Mr. Tams is willing that libraries should not be permitted to rent the same, provided that it shall refer to future and new works, in which case he would not need to buy the publications and have them on hand for that purpose. It is an extraordinary claim on the part of the music publishers to say that, while they admit that when they sell copies of their publications it carries the performing rights with the copies sold, yet the music publishers claim it only carries these performing rights to such persons who purchased the same from them, and that these books which have been purchased from them can not be used for performance by any other society to whom they may be loaned or rented by the society or person purchasing the same originally. Take any patented article, like a sewing machine; one who has bought it clearly has a right to lend it to another, to sell it, or to rent it without any infringement on the rights of the patentee, but when he attempts to manufacture the same that is another question, just the same as if Mr. Tams or any other purchaser of books from the music publishers would attempt to reprint them. This would be clearly wrong; but as long as this is not done and the books have once been paid for, how can the music publishers, composer, or author be wronged if it was performed by A., B., and C., so long as these very books have been purchased and paid for originally? It seems to me that section 4966 of the copyright law should not be permitted to be used as a club by some of the unscrupulous music publishers in any case where they hear that one of their publications is to be performed by one of our schools or a church or a vocal society for the purpose of charity and without profit, and threaten them by imprisonment and damages. The imprisonment clause seems to be a most obnoxious and unjust clause, and not inserted for any good to society. It seems that the music publishers, authors, and composers got along swimmingly prior to the adoption of the statute, section 4966 of the copyright law, and it is admitted that either the whole act should be eliminated or an amendment made by which these poor societies should not be held up in the case where the books have been paid for. They should be permitted to rent to each other or borrow from each other or buy from each other the books which have originally been bought of the music publishers, and the music libraries that have purchased the books from the various music publishers should be protected to date on such publications, if it should seem, in the wisdom of the Committee on Patents, that they should not be permitted hereafter to rent them.