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    45>4 v The Publishers' Circular April i$...

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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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    The New American Copyright Bill T^P F F ...

    be held and deemed capable of being copyrighted as above , unless , they form part of a series in

    course of publication at the time this Act shall take effect . Sec : 5 . That this Act shall go into effect on

    . the first day of July , anno Domini eighteen hundred and eighty-eight . To the Editor of the Publishers' Circular .

    Dear Sir , —We are obliged for your letter in regard to Senator Chace ' s Bill on Copyright . We Wfi had Tiarl alread a . irearl y v observed observed the th « r . asteiApr ' e * vnn

    draw attention to , and regretted passage to see th you at while apparently admitting the justice of protection m ^ m ^ mm being accorded k l to

    foreiauthorsrestrictive ^ v - ^^ ^^ ^^ ^ m * - ^^ clauses I -P > ^* -T ^ m i ^ ^ ^ p ^ K are » " ~^^ * W ^*^ introduced Mi - . mW ^^ 'k » M ^^ ** m * r » ^^ ^ h ^^^ ^ in ^^ gn P ^ k ^ ¦ ^ t he *^ ^ Ifa «^ ^ fe ^ h interests ^«^ ^ k ~ - , ^ fc ^^^ P ^^ *^ S *^ k . ^ b of ^*^ local manufacturers which tend so largely to invalidate the purport of the Acfc .

    In fact , it appears to us , except in the cases of works by authors who have already achieved a reputat s ^ b ^^ f ** W W *^» V V ^ V «^ ion ^^ ^ h ^ ^^^» outside ~ |~ «^^ »^ ^ — ¦ ' ^^ ¦¦ !¦ ~ ~ their ^ k ^ ^ B _^ V ^^^ ^ b ^^ own ^^^ V V Jlh ^ K country ^^^ ^^^ ^ k ^^* ^ ^ ' ^^ ^^ I , V to ^^ ' ^ » ^ afford ^^ V <^ k ^> ^ . ^ ^^ ^^^^ b no rfk _^ *¦ ^

    protection generally to foreign literature in the United States—the word foreign here , of course , referring largely to En & glish . —We remain , dear

    Sir Sir . , yours vonra faithfull fnithfnllv y , . R . Bentley & Sox . 8 New Burlington Street , London , W .,

    April 14 , 1888 . To the Editor of the Publishers' Circular .

    Sir , — The more one considers the various effects of such a Copyright Bill as that now before the American Legislature the more obvious it

    appears that it is not a Copyright Bill in an international sense at all . It is a Bill calculated wholly and solelto throw additional business

    y into the hands of American 2 ) T ( n ^ and paptrma 7 tcrs . It should be entitled ' A Bill to Increase the Business of Printers

    and Paper-makers . ' It is dead against the interests alike of English and American authors and the American publicOn

    . the whole it ma 3 be considered to leave American publishers and English jjublishers in much the

    same same place r > laoe as as they thev are are now now . American Ammnfln authors n . ntVinrs and publishers anxious for a real copyright have been obliged to yield step by step to more

    powerful influences till , in despair , they have been compelled to accept a thing which has nothing of copyright in it but the name .

    1 . It is against the interests of the American public because it will necessarily make English reprints much dearer than they would be if onl

    once set up instead of twice . y 2 . It is against the interests of American

    authors because it will call for reciprocal treatment of them on this side . 3 . It is practically useless for English authors ( nine-tenths of ir them ¦ mr - ^ r ) whose » interest is the sole

    X ———— — ^^ r __ . — ^ ^~^ - ^ m « * ^ . \^ l ^> >^* A A A «> ^ V ^ * . V > *« ' < - * At . ' % A . A \_/ k _ J V ^ A V ^ reason for its existence , because it insists on regulations impossible for them to perform . 4 . English and American publishers may

    derive some benefit from it because both can make such arrangements as will enable them to set all English books and print them in

    America up for Americaand have lates sent to Eng —— —— ^ m — land —— — , to »» > - »¦ print J ' English ^ " * •¦* f , * * - ' * . - * editions X- / X » A . W A \^ ilk p ' from XI VA 11 . The A il V >

    competition between English and American publishers will probably neutralise the decided advantage which either one might derive from

    this American type-setting clause . America to send 5 . The all — type drift ^/ ¦— — lish - — setting of — — — the — rinters »^ , y Bill English ^^^~ •¦« r ^ ¦¦¦¦ will is , there and «¦ " » have »• ^ - ^ ^ American fore > flb to ^* , content «^ clearl ^^ o «( « b ^» , m to % ^ y

    | themselves . Eng with presswork p from Americanimade I electroplates—they will clearly be the main sufferers . fr >

    ! f ! U ¦ ¦ ¦ > ; 6 . It seems to me that remonstrance to the American promoters of . this ; Bill woujd only provoke its certain passage in its present form or its

    Let total 7 the . rejection The American only . thing ^ pass dwk to it be and & done *\ A call is it to « s « an ^ w let - ^ a American it ** -v alone » i .

