AUTHORS' RIGHTS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXV, Issue 16485, 26 February 1914, Page 8

AUTHORS' RIGHTS.

.TO THE EDITOR. ■ Sir, —I hope you will grant me space to show how the law orotects authors who have long been <r pirated " without any means of -gaining redress. The British Parliament has at last passed an Act and the various dependencies; have followed suit. Now, if the proper: steps are taken no play can be staged without receiving permission from the author or hw accredited agent, and a royalty of so much being agreed, upon. Any breach of this Act incurs a penalty of £lO per oerformance. Mr Bernard Shaw is fully protected and anyone who tries to steal his plays runs the risk of pacing pretty heavily. Lately my attention has been called to a performance of "You Never Can Tell, for whioh no permission was asked and no payment made to the author. I shall be much obliged if you] will let your readers know_that in the present state of the law it is a criminal offence thus to steal an author's; brains. —I am, etc., H. H. CHAMPION. 239, Collins Street, Melbourne, February 17, 1914.