In 1601, the Senate took serious alarm at the emigration of the publishers and the printers. The latter took with them even the materials of their trade, their type, presses, and ink. A drastic law was at once passed making it illegal for any printer to leave Venice without the written authority of the Government, and prescribing severe penalties for any who undertook to sell for export the materials and instruments used in printing. This measure, severe as it was, appears not to have proved effective in checking the decline of printing, and, in 1603, the Senate undertook a general reform of the art. The new regulations included the following provisions: None but official proof-readers were to be employed by the printers. These proof-readers were to be appointed by the _Rifformatori_. The manuscript copy and proofs were to be preserved as evidence that no alterations had been made after the examination for the _imprimatur_. A fine of twenty-five ducats was to be imposed upon every printer who should place the name _Venetia_ on books not printed in Venice. Terms of copyright were fixed as follows: In the case of first editions for which the necessary _testamur_ and _imprimatur_ had been secured, the publisher or printer securing the first registry was to have a copyright for twenty years. For books printed in Italy but not in Venice, the publisher who should secure a Venetian registry with the Guild was to have a copyright for ten years. A similar copyright was given for the reissue of books that had not been printed in Venice during the preceding twenty years. For new editions of books which had not been printed in Venice during the preceding ten years, a copyright of five years was to be conceded. All terms of copyright depended upon the condition that the printing was begun at once and was continued at the rate of not less than half a folio a day. There was a long list of regulations concerning the standard and quality of the paper, ink, and type. Books which were found after publication to be badly printed or full of typographical errors were to forfeit their copyright. The measure was a comprehensive one, and ought to have proved of service in restoring the quality of Venetian editions if its provisions could have been enforced. There appears, however, to have been a lack of adequate machinery for such enforcement. It was evidently intended that the Guild should become a sort of Stationers’ Hall for the registration of copyrights. No such register is now in existence, and there is some doubt as to its ever having actually been created.