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
This had the extraordinary and contradictory effect of giving the author
control over the finer reproductions of his works but denying to him any
control over the cruder reproductions, as on hand-organs, orchestrions,
etc. The opposition which developed against this impossible situation
was largely influential in bringing about the modification at Berlin in
1908 of the Berne clause. The law of May 22, 1910, amended the previous
general laws in conformity with the Berlin convention, especially by
extending protection to the mechanical reproduction of music and
cinematograph reproduction of artistic works. Section 22 of the law of
1901 was specifically replaced by an elaborate section, modeled on the
American compulsory license provision and requiring a composer who
permitted mechanical reproduction to grant similar rights on equal terms
to any other manufacturers domiciled in Germany, with provisions for
reciprocity and for the treatment of non-German composers through the
tribunals of Leipzig. This law became effective coordinately with the
Berlin convention on September 9, 1910, and in connection with it an
ordinance promulgated by the Emperor July 12, 1910, defined the time
during which mechanical reproductions already made of copyrighted works
should still be permitted. The use of extracts from musical as from
other works, as perhaps in _potpourris_, seems however still to be
permitted as a result of the law of 1901.
{Sidenote: Germany and the United States}
As a result of the reciprocal provisions of the new German law, the
President of the United States on December 8, 1910, proclaimed
reciprocal relations between Germany and the United States with
reference to mechanical reproductions of music. In the opinion of May 6,
1911, approved by the Attorney-General, a Presidential proclamation is
required to determine "the existence of reciprocal conditions" as to the
mechanical music provision (sec. 1, e) as in respect to sec. 8; but as
the proclamation of December 8 did not recite that reciprocal conditions
existed between September 9 and December 8, 1910, it is held that "it
would not afford evidence sufficient to sustain an action for
infringement between said dates."
{Sidenote: French precedents}
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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