Page:Copyright, Its History And Its Law (1912).djvu/63

 provisions for the prohibition of the importation of copyright books.

Despite the recommendations of the Commission Later and several later endeavors to pass a comprehensive legislation 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.

The international copyright act of 1886 (49 & 50 international 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.

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 (