    JJV U \ J i . A \^ s XXVUV > X XV / CA > XAIJ B ^^ U & % * ^ wv v . . a . ^ **^ V / UiLL International Copyright Act . Then , in the interests *> (« f . a of nf British T ? rit . ish manufacturers TnarmFflntnTftrs . it it will "will be be absolute absolutftlv l

    necessary that steps should be , taken to make this y valuable act reciprocal , which would simply mean to prohibit absolutelthe importation of

    Americanmade stereotype or y electrotype plates , and compel American the type- 3 setting 7 rihts here of both English and

    copg . An English Publisher . To the Editor of the Publishers' Circular .

    " Dear Sir , —In reply to your invitation for an expression of our opinion concerning the new American Copyright Billintroduced ¦ ¦ - ¦¦ . by Senator —w— »*

    ^ H ^ ix v ^ a . * viA / xj . x ^ ' v- / r- '_ 7 ¦*¦ fS * " ^"^ , j ^ t- ^ - * **— - ^* - * - » »— - ^^ - *^ — ^ — — — Cnace , we believe that the clause forbidding copyright to all books , unless not later than the day of publication they shall be printed from type set

    . within the limits of the United States , is even more inimical to the interests of British authors , and thus indirectly to the interests of British

    publishers , than the present open protection of piracy The b clause y the American also which law , during . the existence of

    an American copyright so acquired , prohibits the importation and sale in the United States of all other X , ^ \ J Mm A ^ . , J * ^ ed ^ ^^ 4 i A tions t / A ^—^ - * A &^ -7 , a entirel ^^/ AJL w JK ^ Vii ^^ y F closes ^ - ^ A \ mS ** S ^^ ^ - ^ the * m * ^ - ^ market * ^ ^ ^ " ^ ' ^ ^^ ^^^ ^^ ^ for - ^ -- ^

    editions de luxe , ' first editions , ' or any other special issues , which have hitherto had a considerable sale in America .

    It appears to us that the bill is framed not for the protection of English and foreign authors , but for the protection of American l & Witii literary - ¦ - v ^ s * «^ wb- irates ¦ - <¦

    again M . \ J X . UXjIVs s t , each pi VyUW other -lVU , , and jfc . i . XU . J for V ^ relieving ^ M . . American j p £ * ** * - * - *• vw printers ^ S X 1 AXV ^ - / * . * + J fro ^ - JL X-r m * » * « all - ** * JV competition ^^ ¦ V _ ^ " * W ~ f ^ S *^ ¦» ¦¦ * - » * ^ - ^ * . —Yours ¦* - ^^ »—• *• * - * faithfully - ^ - ***• ~ ~ " ~ - ~ ~ " ~~ if J ,

    CHATTO & WlNDUS . 214 Piccadilly , London , W ., April 13 , 1888 .

    To the Editor of the Publishers' Circular . Dear Sir , —We are much obliged by your

    courtesy in forwarding to us the provisions of the new American Copyright Bill , in the form in which they have reached this country . There can be no doubt that as they stand they

    raise a most serious question for all interested in the printing business in this country . . If JL JL . no JL JL \_ ^ book w <* f \ S \^ 1 * . is JL L _» to * J \ S obtain X ^ IK * \ J % -mj * JLJL copyri V- * V- ' r * J ^^ g 5 ht in the **^— -w U ^^ - . S - — . -

    that has not been set up within the limits of the U . S .. and at the same time importation is forbidden of copies of any book possessing such copyriht which have been printed outside the

    U . S ., it g is clear that either the concession made by most A X A \ r the J % J » serious k » V > proposed JL JL Ul » J blow A /» W leg w V V islation ill JLJLJk be KJf V-JL inflicted & will JI A JL - be - nugatory on - » those » - « -v - » - , who or - — — a ^** . ^_^ * - ^ ^ " * * ^^ *^ ^— ' * ^^ * * ^^

    live by producing books in this country . The latter , it is to be feared , will be the more probable result .

    The inconvenience to authors will be considerable , as they must either cross the Atlantic or lose the advantage of continuous and speedy communication with ISAJL their «/ JLJ & printers .

    Theyhow-VV m ~ M-M M ^ M ^ M « - * *~* * «_^ bV «/ JL V ^ * JL V W JL VAA W ~^ m * , ever , will , it may be supposed , receive compensation Publishers from the on copyright this side will conferred doubtless . represent

    to you the results on their interests far better than we can ; but we cannot think that the necessity of establishing themselves in America

    as well as in England will be welcome to them . To the not inconsiderable interests of papermaking , printirig , type-founding , bookbinding , til .- ' I . A

    45>4 V The Publishers' Circular April I$...

    45 > 4 v The Publishers' Circular April i $ 9 ;' iB 88 — — . . — > - >¦ . P I ¦ ' i- ¦ - ' I' ... .. < _

• Citation
  • Publishers’ Circular (1880-1890), April 16, 1888, page 404, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/pc/issues/tec_16041888/page/10/