Arguments before the Committee on Patents of the House of Representatives, conjointly with the Senate Committee on Patents, on H.R. 19853, to amend and consolidate the acts respecting copyright: June 6, 7, 8, and 9, 1906.United States. Congress. House. Committee on Patents
History
Arguments before the Committee on Patents of the House of Representatives, conjointly with the Senate Committee on Patents, on H.R. 19853, to amend and consolidate the acts respecting copyright: June 6, 7, 8, and 9, 1906.
United States. Congress. House. Committee on Patents
Copyright -- United States
Mr. BETHUNE. I think it will express it if "uncovered" is added.
Mr. PUTNAM. I should add that the reproducers definitely objected to
the privilege on the part of the photographers, and so on, the print
publishers, etc., of putting the notice on the mount; but of course it
was understood that they had that privilege at present. They have that
privilege at present, but the reproducers never thought that that was
reasonable, and did not concede it to be reasonable.
Mr. BETHUNE. Now, reproducers are open to fraudulent attempts to sell
to them copyrighted works by simply removing the notice of copyright,
and section 25, in the draft of the bill, imposes simply a penalty of
$100 as a minimum and $1,000 as a maximum fine for the removal of this
notice. We think that the punishment should be imprisonment as well as
fine. We want to protect ourselves from that fraud, which is very
frequently encountered.
Mr. CHANEY. So that that paragraph of that section as it stands is
satisfactory to you?
Mr. BETHUNE. Section 25, sir?
Mr. CHANEY. Yes.
Mr. BETHUNE. No. We want, as well as a punishment by fine of not less
than $100, the words inserted "or imprisonment" or "and imprisonment,"
both for a specified term; it is not material how long it shall be.
Mr. WEBB. Have you suggested your amendment to this section 14 that
some word instead of "accessible" should be used? Did you suggest
"visible"? Was that your idea?
Mr. BETHUNE. That was the word which we did suggest, but "accessible"
is satisfactory to us if "uncovered" is coupled with it.
Mr. WEBB. You want it to read "accessible and uncovered"?
Mr. BETHUNE. Yes.
Mr. WEBB. Would that apply to a magazine picture--a picture in a
magazine that had the notice on the back of the original? You could
look for it, and it would be uncovered.
Mr. BETHUNE. In the case of a magazine, as I understand, it would be
covered by the copyright of the magazine.
Mr. WEBB. Well, that is all right; I did not understand how that would
be.
Mr. BETHUNE. Those are the principal features----
Senator MALLORY. I would like to ask you with reference to that
suggestion which you were referring to in regard to publication in the
matter of a work of art, or a plastic work or drawing. Is there any
definite suggestion that you could make, any definite change, so as to
convey your idea? I think I know what you want; but it seems to me it
is going to be pretty difficult to use an expression there that will
convey the exact idea that you desire. Now, in the matter of a work of
art, as long as it remains in the hands of the creator of it, one
would think it would not be necessary, but it was suggested to me by
the chairman here that even the maker of the work of art might want to
copyright it, although he did not intend to sell it; he would want to
prevent people from infringing on it.
Mr. BETHUNE. Precisely.
Senator MALLORY. And yet there would be no publication; he could keep
it in his own library.
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