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diff --git a/14673-0.txt b/14673-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6279953 --- /dev/null +++ b/14673-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,686 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14673 *** + +The Copyright Question + +A Letter to the Toronto Board _of_ Trade + + +By + +GEORGE N. MORANG + + +Toronto +George N. Morang & Company, Limited +1902 + + + + +The +Copyright Question + + + + +BROWN-SEARLE PRINTING COMPANY +89 Wellington St. West + + + + +TORONTO, FEBRUARY 19, 1902 + +_The Secretary_, +_The Board of Trade_, +_Toronto_ + +SIR-- + +The Council of the Board of Trade lately adopted a resolution asking that +Canadian Legislation be passed, giving effect to the Copyright Bill +proposed in 1895 by Mr. Hall Caine, "making it obligatory that a book +shall be printed and bound in this country in order to secure Canadian +copyright, and continue to be so printed and bound in order to retain such +copyright, and that upon failure to print in Canada within a reasonable +time, provision shall be made _by which the Government may issue to a +Canadian publisher a license to print in Canada_, subject to such +safeguards as will secure to the owner of such book a reasonable royalty +upon his work." The resolution is to be forwarded to the Boards of Trade +of other cities in Canada, together with the request that they join in +representations to the Government asking their consideration of this +important question, and urging the passing of this legislation. + +This resolution emanated from the Wholesale Booksellers' Section of the +Board of Trade, of which Mr. W.J. Gage is the Chairman. The Report of this +Section presented to the Board recites, that in 1895 Mr. Hall Caine came +to this country, the duly accredited representative of English authors, +accompanied by Mr. Daldy, representing the English publishers, and that +after a conference with Canadian publishers, papermakers, printers and +bookbinders, a draft Bill was completed, which Mr. Hall Caine announced to +the Canadian Government as containing an understanding reached with the +Canadian publishers, and to which Mr. Daldy, on behalf of the English +publishers, consented. These statements were made in the Report of the +Section, notwithstanding the fact that at a Committee meeting composed of +its members held last year, I read a letter from the Secretary of the +British Society of Authors stating that Mr. Hall Caine's proposed Bill had +never received the approval of the Society; and although at the same +meeting I stated that Mr. Daldy had informed me he had never consented to +the Bill. After the Report of the action of the Board of Trade reached +England, Mr. Daldy addressed a letter to "The Publishers' Circular," from +which I quote:-- + + "So far from consenting to it (i.e., the Hall Caine Bill), I pointed + out several important errors to which I could not agree; and being + invited by some printers, publishers, and papermakers to meet them in + Toronto just afterwards, I distinctly assured them that I could not + consent to any restriction of the rights and privileges contained in + the Imperial Acts of 1842 and 1886." + +I was absent from Toronto when the Booksellers' Section framed and passed +its Report, and only returned to Toronto after it had been adopted at the +meeting of the Council of the Board. Knowing that the Council was being +misled, I communicated with the President and requested that I might be +heard before the Council, offering to explain the copyright question, +which I knew was little understood by the members, of whom only two or +three are publishers. The President frankly admitted to me that he had not +investigated the question, and told me he would bring my request before +the next meeting of the Council. I was somewhat surprised to receive a +letter from the President a few days afterwards declining to allow me to +be heard, and still more surprised to read that in his annual address to +the Board, delivered four days later, he energetically pressed upon the +Board the necessity for the legislation referred to in the resolution of +the Council. + +I therefore take this means of presenting the true position of literary +copyright in Canada, a subject which is but little understood, and upon +which the Executive and the Council apparently did not desire +enlightenment. + +Under the British Copyright Laws, which extend to Canada, a British or +Canadian author of a literary work has the undisputed right to his +manuscript; he may withhold, or he may communicate it, and in +communicating it he may limit the number of persons to whom it is +imparted, and impose such restrictions as he pleases upon the use and +printing of the work. Foreign reprints of such a work cannot be imported +into Canada. Canadian publishers are just as free to deal with authors +under the British Copyright Laws as publishers in the United Kingdom, and +are, therefore, on the same footing as the British publishers. + +Prior to 1847, it was a common complaint in Canada that, owing to the +provisions of the Imperial Copyright Act, a sufficient supply of English +literature could not be obtained, whilst the reading public in the United +States were well supplied with the best English books in cheap form. To +remove this ground of complaint, the Imperial Parliament passed the +Foreign Reprints Act (1847), under which Canada was permitted to import +cheap pirated editions of British works produced in the United States, on +an undertaking to collect a Customs duty thereon of 12-1/2 per cent., +which was to be paid over to the British Government for the benefit of the +authors interested. The results of this legislation were unsatisfactory to +the British authors, few of whom received any benefit under the provisions +of the Act. The sums collected were ridiculously small. In 1894, they +amounted to $1,433.66, and in 1895, to $2,211.33. Whilst the arrangement +was in existence, British copyright works were openly printed in the +United States, and imported into Canada without payment of the duty, to +the exclusion of British editions. So long as this arrangement remained in +force, a British copyright owner could not prevent the importation into +Canada of pirated editions of his work, unless he reprinted the work in +Canada and copyrighted it under the Canadian copyright laws. The +arrangement was terminated by the Canadian Parliament in 1895 at the +instance of Sir John Thompson. + +Every lover of books will remember that during the continuance of the +arrangement, a Canadian Publishing Trade hardly existed, and that the +reading public who bought books were compelled in a great measure to +satisfy themselves with American reprints, of so little value that +specimens of them are now regarded almost as curiosities. + +Prior to 1887, a Canadian author was entitled to little protection under +the Copyright Laws of European countries, and prior to 1891 was entitled +to no protection whatever under the Copyright Laws of the United States. +In 1886 the Imperial Parliament passed an Act which provides in effect, +that the British Copyright Acts shall apply to a book first produced in +Canada or any other British possession, in like manner as they apply to a +work first produced in the United Kingdom. If the book is copyrighted at +Ottawa, a certificate of registration signed by the Minister of +Agriculture is proof in all Courts throughout the Empire of the existence +of such copyright. No registration in England is required. + +In 1887, a comparatively uniform system of International Copyright was +established under the Berne Convention, which applies to the British +Empire, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Norway, +Japan, Luxembourg, Monaco, Tunis, Hayti and Montenegro. These countries +comprise what is called, "The Copyright Union." Under this Convention +Canadian authors enjoy in the other countries of the Union for their +works--whether published in one of those countries or unpublished--the +rights which the respective laws grant to natives. (Austria-Hungary has a +separate Convention with Great Britain on the lines of the Berne +Convention, _from the benefits of which Canada is expressly excepted_). A +book, therefore, first produced in Canada and registered at Ottawa, +obtains at once the same copyright advantages throughout the British +Dominions and the Copyright Union, that it would enjoy if first produced +in the United Kingdom and registered at Stationers' Hall in London. + +Prior to 1891, books written in any part of the Empire were public +property in the United States, and, although there were many honorable +exceptions amongst American publishers of reputation, such books were as a +rule appropriated on the scramble system, chiefly to supply material for +the weekly issues of the cheap "Libraries," such as "The Seaside" and "The +Franklin Square." The "fifteen cent quarto" of the Libraries was not a +book; it was usually sold for railway reading, and thrown away at the end +of the journey. Canada was deluged with these productions. + +In 1891, the Chace Bill was passed by Congress. One provision of this Bill +enacts, that any citizen or subject of a foreign country, which has been +declared by the President's proclamation to permit citizens of the United +States the benefit of copyright on substantially the same basis as its own +citizens, can obtain copyright in the United States. The author obtaining +such copyright is protected from piracy in the United States, or from +importation of foreign reproductions into the United States. It is +popularly understood in Canada that, before the passage of the Chace Bill, +the Imperial authorities gave some concession, or made some change in the +British Copyright Law, or entered into some International Agreement +providing for reciprocity in the granting of copyright, in order to secure +an arrangement with the United States. Such is not the case. + +Only a few days ago, I read a report of an address upon copyright +delivered to the Canadian Club by Mr. Thomas, a leading member of the firm +of The Copp, Clark Company, from the published report of which I quote:-- + + "In