$ 14. Will Copyright produce cheap books? $ 15. Royalty system. other and similar works are offered for a much smaller sum. It is the interest of the author and publisher to publish their work at the price at which they can obtain the greatest return, and as a rule the lower the price is fixed the larger will be the sale. It follows from all this, that it is to the interest of the author and publisher to bring out editions at a price suitable to the mass of the reading community within a reasonable time of first publication; and so long as this is so, the State need not undertake the very difficult and unsatisfactory task of fixing the price at which tradesmen shall sell. But besides direct regulation of prices by the State, a further suggestion has been made. It is proposed that, if after a reasonable time the author has not published a supply of his book at a reasonable price, it shall be open to any person to reprint the work on paying a Royalty to its author. By this plan it is contended that the public will obtain their books more cheaply, and the author will not be deprived of his fair remuneration. And this system in effect has been recommended for adoption in Colonial Copyright by the late Royal Commission. It is, of course, open to great objection on the ground of the difficulty of State decision as to what is a reasonable price, and as a general rule this is, I think, a sufficient argument against its adoption. But there are cases, notably the cases of International Copyright, and of Copyright in countries whose social organization is in its infancy, where its adoption with certain modifications seems desirable. The consideration of these excepted cases will naturally come later, and we may content ourselves here with saying that the second end to be gained by the community, cheap books, should as a rule be attained by the $15. system. unfettered action of the author and publisher, their interest here being practically identical with that of the Royalty community; but that there are cases, depending on the varying circumstances of each community, where, if the author does not provide, within a reasonable time, a supply of his work at a reasonable price, other arrangements to procure that supply may fairly be sanctioned, provided that capital invested by the publisher is not unreasonably attacked, and that, except in special cases, due remuneration is secured to the author. § 16. national Before proceeding to the details of the ideal Law of Copyright, a few words may be said on the principle of InterInternational Copyright. The early history of Copyright Copyright. law shews that it originally included the idea of protection of native industry. The doctrines of free trade, however, appear as applicable to intellectual as to physical commerce. It is to the interest of the community to secure the best foreign as well as the best native literature, and not only to secure it for themselves, but to encourage its further production by securing due remuneration for its authors. Foreign works reprinted without payment to their producers tend, by their competition, injuriously to affect the position of authors at home. No reason therefore exists why the State should make a distinction between native and foreign literature, provided only that foreign authors make arrangements within a reasonable time of first publication for communicating their works to other countries. If they fail to do so, republication in those countries by others should clearly be allowed, the author under certain circumstances being secured his royalty. The community want good books as soon and as cheap as possible, and if no steps are § 16. taken by the author to provide them with such a supply within a reasonable time, there is nothing unreasonable Copyright in allowing others to make provision for their wants. International For it is not here, as in the case of national or home Copyright, specially the interest of the author and publisher to supply the public of other countries at a price at which they will buy; an author may well be contented with the market of his own country without embarking on speculations in markets abroad, where he is probably ignorant both of the tastes of the reading public and of the best ways of creating demand. It is nevertheless desirable that he should be encouraged to himself republish abroad instead of simply waiting to receive a royalty on republication by others, and this end might be attained if the royalty were fixed at a lower figure than the author's ordinary profit on direct republication. For, in the first place, the author's quasiparental fondness for his literary child is likely to secure that a work whose production he supervises will be produced in the most suitable way; and secondly, the increased remuneration for personal supply will tend to bring foreign works before the home public sooner than would otherwise be the case. The foreign author, therefore, should be allowed a reasonable time during which to communicate his work to the home public in a suitable way, and during that time he should be protected from unauthorized reproduction in the country offering him protection. Should he make a suitable communication of his work, the protection should be continued; should he fail to do so, others should be allowed, on payment, as a rule, of a small royalty, to reproduce his work in that country, and, if they published a suitable reproduction, should be protected from competition therein. § 16. Inter national The foreign author would thus obtain part of the benefit of a demand from other countries for his work, a privilege which could not but tend to encourage literary Copyright. production and literary commerce all the world over. The question of whether these privileges should be conferred on foreign literature absolutely, or as a return for reciprocal concessions made by foreign States, is one rather of policy than of principle. If, however, no concessions should be obtainable from foreign States, it seems that the ideal community should still grant copyright to the works of foreign authors. By doing so it will secure a better supply of foreign literature than if the reproduction of works produced abroad were open to everyone, without any regard to the claims of their authors, in which case only the more immediately popular and ephemeral works would be produced, as being works in which the capital invested was least exposed to the risks arising from unrestricted competition. The question of Colonial Copyright is one raised by the peculiar circumstances of the British Empire, and does not demand separate treatment here. We are thus brought to the consideration in detail of the principles on which the Law of Literary Copyright should be based. ひつ C CHAPTER III. THE PRINCIPLES ON WHICH THE LAW OF COPYRIGHT SHOULD BE BASED. SECTION I. What should be protected by the State § 17. What should be protected?-§ 18. Unpublished works.§ 19. Lectures and plays.-§ 20. Waiver.-§ 21. Recapitulation. SECTION II. Nature of the Protection . § 22. Nature of protection to be afforded by the State. § 23. Monopoly system.-§ 24. Royalty system. 28 SECTION III. Qualities to be required in a Protected Work . SECTION VI. Duration of Protection 30 31 § 33. Duration of protection.-§ 34. Problem of duration.§ 35. Competing principles of duration.-§ 36. Result.§ 37. What should be term of duration in England?§ 38. Two-Term Copyright.-§ 39. Recapitulation.-§ 40. Terms of Copyright in various countries. SECTION VII. Infringements of Copyright calling for Protection. § 41. Classes of infringements.-§ 42. Class I. Open reproductions simpliciter.—§ 43. Class II. Open reproductions with other matter. § 44. Class III. Disguised reproductions.-§ 45. Works of fact.-§ 46. Works of fiction.-§ 47. Abridgments. § 48. Recapitulation.-§ 49. Class IV. Reproductions through other channels.-§ 50. Translations.-§ 51. Dramatisation of novels.-§ 52. Result.-§ 53. Laws of foreign countries. 32 42 |