Page:Copyright, Its History And Its Law (1912).djvu/215

 work were given, pending publication, statutory protection, apperently in perpetuity, from the date of composition. Publication of a dramatic or musical composition in printed form ensured copyright protection as a book for forty-two years or life and seven years; and performing right was protected for forty-two years from "the first public representation or performance of any dramatic piece or musical composition" or life and seven years, whichever the longer.

It had been the view of many English authorities that publication in printed form as a book before the first public performance forfeited performing rights, which opinion was shared by the Royal Copyright Commission as voiced in the report of 1878 in the digest of Sir James Stephen, who said: "The exclusive right of representing or performing a dramatic piece or musical composition cannot be gained if such dramatic piece or musical composition has been printed and published as a book before the first representation thereof." But in the later case of Chappell v. Boosey in 1882, in respect to John Oxenford's play of "The bellringer," which had been printed and published previous to performance, it was held in the Court of Chancery that publication as a book before performance does not take away performing rights. On musical compositions, however, the performing right is forfeited on publication in print unless notice of reservation is printed on the .published copies. There remain the difficult questions whether when publication precedes performance the statutory protection of the performing right extends beyond the forty-two years from publication and whether copyright and playright should be separately registered. It has been the practice of English dramatists to give a so-called "copyright performance" at a minor