turning to the conditions of copyright in the United States, Mr. + Thomas stated that prior to 1891 there was no protection for British + authors there, and his books were pirated at will. The result was so + disastrously manifest that a conference was held, and an Act was + passed giving them protection. That Uncle Samuel had both eyes open + when the Act was passed and the agreement made, was shown when Mr. + Thomas stated that one condition upon which the British author was + given protection was that the book be printed and made in the United + States, and that it be published prior to or simultaneously with + foreign publication. This action of the Americans was contrasted with + that of the British, who, while they demand the making and publication + of a book in Britain to ensure the protection of copyright, yet + construe the Act so as to allow it to be possible to have the book + made in the United States and then have a sample sent to Stationers' + Hall, London, which sending allows the work to be entered as published + in England. Mr. Thomas said that the United States was the best book + market in the world. He pointed out that the Americans, being aware of + this, compelled the outside authors to have their books published in + the United States. Mr. Thomas was applauded when he said: 'There is + not a single book made outside the United States as a result of this + Act, for if you wish to secure the American copyright you have to have + your book made there. What is sauce for the goose is not sauce for the + gander, for we do not compel books to be published here in order to + secure the British and Canadian copyright.'" + +There is no foundation for these statements of Mr. Thomas in regard to the +action of the United States. The Imperial authorities gave no concession +to secure the passage of the Chace Bill, made no change in British +Copyright Laws, entered into no agreement, and Uncle Sam played no sharp +trick upon the unsuspecting Englishman. All this is pure fiction. What +really happened was this, and it may be easily verified by reference to an +English Blue Book, published in 1891, containing the correspondence +relating to the "United States Copyright Act." The Act of Congress was +passed in March, 1891. On the 27th of May, 1891, the American Ambassador +at London wrote to Lord Salisbury, then Foreign Secretary, enclosing a +copy of the Act of Congress, and pointing out that the benefits of the +Statute only extended to citizens of foreign countries after the +President's proclamation had been issued under conditions specified in the +Act. On the 16th of June, 1891, Lord Salisbury wrote the American +Ambassador as follows:-- + + "Her Majesty's Government is advised that under existing English law + an alien by first publication in any part of Her Majesty's Dominions + can obtain the benefit of English copyright, and that contemporaneous + publication in a foreign country does not prevent the author from + obtaining English copyright." + + "That residence in some part of Her Majesty's Dominions is not a + necessary condition to an alien obtaining copyright under the English + copyright law; and + + "That the law of copyright in force in all British possessions permits + to citizens of the United States of America the benefit of copyright + on substantially the same basis as to British subjects." + +On the first of July, 1891, and without further communication between the +two Governments, the President issued his proclamation proclaiming, that +as satisfactory official assurance had been given that in Great Britain +and the British possessions the law permitted to citizens of the United +States the benefit of copyright on substantially the same basis as to the +citizens of that country, the above condition in the Chace Bill was +fulfilled in respect of British subjects. Thereupon the authors of the +United Kingdom and Canada, and of every other British possession became +entitled to the benefits of copyright in the United States on a perfect +equality with American authors. + +It is, therefore, plain that the action of the United States was entirely +voluntary; it was the result of no bargaining; it was a straight +concession to British authors, to secure which the Imperial authorities +conceded nothing. The United States by the Chace Bill conceded to British +subjects privileges substantially equal to those conceded to its own +citizens. The provisions of the Chace Bill are also in force with +Germany, France, Switzerland, Belgium, Italy, Denmark, Portugal, Spain, +Mexico, Netherlands (Holland), Chile, and Costa Rica. + +The Chace Bill was the result of a struggle extending over fifty-three +years to secure the recognition in the United States of International +Copyright,--a struggle of authors supported by the most eminent American +publishers and journalists, having in view the relief of the publishing +and all kindred trades from the blight of piracy, and the removal of the +stigma which had rested on the American literary and publishing world. +Prominent in the agitation which terminated in the Chace Bill was