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* LITEKARY PBOPERTY. 328 LITERARY PROPERTY. King's printer, the successor, second in line, to Caxton. The privilege gives a monopoly lor the term of two years. The date is tifteen years later than that of the first privilege issued in France. In 1530, a privilege of seven years was granted to an author in consideration of the value of his work. This is cited by Scrutton as the first record of an English copyright issued to an author. Royal privileges continued to be issued during the" si.xteenth century, while, after 1556, the entries in the registers of the Stationers' Company are made evidence of the exclusive rights to the persons named for print- ing the books specified. The Stationers' Com- pany, in giving title to property in a 'copy' or literary production, acted as the representative of the authority of the Crown, an authority se- cured to it through royal charter. The control of the work of the Stationers was, in 1037, placed in the hands of the Star Chamber. The replacing in 1640 of the absolutism of the Star Chamber by the absolutism of the Long Parlia- ment made no change in the completeness of the authority left with the Stationers' Company. The Parliamentary' Ordinances of 1641, in pro- hibiting printing or importing without the con- sent of the owner of the 'copies' of said books, constituted a clear statutory recognition of prop- erty in 'copy,' a recognition evidently resting upon an understanding of its existence under the common law. The act of 1643 for "redressing disorders in printing," and the licensing act of 1602, while having for their main pur[)0se the control of literature in connection with its in- fluence on politics, continued to affirm or to imply the existence of property in the 'copy' of books. The Knglish authorities on the sub- ject, Maugham, Coppinger, Scrutton, and others, and the American Drone, are at one in the opin- ion that at the close of the seventeenth century it wais the general understanding in England that authors possessed in their productions a per- petual right of property and that this right could be assigned. This understanding, upon which were based Parliamentary acts for regula- tion and for license, and in accord with which were carried on important and continued busi- ness undertakings, marked a development in the conception of literary property which had not then been reached elsewhere. The Act of Queen Anne, which went into effect in 1710, under which a statutorj' protection for a term of fourteen years was given to the author of a literary production (with provision that if he were alive at the expi- ration of that period, his copyright could be extended fourteen years), brought to a close, for Great Britain, the period of common-law copj'right. This result was probably not intended by the legis- lators who framed the act and was certainly not anticipated by the publishers at who.se instance the matter had been taken up and who were simply applying for a more specific and more effective protection, covering such term as Parliament might see fit to grant, for the property in their 'copies,' of the existence of which property there had as yet been no question. It was. in fact, not until 1709 that any serious contention was raised against the continued validity of copyright at common law. In that year, the common-law right was maintained in the decision rendered in the famous case of Millar vs. Taylor, a de- cision rendered the more noteworthy because it was concurred in by Lord Mansfield, the great- est authority on the subject of copyright whom Europe had thus far known. In 1774, in tlic case of Donaldson vs. Becket, the issue was raised for the second time, the property involved being the same in each suit, the copyright of Thomson's treasons. In this ca.se the House of Lords reversed its previous decision. Its con- clusions were in substance: first, that an author had a common-law right to his production before publication (ten judges in the aftirmative and one dissenting) ; second, that, after publication, such common-law right still rested in the author (eight judges in the affirmative and three in the negative) ; third, that, under the statute of 1710, the author had lost his right of action at common law and retained protection for his copyright only during the terra prcscrilied by the statute (si.x judges in the affirmative and five in the negative) : fourth, that the right at common law possessed by the author and his as- signs prior to 1710 had been a right in per- petuity (seven judges in the affirmative, four in the negative). In each of these votes, including that of the vital issue of the efi'ect upon the com- mon-law right of the statute of 1710, Lord Mans- field was recorded in favor of the continued right of the author at common law, and of the per- petuity of copyright, irrespective of the effect of this statute. The effect of this decision was, as said, to replace what may be called the common- law period of a copyright in England by a copy- right protection limited to the terms of the suc- cessive statutes. The copyright law now in force in Great Britain is in substance that of 5 and 6 Vict., c. 45, enacted in 1842, with amendment of 1802 for paintings and photographs. Exclusive right to perform dramatic pieces is given by the statute of 1833. Sculpture is provided for under the act of 1813. See Copykight. The copyright act was the result of a Parlia- mentary movement initiated by Sergeant Tal- fourd, "conducted later by Lord Mahon. Under Talfourd's bill of 1841 it was proposed to ex- tend the term of copyright to a period of sixty years from the death of the author. The prin- cipal opponent of this longer term was Macaulay, at that time a member of the House. Macaulay's views prevailed, and the Talfourd bill was de- feated. The term finally arrived at was that suggested by Macaulay, and it was also at his instance that the provision was added against a possible suppression of books by the owners of the copyright. In the United States the first act in regard to copyright was passed in Connecticut in .Tanuary, 1783. This was followed by the acts of Massachu- setts, Maryland, New Jersey, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island, later in 1783, and before May, 1780, all of the other original States, except Delaware, had passed similar acts. These acts were due more particularly to the efforts of Noah Webster, and their first service was the protection of his famous HpeUer. Webster jour- neyed from State capital to State capital to urge upon Governors and Legislatures the immediate necessity of copyright laws, and his persistent efforts were crowned with success. The neces- sity for State laws on the subject was, how- ever, obviated by the United States statute of 1790. Previous to the adoption, in 1787. of the Federal Constitution, a general copyright lawwas not within the province of the central Government,