Democratic Sentinel, Volume 14, Number 13, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 April 1890 — THE COPYRIGHT LAW. [ARTICLE]

THE COPYRIGHT LAW.

A SUBJECT THAT INTERESTS WRITERS AND PUBLISHERS. Certain Legal Forms Mast Be Observed to Secure Proprietorship in a Literary Production—lmportance of a Clear Understanding of the Subject—A Word About ••Literary Syndicates.” [Not copyrighted. No right* reserved.] The word “copyright,” like its first cousin, “patented,” has always been a good deal of a bugaboo. This isnodonbt chargeable to a species of reverence for the magical word which indicates that the strong arm of the law has been invoked to retain a property interest in that which has been published broadcast to the world, and also to the circumstance that there is a deep and widespread ignorance, even among those who write, or aspire to write, for publication, as to the practical wofkings and legal effects of the copyright law. To destroy respect for printed matter is the very last undertaking in which a publisher would think of engaging; but to enlighten his readers on all dark and intricate, if important, subjects is his special province. Like all laws, that relnting to copyrights has been quite generally misunderstood, even among those who suppose themselves well posted. Not a few publishers are deterred from copying articles which they have a perfect right to reproduce, through a misapprehension of what must be done to secure the exclusive right of publishing anything. A comprehensive and practical idea of how to secure a copyright, and the extent to which it operates as a protection to its legal owner, can be conveyed without printing in full the law, which is quite verbose, and which can be obtained by any author or publisher, free of charge, by addressing the Librarian of Congress at Washington. To secure a copyright, substantially this must be done: Before the publication of the work to be protected, the author or publisher, as the case may be, must send to the Librarian of Coegress, whosename need not be mentioned, ns pr nted title. This must be on paper of the size of commercial note or larger, aud may be in typewriter print. The letter wnich accompanies the title must contain fifty cents to pay the Librarian’s fee, and a like sum in addition if a cer itic ite of copyright is desired. It must give the full n ime and address of the proprietor and c.aim coi yright. After ibis preliminary has been attended lo the publication may be delayed any desired length of time. When the book is publ shed every copy must contain either on the title page, or ihe one following, the words: “Copyright, 1890. Richard Roe;” or,“Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1890, by Richard Roe, in the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.” The law which gives an option of these two forms is strictly construed, and the slightest variation or omission invalidates the copyright. The words “copyright,” or “copyrighted,” alone have no force or efficacy wha'ever, the claimant's name and the date being both absolutely e sential. Within ten days after the actual publ cation of the work, the proprietor, to render tbo copyright complete, most send to the Librarian of Congress two copies of the best edition, if more than one is issued, upon which he must prepay the charges. If the two' copies are not sent, the copyright is not only void, but a penalty of $-25- is incurred. The Librarian does not acknowledge the receipt of the two copies: indeed, no communication will be received from him at all unless some ii regularity occurs, or the author has remitted the 50 cents for a certificate of the deposit of the title page. The right to translate the work into another language, or dramatize it for the stage, may be secured by printing in each copy, below the notice of copyright entry, the words: “All rights reserved.” This notice, as a matter of course, appliesonly to original works. It seems to be generally understood that the copyrighting of a newspaper or other periodical is a different process from the one above described. This is a mistake. All literary composition, with the exception of something to be enacted on the stage, like a play or am opera, must be copyrighted as a book; and this applies to a newspaper article, no matter how brief. The mere entering of the general title of a periodical, apart from its contents, furnislies no protection under the copyright law. This has been judicially decided. Each issue must be separately entered to secure protection, but the applications need not to be sent separately. The printed titles, with accompanying fifty cents fee, may be sent at once to” the extent of a whole year, if desired, end this method is generally adopted by publishers. The Librarian of Congress possesses no judicial powers whatever. In his circular letters he gives applicants such information as he is able, but does not attempt to pass upon the validity of the copyright, which question is left for the courts to decide. He does not even decide whether a title h s been copyrighted before. He acts as recording and certifying officer only, and places on record any title of a proper character, where the forms of law have been observed and the fee paid. On receipt of 50 cents he will advise the applicant whether a given title has been entered in his office in Washington. Such information, however, amounts to very little, as it is only since 1870 that the entire business has been transacted at Washington. Before that time entries were made in the various offices of the United States District Courts, more than fifty in number. To an inquirer for information on this point, the following circular letter is sent: I have to advise you that, by the general tenor ot judicial decisions, copyright protects the substance ol the pubiiea'i m entered, in connection with the title, and not the mere words of the title itself. Most titles have been used many times, and cannot be made exclusive property by copyright or otherwise. This office can give no positive answer to inquiries, whether a given title has ever been entered for copyright, there being countless varieties in the wordiDg of titles. Moreover, there were more than fifty distinct registers of copyrights prior to the removal of the entire business to WashI ington in 1870, and most of their records are j without index. A “happy” or “taking" title has often more to do with the sale of a book than , the character of its contents. From the j above circular it becomes evident that it most be an exceptional case where an author can obtain any recompense in the way of damages from one who has approJ priatedhis title, that is, if the piracy does 1 not extend to the contents of his book.