the +American Copyright League, which included among its members the authors of +the United States, and was presided over by such men as James Russell +Lowell, Stedman, and Eggleston. The League in a noble letter published in +1887 appealed to all good citizens for justice to foreign authors, upon +the ground that they were entitled to receive from those who read and +benefitted by their books, the same fair payment one would expect to make +on any other article, such as clothes or pictures bought from foreign +producers. The League appealed for the widening of the circulation of the +best new literature, home and international, on the ground of the +lessening of the price which would ensue, in the case of original American +books, from distributing the first cost among the greater number of copies +for which sale would be secured among American readers, if the market were +not flooded by pirated reprints of poor English novels; and in the case of +books of international importance, whether from American, English, or +Continental writers, from giving a basis of law to business arrangements +for sharing the expense of production among the several nations +interested. + +A recent report to the United States Senate on the effect of the passage +of the Chace Bill sets forth that the great preponderance of opinion +amongst publishers, book manufacturers, and large printing establishments, +supports the change. The condition of the book trade in the United States +prior to the passage of the Chace Bill in 1891 was deplorable. If the +suggestion of the Board of Trade were adopted, Canada would be in exactly +the same condition as the United States before the Chace Bill was passed. + +The Canadian author, therefore, has obtained security in the vast market +of the United States, because of the proclamation of the President, based +on Lord Salisbury's satisfactory official assurance, that in Great Britain +and the British possessions, the law permitted to citizens of the United +States the benefit of copyright on substantially the same basis as to +British subjects. If Canadian authors, Mr. Seton-Thompson, Ralph Connor, +or Dr. Drummond, for example, comply with the provisions of the Chace +Bill, and print and publish in the United States contemporaneously with +the Canadian publication, they secure British and American copyright, with +all the protection of the local copyright laws of the two countries. + +Now let us see how an American author, who does not copyright in England +but seeks to publish simultaneously in Canada and the United States, would +be treated in this country, were he to seek to copyright his book in +compliance with the provisions of our Canadian Act, an essential +requirement of which is printing in this country. + +In 1875, the Canadian Parliament passed an Act giving copyright for +twenty-eight years from the date of recording, to any author of a book +domiciled in Canada or in any part of the British dominions _or being the +citizen of any country having an International Copyright Treaty with the +United Kingdom_. To secure such copyright the Act provides that the book +must be printed and published, or reprinted and republished in Canada, +_whether so published for the first time or contemporaneously with or +subsequently to the publication elsewhere_. This Act was reserved by the +Governor General. In the same year an Imperial Statute was passed +empowering Her Majesty in Council to assent to the reserved Act. On the +26th of October, 1875, the Royal assent was given to take effect from the +11th of December following. Just as United States Copyright Legislation +requires production in that country so the Canadian Act of 1875 provides, +as pointed out above, that to obtain Canadian copyright for a literary +work it must be produced in Canada. + +The Canadian authorities have steadily declined to permit the registration +of copyright under the Canadian Copyright Act to citizens of the United +States, the ground of objection being, that the enactment of the Congress +of the United States and the President's proclamation of July 1st, 1891, +extending the benefits of the Chace Bill to all British subjects, did not +constitute "an International Copyright Treaty" within the meaning of the +Canadian Copyright Act, which provides, as pointed out above, that _any +person domiciled in Canada or any part of the British possessions, or +being a citizen of any country having an International Copyright Treaty +with the United Kingdom_, who is an author of any book, etc., shall have +the sole right of printing, publishing, etc., for a number of years on +certain conditions. This is a narrow construction of the Canadian Act, and +savours somewhat of smartness and sharp practice. I believe it is not a +fair construction and is certainly not in accord with the spirit and +manifest intention of the Act. I am not alone in entertaining this opinion +which still remains to be tested. + +In February, 1897, the United States Government proposed the negotiation +of a Copyright Convention which would expressly meet this allegation of +the Canadian