The whole system provided in the Constitution is for the benefit of the public, the intent is to accumulate for the use of the public, matters of literature, art, and invention. The stimulus in the way of a reward given by the public in return for these matters is subsidiary to the main object. The reward consists in "securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries." The objection to the term provided in the bill is that it is unconscionably long. It may easily amount to a hundred years or more, during which time the public will have paid tribute to the author for something which will be so old fashioned as to be useless to the public when the copyright has expired. The word "limited" in the Constitution shows that the framers of that instrument had in mind to secure for the public certain benefits after the time had expired. To provide such a long copyright term as the authors seek to obtain in this bill would practically defeat the object of the said clause of the Constitution and the intention of its framers. I submit that it could only be considered for a moment on the ground that it is a matter of indifference to the public because the works so to be protected are entirely useless in themselves. I do not think there is any sufficient reason for lengthening the term--twenty-eight years with an extension of fourteen years--provided by existing law. In another respect this section is bad in making the length of the term dependent upon an event which is uncertain in advance, and of which no public accessible record may be made when it occurs; that is to say, the death of the author. I see no reason why a young author should have longer protection than an old author, and the provision would leave open to publishers a door of fraud by securing copyrights for the productions of old authors in the name of some younger person. The objection to a long term especially applies to music which depends almost entirely upon fashion and taste, and these soon change and the music becomes useless to the public. In my opinion, purely musical productions should have a relatively short term of copyright, but I have not considered the subject sufficiently to be justified in fixing any precise number of years. But as to all copyrights it is my conviction that the interest of the public unquestionably requires that they be granted for a definite term of years, and that, if an extension is provided, the extension should be for a fixed and definite time. It is only this which enables the public to know, upon reading a notice of the copyright, when the monopoly will terminate.