Of the Injustice of Counterfeiting Books: From: Essays and Treaties on Moral, Political and various Philosophical Subjects — Kant — John Shaqi
Of the Injustice of Counterfeiting Books: From: Essays and Treaties on Moral, Political and various Philosophical Subjects
Kant · en
But while altering (abridging, augmenting or retouching) the book of
another, such as to re-work the book into what is substantially a new
book, such that it would be wrong to publish the new book in the name
of the author of the original book, the retouching of a book, in the
proper name of the publisher, is no counterfeit, and therefore is not
prohibited. For here, another author transacts, via his editor,
another business transaction that is different from the initial
business transaction transacted by the initial author, and
consequently does not intrude upon the initial author's initial
business transaction with the public; he represents not that author,
as speaking through him, but another. Similarly, [I believe that the
unauthorized] translation of an author's work into another language
cannot be considered to be a counterfeit; for the translated book is
not the same speech of the author, though the thoughts may be exactly
the same.
If the idea of a copyright, or of the publication of books in general,
that were demonstrated in this essay, were well-understood, and
precisely elaborated (which, flattering myself, I think is possible),
with a formality that was at the level of Roman juridical learning, a
complaint against a counterfeiter might be brought before a court,
without first needing to ask for a new law to structure the due
process proceedings that would govern such a lawsuit against a
counterfeiter.
End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Of the Injustice of Counterfeiting
Books, by Emanuel Kant