Government. This proposal the Canadian Government declined to +entertain. + +Far greater liberality in copyright matters is shown in the United States +to Canadian authors, than is shown in Canada to American authors. A +Canadian author can secure copyright in the United States if he prints his +work in that country, and publishes contemporaneously with the publication +in Canada. An American author parting with his rights for Canada to a +Canadian publisher who may print an edition in Canada, cannot, as the law +is interpreted at Ottawa, secure any protection in the Canadian market +until after the book has been registered at Stationers' Hall in London. +As the law is construed in England, an author who desires to secure +British copyright by publication in Canada must comply with the Canadian +requirements, one of which requirements is that the work must be printed +here. But if an American author prints his work in Canada, copyright is +refused him at Ottawa. He cannot, therefore, secure any protection +whatever in Canada, unless he takes his work to England, publishes there +contemporaneously with his publication in the United States, and registers +at Stationers' Hall in London. If he were allowed after printing in Canada +to register his copyright under the Canadian Act he would thereby acquire +all the advantages of the Imperial Copyright Acts; but this is denied him. +He cannot secure any protection whatever under our local laws, nor can he +even bring an action to prevent infringement of his rights until after he +has registered his book at Stationers' Hall in London. + +The Canadian rights in any American book which is likely to have a +considerable sale in Canada are quickly purchased by some Canadian +publisher, and the book is published simultaneously with the publication +in England and the United States. Mr. Winston Churchill's "Crisis," and +Miss Mary Johnston's "Audrey," are examples of such books. If the English +publication, with consequent delays, could be dispensed with and all the +advantages of the British Copyright Acts could be acquired by printing and +contemporaneous publishing in Canada, as they could be acquired were the +bar against registration at Ottawa removed, a strong inducement would be +offered to copyright American books in Canada. + +The importation of American books in sheets into Canada is considerable, +although it is yearly diminishing as our publishing facilities increase +and trade grows. The present duty of 20% is an obstacle to such +importation, and if the facilities I have referred to were afforded in +Canada to the American authors, and the present tedious delays occasioned +by the necessity of obtaining British copyright removed, an end would be +put to the importation in sheets of many books, and an effectual end in +the case of more popular works of fiction, which have a sure market in +Canada. + +The principal difficulty which British authors and Canadian publishers had +to contend with prior to 1891, was due to the proximity of the United +States. So long as the Canadian law remained in force which provided for +the collection of the 12-1/2% duty for the benefit of British authors, the +importation of cheap pirated editions of British works could not be +prevented, unless the work was reproduced in Canada, and such reproduction +was impossible chiefly owing to the limited market and unsettled copyright +conditions in this country. + +The passage of the Chace Bill by Congress and the President's proclamation +changed the whole aspect of the Canadian Publishing Trade, but the making +of a Canadian edition of a British book still remained a more precarious +speculation for the Canadian publisher, than the making of a British one +was for the British publisher. When the British publisher made an +arrangement with an author either by out-and-out purchase, or by an agreed +royalty, and issued a copyrighted edition, he had the market to himself, +and no man might sell a copy of any edition therein. When the Canadian +publisher made an arrangement with an author or copyright owner to bring +out a Canadian edition--a speculation involving considerable pecuniary +risk--he had to pay for the right to do it as the English publisher had, +but his market was likely to be interfered with by an influx of copies of +a cheap edition from the Old Country, not sold to the public in the United +Kingdom, but prepared expressly for exportation to Canada and other +possessions and styled a "Colonial Edition." A Canadian publisher might +have purchased from an English author the right to reproduce a Canadian +edition; he might have gone to large expense in advertising and +popularizing his purchase, yet, before his books could be placed on the +counters of Canadian retail dealers, he as a rule found in the market the +cheap Colonial Edition imported to compete with and undersell his own, +even although he had contracted as effectually as he could with the +English author and publisher for the Canadian market. + +In 1899, the third International Congress of Publishers was held in +London, at which there was a