Bat it is in the matter of infringements that the greatest interest in this whole subject centers. What constitutes an infringement, and when can a proprietor be said to have abandoned or lost his exclusive ownership in a copyrighted book or article? To settle this matter a prominent Chicago publisher recently submitted certain questions to a well-known attorney, who had for years made a specialty of copyright law, and received the following reply, now for the first time published: It is firmly Battled bytha courts, both in the united States and England, that all right to protect the monopoly of publication in literary matter a hich has once bean published with the consent of the author or proprietor must be obtained by a compliance with the copyr ghtlaws, and that, without such compliance, publication is an aband' n n**rit of all right in snch liDtrarv matter, whim ih reby becomes public. After aach a publication, any perse n who chooses to do *-o may freely print and publish the whole or any part of such literary matter,-aud may use th 3 till j bestowed upon the publication by its author or proprietor. Clemens v. Bfl.'ord, 11 Bliss. 519 ; 14 Fed. Rep., 7*. The drift of the decisions of onr courts is plainly in favor oi upholding thesa righ's, when secured, to their full extent, and as different cases arise and are considered, upon the different facts submitted, the drift or tendency or the decisions upon the questions involved exerts an important influence upon any particular case presented to the court. Ou the other haud, there is no tendency to relat the rule requiring a strict, substantial compliance with all ihe requirements of the statute to secure copyright, and this, too, is important in its lesults upon any given litigation. ' Question 1. Can an article or illustration be published for the first time simultaneously in a number of different newspapers or periodicals without previously depositing each title, and also depositing copies of each of the different publications in which it is to app< arV Answer. No. Each original publication must comply with all the statutory requirements to secure copyright, and of course wherever the cut or article subsequently appears, it must be under its original,title, and must bear the prescribed notice of copyright. Question 2. If the proprietor of a copyrighted article authorizes the republication of such article and such publisher omits the copyright notice, can another publisher, who has no notice of the copyright, reprint such article without liability V Answer. Anything less than the legal notice will be fatal to the copyright, but if such notice should be wrongfully or fraudulently omitted by a publisher without the knowledge of the proprietor and without notice to him, actual or implied, there might be some doubt about its effect upon the copyright. If the proprietor, knew in fact, or from his previous course oldealing was bound to take notice, that the copyright notice would be so omitted, then the copyright would be lost without question. I think Buch would probably be the result, whether the proprietor had notice of the omissicn or not, wheie the rights of an innocent third party were involved.

Question 3. In the case of an illustrated article being copyrighted, does that copyright cover the illustrations without that fact being indicated upon the face of the cuts when the same are published in a newspaper of general circulation not wholly copyrighted'; l Ansu er. Ves; so fair as the printing and publishing impression of such cuts is concerneu. Question 4. Does the mere word “copyrighted” at the top or bottom of an article appearing in a newspaper fill the requirementa oi the copylight law? , Answer. No; it has no- effect whatever. The copyright notice must be strictly complied with. The statute prescribes the woras : “Entered according to Act of Congress in the year ,by A. 8., in the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington,” or r at the option of the person procuring the copyright; “Copyright. 18—, by A. E.” It was held Nov. 8,188 b, by Judge Blodgett, United States Circuit Court Northern District of Illinois, that; “Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1878, by H. A. jackson,” was not a. sufficient notice under the law, and that no copyright existed in the book. Jackson v. Walkie, zj Led. Rep., 15, Every publisher, end every d&se-rviug reader, for that matter, has seen, parti u.laily in recent years, no end or' articles in newspapers with “copyright,” or other words less than one of tna two forms piescribed bylaw, appended or prefixed, has been conclusively shown, this is absolutely no protection at al', farther than, its effect in frightening those who are not properly informed in the premises. There have sprung up of late in different cities so-called "literary syndicates.” These purchase and copyright various articles which are published simultaneously by the different papers, or other periodicals iu the “pool. In addition to this, the right to produce certain article, is often sold to publisheis outside the combination. These synd oatesnaturally do all they can to prevent their articles from bemg copied by those who have not paid for the privilege, expecting thereby to extend their patronage. It is not an uuusual thing for a newspaper publisher, after having reproduced an article, and given due credit both to the publication from which he copied it and the author who- wrote it, to receive from the “manager” of one of these socalled “literary syni,cates” a latter demanding compensation for the alleged “piracy, ” and threatening am appeal to the majesty of the law if it occurred again. And this where there was no legal notice of copyright appended to the article, and where it had been published through, an arrangement with the syndicate. The wiiters of such, letters well know that, by permittingthemio be published without full notice of copyright as reqaiced by law, they have lost all manner of right to control them. They assume, what is unfortunately true, that many publishers and editors are not well ininformed on the subject, and expect, by a process of bulldozing, to keep in practical force the right which they have lost through the failuße of the party to whom the article was sold for publication to observe either of the prescribed legal forms. The fact is that the newspapers in the pool refuse to publish the copyright notice. In cise they oid so the name of the real proprietor would have to appear, and every reader would atonce understand that tne article hal been published olsewhere, and was not the result of any particul ir enterprise on the part of the local publ cation. By using the single word “copyright” they not only deceive their own readers, but get credit from those publishers who copy such articles where it is due to the syndicate which produced them. This is very like sailing under false colors, and reflects, when properly understood, no very great credit upon some so-called “leading and influential journals.” In this connection one of the circular letters of the Librarian will be of interest: In reply to your communication of , I have to advise you that the only legal forms for announcement of copyright protec.ion will'be found inclosed. It is piobable that an anonymous notice of copyright would opt rate to prevent infringement; hut if infringed, you could not recover damages without a literal compliance with the law. A correct nhderstanding'of this matter would seem to be of considerable impoitance so all publishers, to the end that they may know their rights and protect them, and be able to make the proper replies to badgering letters, and not to allow themselves to be disturbed by threats which cannot be carried into effect. Can the man whose glhnce speaks volumes talk like a book ?