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 report and digest covered legislation through 1875, inclusive of
the Canada act. They seem also to have regarded, though the act is not
specified in the schedule, the consolidated customs act of 1876 (39 & 40
Victoria, c. 36), which incidentally contained the provisions for the
prohibition of the importation of copyright books.
{Sidenote: Later legislation}
Despite the recommendations of the Commission and several later
endeavors to pass a comprehensive copyright act,--of which the most
important was Lord Monkswell's bill introduced into Parliament on behalf
of the British Society of Authors, November 16, 1890, and given in full
with an analysis by Walter Besant in George Haven Putnam's "Question of
copyright"--later legislation in England has been confined practically
to two topics, international copyright and the vexed question of musical
compositions.
{Sidenote: International copyright}
The international copyright act of 1886 (49 & 50 Victoria, c. 43),
amending and extending, and in part repealing the earlier international
copyright acts and provisions, was intended to enable Great Britain,
through Orders in Council, to become a party to international
agreements, particularly the Berne copyright convention of 1886,
ratified in 1887; this was made effective with respect to the eight
other countries which were parties to the original Berne convention by
the Order in Council of November 28, 1887, taking effect December 6,
1887. The convention was to extend to the British possessions, though
with exceptions in some respects. The revenue act of 1889 (52 & 53
Victoria, c. 42) extended the prohibition of importation to foreign
works copyrighted under the act of 1886, "printed or reprinted in any
country or state" other than that "in which they were first published,"
if registered as required by the customs authorities.
{Sidenote: Musical copyright}
The protection of musical compositions was in such confused and
unsatisfactory condition that special legislation was necessary. The
recent laws on this subject, described in detail in the chapter on
dramatic and musical copyright, include the copyright (musical
compositions) act of 1882 (45 & 46 Victoria, c. 40); the copyright
(musical compositions) act of 1888 (51 & 52 Victoria, c. 17); the
musical (summary proceedings) copyright act of 1902 (2 Edward VII, c.
15); and the musical copyright act of 1906 (6 Edward VII, c.
36),--following the report of the Musical Copyright Committee of
1904,--which successively met imperfections developed in applying the
previous law.
{Sidenote: Committee report of 1909}
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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