representative gathering of British and +foreign publishers. The question of Canadian copyright occupied one of the +sittings of the Congress. Professor Mavor, representing the Canadian +Authors' Society was present, and delivered an interesting address, from +the official report of which I quote:-- + + "Professor Mavor said there was a difference between the law officers + of the Crown and the Canadian law officers with respect to the rights + of Canada to legislate for copyright in Canada, and there was no doubt + that publishers on both sides held extreme views. When his Society + turned their attention to it, they considered whether some middle path + might not be arrived at which would satisfy reasonable people on both + sides of the water. They laid down four principles to guide them. They + thought it useless, considering the present population of Canada, to + propose a manufacture clause, and therefore set that aside. In the + second place, they thought the system of licensing was far too + complicated to be worked out satisfactorily. Thirdly, they thought it + would be a great pity for Canada to do anything to lead to the + withdrawal of the Berne Convention; and fourthly, they thought it + would be a great pity to disturb the existing relations as regarded + copyright between England and the United States. They went to some of + the publishers, and asked them to point out where the shoe pinched, + and it appeared that the publishers had a reasonable grievance. They + said that, when they bought what they supposed to be Canadian rights, + sometimes before they could get their books on the bookshelves, + English editions were in the market side by side with the domestic + editions. There was no suggestion that the British publishers acted + otherwise than in perfect good faith; but wholesale dealers were in + the habit of purchasing large numbers of books, and sending some to + the Cape and Australia, and some to Canada. It appeared that something + would be done in connection with that, by explaining it to the British + publishers, and asking them to assist in passing legislation to carry + it into effect. If the clause was carried in England, the Canadian + Government would pass an Act to enforce it there." + +Mr. H.L. Thompson, a member of the publishing house of The Copp, Clark +Company, was also present. Mr. Thompson said that "the copyright question +in Canada was understood very slightly by the people at large, and if they +mentioned copyright they thought it had something to do with monopoly. +Speaking of his own house, he could say they cordially supported the +suggestion made by Professor Mavor." It is difficult to understand why Mr. +H.L. Thompson and his partner, Mr. Thomas, are now, only two years +afterwards, to be found advocating exactly the contrary views. + +The following resolution was adopted by the Congress:-- + + "That it is eminently desirable in the interests of English owners of + copyright, and for the maintenance of the Convention of Berne, that + some satisfactory arrangements should be entered into with Canada in + regard to copyright matters. On this ground the Conference desires to + give cordial support to the proposal brought forward by Professor + Mavor." + +In the year 1900, a bill was introduced by Lord Monkswell into the House +of Lords to consolidate the law relating to literary copyright. At the +instance of the Canadian Authors' Society a clause was introduced into +this bill empowering the Legislature of any British possession if a book +had been first lawfully published in any other part of Her Majesty's +Dominions, and it was proved to the satisfaction of an officer, appointed +by the Government of such possession to receive such proofs, that the +owner of the copyright had lawfully granted either a license to import for +sale in such British possession, or a license to reproduce therein by any +process, an edition or editions of any such book designed for sale only in +such British possession, it should be lawful for the Legislature of such +possession by Act or Ordinance to provide for the prohibition of the +importation, except with the written consent of the licensee, into such +possession of any copies of such book printed elsewhere except under such +license as aforesaid, except that two copies might be specially imported +for the _bona fide_ use of each of the public free libraries, of the +university and college libraries, and law libraries of any duly organized +law institution or society for the use of its members. + +The fourth Congress of the Chambers of Commerce of the Empire met in +London, when Lord Monkswell's bill was before Parliament, and unanimously +adopted a resolution, which I proposed and which was seconded by the +Honourable Thomas Fergus, of New Zealand, declaring its approval of the +bill and expressing the earnest hope that it might speedily become law. + +Lord Monkswell's bill did not succeed in getting through the required +stages to make it law, but the British Government has now taken the matter +up, and the King's speech at the opening of the present Parliament +announces a copyright bill as a Government measure. + +Towards the close of the Parliamentary session of 1900, the Honourable Mr. +Fisher introduced into the Canadian Parliament a Bill which was found to +be generally acceptable and which ultimately became law. This Bill, +usually referred to as the Fisher Bill, provides in effect that if a +Canadian publisher, under license from the owner of a British copyright, +reproduces in Canada an edition designed for sale only in Canada, the +Minister of Agriculture may prohibit the importation into Canada of any +copy of the book printed elsewhere. The Fisher Bill was passed with the +full approval of the Imperial authorities, and is another great concession +to the Canadian trade. Now, if a Canadian publisher buys the British +copyright of a work so far as Canada is concerned, he may protect himself +not only against the introduction of United States and foreign prints, +but even as against the introduction of reprints produced in Great Britain +itself. + +The Fisher Bill, which was passed at the instance of the Canadian Society +of Authors with the sanction of the Canadian Manufacturers' Association +and the Executive of the Employing Printers' Association, expressed in +formal resolutions laid before the Government, and with the tacit approval +of the Canadian publishers, placed the Canadian publishing trade upon a +firm basis. It was the final step in securing the establishment of the +Publishing Trade in Canada. + +In June, 1900, Professor Mavor and I were called before the Select +Committee of the House of Lords and questioned as to whether in our +opinion the Fisher Bill was intended to be local in its operation and not +to conflict with the Imperial Copyright Laws. We gave the opinion that the +Bill was intended to be confined in its operation to Canada. This opinion +was accepted as a satisfactory explanation and the Bill received no +opposition in England and came into effect without disallowance. By +allowing this Bill to become law, the Imperial authorities gave that +further recognition to the Canadian publishers which successfully +established their trade, and put an end to the deadlock which had existed +between Great Britain and Canada for twenty years. Mr. W.J. Gage, the +Chairman of the Wholesale Booksellers' Section of the Board of Trade, +himself testified to the present prosperity of the Trade at a Banquet on +the 19th of last December, at which he entertained the Section, and +congratulated his hearers "upon the last year having been with them a year +of prosperity, and a year of prosperity with the Paper Trade as well." + +What then is the reason for the present agitation? Does any one pretend to +assert that the present conditions under the Fisher Bill are not working +well? + +Under the provisions of the Fisher Bill, it has become possible for any +Canadian publisher to go to England, make arrangements with the owner of a +British copyright for the publication in Canada of a Canadian edition, and +then publish here freed from the fear of an invasion of his market by +British, American, or any other foreign reproductions, whether the +publication was first in Canada or subsequent to publication elsewhere. + + * * * * * + +To summarize the position:--In 1847, the Imperial authorities yielded to +Canadian demands and permitted the introduction of the cheap American +reprints of British copyright books. This arrangement our own Parliament +terminated. + +In 1886, the Imperial Parliament set at rest a question which had existed +in reference to the copyright in books first published in Canada, by +providing that the British Copyright Acts should apply to such works in +the same manner as they apply to works first produced in the United +Kingdom. They now occupy exactly the same footing. + +In 1900, the Imperial authorities again yielded to Canadian demands, and +permitted the Fisher Act to come into force, which prohibits the +importation of copies of a work printed in the United Kingdom, when the +Canadian publisher produces in Canada an edition of the work under license +from the copyright owner. + +The Canadian author who publishes his work in Canada secures copyright not +only in the whole British Empire, but obtains protection in all the +countries comprising the Copyright Union. If he comply with the provisions +of the Chace Bill, and print and publish contemporaneously in the United +States, he secures the whole market of the States as well, which was a +loss to him prior to 1891. Sir John Bourinot thus obtains protection for +his property in his valuable historical productions, and is reaping +splendid returns from the United States market. Mr. Seton-Thompson and Dr. +Drummond are doing the same. Yearly the authors of Canada are gathering a +harvest from this great market. Secured by the Berne Convention, Mr. +Frechette's "La Noël au Canada," printed in Toronto, goes to France safe +from continental piracies. Not a year passes that Canadian editions of +books are not shipped to Great Britain, and the trade is increasing. +Examples of such books are Professor Clark's "Paraclete" and