in in yy 4 ^ , the tVi V JL ft matter m c instructing ^ atter i ( ilv * V ^& he he j ^*»* would would " ** the C > University be be *»••— . giaa erlad -- — to to Solicitor receive receive ^ , j — and ana to act lay Jay , j
before the Library , , Syndicate any statement that you may choose to make through him to that body .
I am -iTTTk Gentlemen n ^ nt-. Tfimfiri , - yours vnnrs faithfully faithfullv ,. , G . W . Ecoles . 1
Messrs . Sampson Low & Co .
St. Dunstan's House, Fleet Street, Londo...
St . Dunstan ' s House , Fleet Street , London March , E . C . 4 , 1889 .
Professor Robertson SLpaith , University Library , Cambridge . ¦ Ep . p / I Sir f h » j s , for —Having a lare 1 - h e 1 been number ¦ ¦ recentl of American y applied books to by Mr for .
^ p ^ ^^ « f —— - ] — ^ m . ^^ p » « pa ^ ^* rmm — pp ~ ^ ppp ¦ ^» -r— —— ~
St. Dunstan's House, Fleet Street, Londo...
the different libraries , we wrote him a letter , which he now informs us he has forwarded to you ,
and that you have replied to him that you do not find in that letter any sufficient reason far waiving ' the legal rights of the ^ Library ; but that , before
instructing the University Solicitor to act in thfe matter , you would be glad to receive and lay before the Library Syndicate any statement we
may make through you to that body . We do not know that we can urge anything more than what we have already said in our letter
to Mr . Eccles . 1 . We should like to be perfectly satisfied that you do possess the legal right you claim for the
class of books referred to . 2 . We are aware that counsel ' s opinion has been taken by the Copyright Association , and that
that opinion , literally interpreting the wording of the Act , and regarding the fact of the importation of a few copies of an American work as an act
of publication in this country , is adverse to the position we now take . 3 . Whilst we have every desire to do what is
right , and no desire whatever to evade legal responsibilities , we submit that such an interpretation of the Act results in imposing an enormously
heavy tax upon non-copyright books : in fact , a far heavier tax upon such books than upon copyright booksfor the reason that American books are
, imported in much smaller numbers—frequently only 3 CT ,-50 , or 100 copies—and a claim that five , ten , or fifteen per cent , of such books should be
contributed by tbe importer gratuitously to the public Iibraries 4 s , ~ w-e teubmit , a claim never contemplated by the compilers of the Copyright Act
under which it is now made . I 4 . We submit that a reasonable interpretation I of an Act of Parliamentthe very foundationand \
reason of the ri for hts the of existence authors , of would which be is that the it protection can , onl I ¦ apply to g such works as , are so protected . y ; ; , ]
5 . Whenever we have purchased editions of 1 American books the copyright of which has been secured here r by priori ¦ tar of publication r or othei ?
¦ ^^ ^ fe ^ ^ W ^^^* ^ W ^ B ^ ^^^ B V . *^^ ^^^ W ^ ~^^ T r ^^ W W *^ ^^ ^^^ ^^ P ^^ b W ^ ^ La ^^ - ^^ h ^^^^ ^^^* ^^^ ^^ ^» - ^^ ^ 1 ^^ ^ i ^ IB ^ ~ m ^ 4 ^^^~ ^^^ *^ ^^^ ^*^ ^ ib ^ P ^ ^ B ^ ^ . as wise Eng , we lish have books , as a , and matter sent of them course to , treated the libraries them \ ,
in due course . . : »; 6 . Whenever we have imported small numbers ; I of expensive American books which have no claim ] \
to copyright , we have not felt it to be incumbent ; j upon us to send them to the libraries—feeling ] indeed that the libraries have no more reasonable \
claim for such non-copyright works than they would have for a percentage of any other imported goods hk ¦ —and ¦ as a matter of fact it is only recently
^^ - ^— - ^ r -w ^— ¦ — ' ^ ' ^ ^^ " » w ^^ - ^^ r ^ ^ - ^^» ^ ^^ p ^^ - ¦— ' ^ ^ ir ^~~ ^ i ^^¦ ^ i ^^ T ^ V —^^ " ^ ^^ ¦¦ ¦ ^^ ^* ¦ ^*^ ^™ ^^ ^^ " - » T ^ ' ^^ " ^^ ^^ ^ - ^ ^ " " ^^ v that such claims have been made , a distinction being made between such works as bear an English publisher ' s name—^( witrr or without the
American publisher ' s name ) , and those which bear only the American publisher ' s name . ; 7 . Here again we are f » t issue : for we really
cannot recognise the justice of such a very nice name ^ - distinction ^ T ^^ v V > ^ V ^ b ^^ k ^^ b ^ ~ ^ F printed H ^^ V * V ^^^ *^>^^ B * V ^ . ^ being ^ ^^^ ' ^ V on ^^^ V ^^^ P ^ a ^ ' ^ . ^ made ti ^** ^ i ^ tle ^^ ' ^^ ^ . . ^^ -page H fed ^|^^ P The ^ ^ .. ^ fc ^ . ^ P ^ ^ in ^^ ^— Eng ^ P * conjunction ^^ P ^^« P ¦ ^ P lish ^ " " ^ ^ P ^^ V ^^ ' ^^ publisher ^ BJ ^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^ b ^ >^^^^^ with V . ¦ pP ^ ^^ Hf ' ^^ s ^*^ j
the an American British public 's is obviousl . It seems y a grea to amount t convenience to this to : j if can we ¦ non - import ip -copyri , for ght examp «¦ ¦ book h »• le published - ¦ , * - » - 100 »^» pi - cop p ^ -- » •» ies at ¦• pi ^ p ^ of five - an guineas bbk Ameri jp 1 ii ¦ npfcjpr - i
and - »• ' w— ^ we *^ ' ^ *^* m do ~*^ * - *^ ws not ^ w «*> ^ pp * r put ^ % p **^ " p our ^^ ^«^ - ' *¦* ' — nam ^* pp es ^^ ' on ^^ ^ the title ^^ •^ bbp- ^ -page *» p" ^^ p »* pp- ^ p * — ' p ^ , !¦ but only the American publisher ' s—then the ' £ libraries 5 each , if they for tjhem want such a work , will pay ¦ us K
JCV o . . , s . KZOAjkX AUJ U f lJLCLU . . . „ , ' imprint ^ M , on our the own Qther names hand on , we the stamp title- or pages in any of way the f sam sa . me ft book hookthen then the the libraries libraries claim claim them them fro from m
, , us gratuitously . ~ I
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Citation
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Publishers’ Circular (1880-1890), April 1, 1889, page 357, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/pc/issues/tec_01041889/page/11/
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