AUTHORS AND COPYRIGHT.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 395, 2 January 1909, Page 9

AUTHORS AND COPYRIGHT.

"After some weeks-of hard' work- the • important;-:; conference on . International Copyright, ' which-has been, sitting at-' Berlin, has framed a-, draft Convention," says .-." The Times.";'.- "This- weighty' document has been prepared by, the "joint labours of a number of; very able -men from most- of the countries of the world; : The main object of the conference has been to. simplify, and extend the protection accorded to the owners of literary arid artistic copyright (including musical copyright) . under ,- the . existing'., agreements, .especially the; Berne''.Convention of 1886 and the Acte additionnel of;-Paris. "One of the main grievances of authors has been'that uiidir thoso conventions they have been: obliged, in case of lawsuits, to waste' much ..time arid moriey on formalities, especially on-proving a.'right .which the Court ought properly ;to presume.* Again, the whole position of musical Copyright has; been un-satisfactory,-.'and so has .been- that of. the • rights' of '-■ newspapers .to" protect their ■ contents,/ often provided at. a very great ex'pense. . '. ~ . ! ;/'Scientific' invention has also raised new Copyright..problems.' The- gramophone, has been ablo to repeat the utterances' of tho 'h'uirian-'voice,. : and in tho case of great sin-, .gers this has meant the creation of a.,.very valuable asset. So with the.cinematograph; it\ is able to copy .scenes, 'from plays, , for instance,;, which have 'a definite- money value; . and- the question „of protecting the: rightful owners against such an unauthorised-multi-plication - of their property} .is one of some urgency. ', -, -.-' ', • "Finally, the r .timp-limit for .copyright differs in different, countries,' and it, is ently desirallo' that' uniformity should/ here be '■ established. . ..France \ allows 'it' to last till fifty years after the; author's'death; Ger-many-1 till thirty years/, Spami till- /eighty years; and England; till: .seven :years after death; .or forty-two years after publication, whichever is the'longer. Clearly there ought to 'be- some settled, principle on. a-point, of such importance; arid .the chief- matter for regret in - the ; new. Convention , is '. that, on ; accourit.,.of /difficulties raised 'by. the British !delegates," this":settlement 'has riotbeen ;definitely reached. Musical Copyright protected. ' ': "The most important of ; tho. provisions of'the ;new Cpnveritiori .are: at the 'sametime' two of the briefest.' The mere fact tha.t the law courts of tlie, world will hence-, jforth-presiime copyright will,act as 'an;imr a.Ufch6jf»i " s •' wlljl' Reaper', jfbttk, bo >able '-to- : defend.)themselves : .riiora ieasily'ai'id' cheaply .than, at-present. 'Again,; a -general, agreement .to' protect • musical :■ copy-, .right'throughout the .union /will -at last puton an.equality. with the authors, of books; ; though here, of course, as thrpugh;out, 'we havp -td remeriiber ! that'the' : _Contention, is, : riot municipal,..'but international;, arid various. grievances may. still have to. bo remedied by :the' domestic , legislation' of different countries.', .. ' /; . ' Translations Protooted. , "As regards literary copyright, thfe; portant changes-are not -manj' ;: but :there .is ono '..which .may. .prove. to be of considerable' ;value' ;to'';.writers of, serious -books.,..jTJp.'to •ririw".',-'an'--' author's control .. over'/ iiatibnb J r<rpfi- : ,'-'his ■ works, has /. .been, 'ii sub;-: :je'ct',, t'o- ;a *: very. .vexatious ~ tinie limit, extending'/ only.. to ten years,' 'from . date, of"' 'publication... It -- -is obvious that' ;many •of '■'• the best. , books dealing with' 'science, philosophy. and . history- do: not make, /such ,: an immediate impression.-ak--to'induce foreign pub-, lishers to take them up, aiid.it is only after a- good . many, years that; it becomes wp'r'th while, to translate them. The. injustice,of the actual arrangement,needs no proof, and its abolition by tho /Convention ..will be received with 'general approval all over .the world.. ■ HenbefortU'' an author's rights over translations of .his works, will . bo'the same as over'the works themselves,' and-'a Darwin, :a' Kelvin, or a Loroy-Beaulieu will,have_ the same control. over, his bcipks._ appearing ,in a foreign language as he has ini the, language in which they are written., ;, Newspaper Copyright. ■: '.I'There • remain the ' two ', important .'ques-'-tipiis of.'-newspaper; copyright and,;of the duration of author's rights./,' Of, the former. ' tho convention 'propounds . a, solution which .while, it is. to: a certain extent an. improvement upon the present state of things, cannot be 'regarded - as offering /complete - protection for the outlay incurred and tho enterprise exerted by a firstrrato newspaper. So far'ias" they'go, the, regulations granting protection to romaris-feuilletons .'andjoth'pr works, literary, scientific, and artistic,, what-; ever the.object may/be,'; are a step in' the right. direction. The delegates, however,, .have not -seen their - way to protect general news ..and. faits divers, -vyhile' for the, intermediate .class, including articles of political discussion, the newspaper quoted will have to, content, itself-jwith the mention .of itsname as the source ;of information;,'-'/ Duration of Copyright. : • "As regards..tho remaining.. point,/ the duration-, of; literary copyright, wev should, gladly have accepted the French proposal, to which \the. British delegates,; for a reason that may almos't be called technical,-...were uuable to agree] The whole/aim and object of tho Converition was to simplify; exjstirig arrangements,-., and' ;to ; put: tho - authors. : .of every-country, as far as possible /upon : the : same footing; {and >; this : result: cannot,; be obtained' unlesf the time - limit for copyright is made; uniform.. "It appears that tho delegates, of all countries", wero "ready to accept the Fi;ench proposal, making - the time limit fifty years after the death ■ of/ an author. , ■' _/ •• ■ ■ "Of course, imost peoplo. admit that there should bo a limit, and that the-property of an'.-author's -.heirs should determine''at' 'some, time, or: other j- but in our opinion fifty, years aftor. death i| none too long. • It'must bo remembered that, in the case of those 'serious/ authors of whom wo. liavo spoken, the ifrtfit" "of their ripest; knowledge is, .in- the majority of ..cases, not produced till towards the end of thcir.lifo;whilo at tho same time the production of such works very, often brings back into notice, and gives a commercial value to,; the same man's early Writings. Concerning Reprints. "Why should a publisher, he allowed to reprint those early writings,. for " his own profit, at an earlier date than lie. may reprint the;lato writings? We can quite understand .that majiy of the modern -typo, of ■publishers, who live by cheap reprints and who do liot like paying royalties, might dislike the proposed cxtension ; but, after' all, there is-another point of view—tliat of the •producer, arid his heirs. It seems a'pity that a convention which ccrtaiuly goes far to simplify the' existing international state of tilings, should not have been " completed by an agreement on this Important point."