Page:Copyright, Its History And Its Law (1912).djvu/327

 IMPORTATION 295

with the proviso that Canadian reprints should be prohibited importation into the United Kingdom except with assent of the copyright proprietor. It has since provided in the Fisher act of 1900 for the prohibition of importation of an original edition of an English work licensed for reprint in Canada, except two copies for libraries and one copy through de- mand on the Canadian licensee by an individual for use and not for sale — a provision considered ultra vires by English authorities.

The Australian code of 1905 prohibits the impor- Australian tation of all pirated books or artistic works in which provision copyright is subsisting in Australia, "whether under this act or otherwise," and provides for the forfeiture of such works, on condition of written notice by the owner of the copyright to the Minister, directly or through the Commissioners of Customs of the United Kingdom, of the existence of the copyright and of its term. These provisions do not seem to make clear whether original editions of English works, of which an Australian edition is copyrighted, are held to be contraband.

The legislation of France and Germany and other Foreign countries seems to provide against importation in- practice ferentially rather than specifically, Russia and Peru being exceptional in their specific prohibitions. But the treaties and conventions between the several countries are for the most part specific on this point, as are those of France providing that "when the au- thor of a work of which the property rights are guar- anteed by the present treaty shall have assigned his right of publication or of reproduction to a publisher in the territory of either of the high contracting par- ties with the reservation that the copies or editions of this work thus published or reproduced cannot be sold in the other country, these copies or editions