Copyright: Its History and Its LawBowker, R. R. (Richard Rogers)
History
Copyright: Its History and Its Law
Bowker, R. R. (Richard Rogers)
Copyright -- History; Copyright -- United States -- History
The affidavit clause is exact and specific. It may be made either by
the printer or the publisher. This exacting and drastic addition to the
manufacturing clause met with strong opposition from the friends of
copyright, particularly authors and book publishers, as unnecessary and
unreasonable, but was successfully insisted upon by the representatives
of the typographical unions. The voiding of copyright because of a false
affidavit by a printer or publisher, which might even be mistakenly made
and of which the author would have no cognizance, was opposed as
especially unjust to authors and out of keeping with the rest of the
law. Under the statute as enacted, this provision must be exactly
complied with, and the courts would doubtless enforce it to the letter.
{Sidenote: Importation questions}
The manufacturing provision of 1891 and its extension in the code of
1909 have raised important and difficult questions as to the time at
which these provisions become effective in relation with copyrights
previously existing. It was claimed by Benziger Brothers, as proprietors
of a copyright American edition of the "Key of Heaven," that an edition
of sheets printed in America previous to the law of 1909 and sent abroad
for binding, could be re-imported notwithstanding the new provision
against binding, but the decision of the appraisers at New York against
this claim was upheld by the Secretary of the Treasury, under advice of
the Attorney-General, and the courts have not yet had occasion to pass
on the question. This ruling indicates that since July 1, 1909,
copyright could not be maintained on any book unless type-set, printed
and bound completely within the limits of the United States, and that
any copyrighted books, partly manufactured in the United States, but
bound and otherwise completed abroad since July 1, 1909, must be denied
importation. It has been decided, however, by the Attorney-General, that
the manufacturing requirement as to binding refers only to the original,
and that copyright books rebound abroad cannot be denied importation.
Also it has been held that a foreign translation of a copyright work,
for which translation American copyright is not claimed, cannot be
refused importation.
The provisions supplementing the manufacturing clause by prohibiting
importation are given in the chapter on importation.
{Sidenote: Foreign manufacturing provisions}
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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