Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume V.djvu/341

Rh of the author passes to his heirs and assignees for 25 years, and for the further term of 10 years if they shall publish an edition within five years before the expiration of the first term.—Although there had been licensing acts prohibiting the publication of books without the consent of the owner, the first copyright act in England securing to authors the right of property in their works was the statute 8 Anne, chap. 19, passed in 1709. After reciting that “printers, booksellers, and other persons have of late frequently taken the liberty of printing, reprinting, and publishing, or causing to be printed, reprinted, and published, books and other writings without the consent of the authors or proprietors of such books and writings, to their very great detriment, and too often to the ruin of them and their families,” it provided that after April 10, 1710, the authors of books already printed who had not transferred their rights, and the booksellers, &c., who had purchased copies, should have the sole right of printing them for 21 years; and that the authors of unpublished books and their assigns should have the sole right of printing the same for 14 years, at the expiration of which the sole right of printing or disposing of copies should return to the author, if living, for another term of 14 years. In 1769 a judgment was rendered by the court of king's bench, Lord Mansfield presiding, in the case of Miller v. Taylor, recognizing a perpetual property at common law in the author and his assigns. The work in controversy was “The Seasons,” by James Thomson, the term of years secured by the statute of Anne having expired. This decision, however, was not long acquiesced in, and in 1774 the house of lords, in the case of Donaldson v. Beckett, declared against the common law right of property in books, although the weight of authority and numbers among the judges was in favor of the perpetuity at common law; and upon the question whether such right was taken away by the statute the judges were divided in opinion. In 1775 an act was passed by parliament which enabled the universities in England and Scotland and several colleges to hold in perpetuity their copyright in books given or bequeathed to them. In 1814 the term of copyright was fixed at 28 years, and during the life of the author if living at the expiration of that period. In 1833 the act 3 William IV., ch. 15, was passed, giving to the authors of dramatic compositions the sole right of representing their plays or causing them to be represented. This was followed by the international copyright act passed in 1838, giving a copyright in England to foreign authors whose governments had extended the same privilege to British authors. In 1842 the laws relating to copyright were revised, the term extended to the life of the author and for seven years after his death, or to 42 years from the first publication. This law, 5 and 6 Victoria, ch. 45, with some slight changes, still remains in force. The first copyright law in the United States was passed in 1790. The term for books then published was 14 years, and for unpublished books the same period with provision for renewal for 14 years. In 1831 a general copyright law was passed granting copyright for 28 years, and providing, for a renewed term of 14 years. In 1856 an act was passed giving to authors the exclusive right of publicly representing or causing to be represented their dramatic compositions. In 1870 all the statutes relating to copyright were repealed by the general copyright law which is now in force.  '''COQUEREL. I. Athanase Laurent Charles''', a French Protestant clergyman, born in Paris, Aug. 27, 1795, died there, Jan. 10, 1868. He studied at the divinity school of Montauban, and was ordained in 1816. The next year he was invited to become pastor of the Episcopal chapel of St. Paul in the island of Jersey, but was unwilling to subscribe to the thirty-nine articles. After preaching for 12 years to the Walloon congregations at Amsterdam, Leyden, and Utrecht, he was in 1830 invited to Paris by Cuvier, then minister of Protestant worship, and succeeded M. Marron as pastor in the Reformed church; and in 1833 he became a member of the consistory. He was a very successful preacher, and was also much interested in the subjects of education, and from 1831 to 1848 lectured on religion in the school of St. Victor, afterward the Chaptal college. For defending the university against a determined attack, he was rewarded in 1835 with the decoration of the legion of honor. In 1841 he was appointed Protestant chaplain of the collége Henri IV. From 1831 to 1833 he edited the Protestant, a religious, political, and literary journal, and from 1834 to 1836, in conjunction with M. Artaud, the Libre Examen. In 1841, with the help of some pastors of like views, he started the Lien, of which he was for a time the principal editor, and which he relinquished in 1844 to his brother, and subsequently to his sons. He took a prominent part in the discussions called forth by a religious revival which prevailed in England, Switzerland, and the Protestant churches in France, opposing the supporters of the movement, and declaring his opposition to the old Calvinistic theology, the doctrines of predestination, eternal punishment, and expiation, although he maintained against the German rationalism the inspiration of the Scriptures and the doctrine of the fall. He was opposed in the ministry of public worship, as well as by the evangelical school of Protestants, and in 1835 was refused settlement in a chapel at Batignolles which he had been mainly instrumental in founding. His reputation and popularity grew in spite of opposition, and in 1848 and 1849 he was elected a member of the constituent and legislative assemblies, where he acted with the moderate republican party. After the coup d'état of Dec. 2, 1851, he retired from political life, and devoted himself wholly to religious work. In 1853 he