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 United States, as a party only to the Pan American Union and not a
member of the International Copyright Union under the Berne-Berlin
conventions, has not secured for its citizens general rights of
copyright in other countries, without repetition of formalities, and
such rights are secured only in the countries designated by Presidential
proclamation and according to the formalities of their domestic
legislation. It seems, however, that citizens of the United States may
obtain general protection throughout the unionist countries by
publishing in a unionist country simultaneously with first publication
in the United States, and thus coming under the protective provisions of
the Berlin convention. The Mexico convention permits citizens of the
United States to obtain copyright in other countries ratifying that
convention, by deposit at Washington of extra copies for transmission to
countries designated, with certified copy of the registration. When the
Buenos Aires convention is ratified by other powers nothing more will
then be required than the usual application and deposit at Washington
and notice of the reservation of rights, preferably in connection with
the copyright notice, of which "all rights reserved for all countries"
is the most comprehensive form.
{Sidenote: "Proclaimed" countries}
Under section 8 of the act of 1891, the President "proclaimed" from time
to time the existence of reciprocal relations with other countries,
which permitted their citizens to obtain copyright in the United States
under the act, and American citizens to obtain protection under their
respective copyright laws. The question of the _status_ of these
countries under the act of 1909 was solved by the proclamation of the
President on April 9, 1910, stating that "satisfactory evidence has been
received that in Austria, Belgium, Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, Denmark,
France, Germany, Great Britain and her possessions, Italy, Mexico, the
Netherlands and her possessions, Norway, Portugal, Spain and
Switzerland, the law permits ... to citizens of the United States the
benefit of copyright on substantially the same basis as to citizens of
those countries," and proclaiming "that the citizens or subjects of the
aforementioned countries are and since July 1, 1909, have been entitled
to all the benefits of the said Act other than the benefits under
section 1, (_e_), thereof, as to which the inquiry is still
pending"--the exception being as regards mechanical music. To this list
of countries, Luxemburg was added by proclamation of June 29, 1910, and
Sweden by that of May 26, 1911.
{Sidenote: Mechanical music reciprocity}
Under date of December 8, 1910, the first proclamation with respect to
the international protection of mechanical music was made by the
President, declaring the existence of reciprocal relations with Germany.
Belgium, Luxemburg, and Norway were added by proclamation of June 14,
1911.
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