Colonel +Denison's "Soldiering in Canada." + +The Canadian publishers are now secured in the possession of their own +market when once they have acquired a license from a British copyright +owner, and have reproduced the work in Canada. Canadian printed editions +of Rudyard Kipling, George Eliot, Francis Parkman, and of scores of others +may now exclusively be dealt in by the Canadian book-selling trade. +Prominent American publishers have told me repeatedly that our Canadian +Copyright Law as it stands, is superior to anything they have had in the +United States for the benefit and encouragement of publishing. + +It was once the custom for the English author, when dealing with the +American publisher, to throw in Canada as an inducement to complete the +deal. Mr. Thomas in his address to which I have referred stated that this +is still the custom. Mr. Thomas knows better than this, for, whilst this +was undoubtedly the custom some years ago when Canada and her trade were +little known or regarded in England, it is not the custom now. Rudyard +Kipling, Hall Caine, Benjamin Kidd, Crockett, Doyle, Hope, Parker, Miss +Fowler, Miss Cholmondeley, Miss Montresor, Marie Corelli, all now deal +with Canada as a separate market, and contract directly with Canadian +publishers. This custom is growing rapidly and more books are now directly +offered to Canadian publishers than can be safely taken, having regard to +the present state of the market. + +Those who at present comprise a majority of the Booksellers' Section of +the Board of Trade desire to have a Canadian copyright law of their own, +to secure authority which will enable the Canadian Parliament to pass an +Act which would separate Canadians from the rule of British copyright +legislation, and necessarily, too, from its benefits. It goes without +saying that if this is effectuated Canada will be excluded from the +Copyright Union and also from protection in the vast market of the United +States; and as a further consequence the works of Canadian authors would +again become public property outside of Canada, and the British publisher +would surely retaliate. + +And what end will be gained by all this? Nothing but the right for +Canadian publishers to print in Canada the majority of British or foreign +books in any cheap form they please, and to compile such works as School +Readers made up of extracts culled from copyright works, subject only to +such safeguards as will secure to the owners of the copyrights infringed +upon a _reasonable_ royalty, in the imposition of which they can have no +effective voice. + +Were the proposals of the Board of Trade carried into effect, it would +reduce our country below the standard of national morality and of +international fair play maintained by all other civilized nations now +united in the Copyright Union. Canadian authors would then encounter the +same difficulty in securing recognition at the hands of Canadian +publishers that American authors experienced with their publishers prior +to 1891, when British books could be published in the United States +without payment of royalty. + +I agree in the view that the rights of an author are just as much entitled +to protection as any other rights in property. I am absolutely opposed to +any retrograde movement on the copyright question. I believe that the +rights of publishers are inseparably bound up with those of authors, and I +regard any attempt to deprive authors of any rights in the property which +is the product of their intellectual exertions as "nothing short of a +crime equal to that of a highwayman," nor can I submit to remain a member +of the Board of Trade without recording my warm dissent from the action of +the Council and the Executive. I object emphatically to our taking the law +into our own hands, and fixing what we may be pleased to think is _a +reasonable price_ to be paid authors for their property, merely because it +is the product of their intellectual labours. I am satisfied to accept +the Canadian law as it is, and to abide by its provisions if they are +fairly construed. + +I maintain that the subject of copyright is abstruse, and is not to be +mastered in a few days or in a few months. Long as this letter is, I have +stated only a single phase of the question. I could better have dealt with +the matter in a short address, and I very much regret that the Executive +of the Council did not afford me the opportunity of appearing before them +when I asked it. Had this been done, I feel satisfied that the Board would +not have been committed to the proposals the Council are now engaged in +advancing, nor would the Board have been subjected in England, as it +already has been, to the criticisms of those who understand the copyright +question, and with some indignation resent the course of the Board in +advancing reasons for its action which are not in accordance with the real +facts. + +I am, Sir, +Yours truly, +GEORGE N. MORANG + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Copyright Question, by George N. Morang + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14673 *** |